Thread: Chicken in the market

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Carbon dioxide would build up and put out the fire?

Very true. Small holes drilled in side of pot ?

Holes in the fat would just clog.

Small holes below the level of the heat source but above the oil might work. I must look next week.

^ Exactly waht I was trying to figure out

An alternative method. Same principle I guess.

I bet you could do some nice jacket spuds in one of those.

Yup, fish, meat, anything really. I'll definitely make one. I might experiment with some kind of basket one could hang in side it. Not sure why but it sounds good.

Smaller scale but a similar idea

Medieval Technology and American History - Projects - A Claypot Oven

You might need a basket or something for a fish - agreed it does sound good

I suppose to use it as a smoker it's just be a matter of choice of wood. I've never used a smoker but I imagine it's a slow burn technique. What adaptations would you need to make?

Looks just like a tandori oven at lower temperatures. Looks damn nice as well.

For hot-smoking fish I use two large stainless bowls. On slightly smaller than the other so it can be placed upside down onto the main one to act as a lid.

Place the large bowl on a gas burner at low heat.
Put a cake rack or similar wire grill into the bottom of the bowl.
Sprinkle a couple of good sized desert spoon fulls of appropriate sawdust into the bottom of the bowl.
Place fish onto cake rack.
Put second bowl onto main bowl as a lid.
Wait 10 minutes and you have beautiful hot smoked fish.

Basically its just an oven with lots of intense smoke inside.
The trick is not to have a perfect seal on the lid so that just enough oxygen gets in to cause the sawdust to smoke up, but not such a big gap that the heat escapes.

You could use it as a normal oven without the sawdust too.

^ Sounds good.
So how'd you recommend doing it on this water vase oven thing?

Bladdy hell, you guys are going backwards in terms of cooking utensils. Get a modern kitchen to do the cooking in.

I've just been told we're taking some old biddy to the clinic in town today so I'll go water vase shopping. See how it goes.

Originally Posted by Travelmate

Bladdy hell, you guys are going backwards in terms of cooking utensils. Get a modern kitchen to do the cooking in.

Na, this is fun.

Originally Posted by Travelmate

Bladdy hell, you guys are going backwards in terms of cooking utensils. Get a modern kitchen to do the cooking in.

Some of us live out in the sticks where this can be cheap to build and fun to do.

^ wot he said.

Originally Posted by melvbot

this can be cheap to build and fun to do.

Don't kid urself.

On what? Cheap to build or fun to do?

If you cant get a hold of some sawdust for smoking fish, you can use the detritus from coconut husks. Just spread a sheet of newspaper on the ground. Then get some coconut husks. Spread the fibers apart and give them a shake and/or rub them between your palms. A lot of sawdust like granules will come away. Its not as good as hickory but still pretty OK.

Originally Posted by melvbot

On what? Cheap to build or fun to do?

Fun to do.
The novelty factor will wear off very quickly.

Originally Posted by Travelmate

Originally Posted by melvbot

this can be cheap to build and fun to do.

Don't kid urself.

I think it is about the taste, the chicken will have a completely different taste to one cooked on a BBQ or in my oven. Variety after all is the spice of life

^ Nowt to do with the taste. I am sure it will turn out great. Just these country bumpkins are stepping backwards from a modern kitchen and into the Neanderthal era type of cooking.

The missus was telling me they used to smoke/roast whole chickens en-mass about a dozen or more at a time in an old 44 gallon drum. From what I can gather about the process, the whole chickens were suspended on wires with a charcoal fire in the bottom of the drum. I imagine the top and bottom would have been cut out of the drum with a few air holes punched in the sides near the bottom and a removable lid.

But knowing the Thais they probably used old drums that previously contained pesticides or other toxic chemicals.