Cooking in the Car: Bacon

I've got another Cooking in the Car post for you today. This is the last one for a while since this is the last one I tried when we had that stretch of 100 plus degree days. This one I was pretty excited about but it didn't turn out as I expected and I think I might want to try it again some time.

I tried cooking bacon in the car on Monday, July 2. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and so I didn't get to work until about 9:15. I placed the bacon in a small baking dish and placed it on the dash before heading in to the building.

I got off work around 4:00 that day and while it reached over 100 degrees during the day, it was also overcast on and off throughout the day so I'm not sure the bacon got the full Cooking in the Car effect and I would like to try it again maybe with a drip pan. I will say the car smelled like bacon and you can't go wrong as far as that is concerned.

There was A LOT of grease in the bottom of the pan and the edges of the bacon had cooked, but it had by no means cooked all the way through. Perhaps on anther hot and sunny day, the bacon might cooke a little better.

So, if you want bacon, it's probably best to just go ahead and cook it on the stove, or the oven, or whatever your normal method of cooking is.

Cooking in the Car: Popcorn

On Saturday, June 30, I tried another Cooking in the Car experiment; this time it was popcorn. I was up early that morning to cook myself some French toast for the start of le Tour and so I put some popcorn oil and a few kernels in a pan and placed it on the dash around 6:30 or so that morning.

Getting ready for the car

A look inside the pan

On the dash - early morning

On the dash - early morning

 I didn’t have any plan to leave the house on Saturday so the pan with the kernels had all day to sit on the dash and cook. The temperature hit a high of 105 on this particular day and I couldn’t wait to see if the exposure to the heat for hours on end would produce a bit of popcorn.

I went out to the car around 6:00 or so in the evening to collect the pan from the dash board; so, the pan was outside for around 11 and a half hours or so. Sadly, the kernels did not pop. I was really hoping they would but it was not meant to be. I did not put a lid on the pot as I do when I cook it on the stove – I don’t know if that would have made a difference or not. My guess is not. The pan was really hot to the touch and I had to sit it on the mail to bring it back into the house, but obviously it wasn’t hot enough to produce popcorn.

After sitting in the car all day

So, if you want popcorn on a hot summer’s day, you’d better rely on your stove or your microwave, or better yet, your local movie theater.

Cooking in the Car - Eggs

So apparently I should have taken the end of last week off from blogging because no one left any comments; which basically means that Erika was not at work - she is my most loyal commenter and for that I will be eternally grateful. Comments keep me going people, just being honest here.

Today we have part two of Cooking in the Car: 2012 Edition. You may recall that a couple of years ago I attempted a to boil an egg in the car by leaving an egg in a glass of water on the dash for the day. Sadly, it did not turn out boiled as I had hoped, but rather it was basically a poached egg. This year I decided I would crack open the egg and see how that worked. After all, we often hear the phrase, "it's hot enough to fry an egg" or however it is that goes.

On Friday, June 29, I cracked open two eggs and scrambled them up in a glass bowl. I had smeared the bowl with butter because let's face it, cooked eggs need a little butter to make them tasty and I was hoping it would help prevent the eggs from sticking.

At the house before work

I arrived at work around 7:00 a.m. and left the eggs on the dash for the day; as always, I'm sure people were wondering what the heck was going on.

On the dash - 7:00 a.m.

Up close and on the dash - 7:00 a.m.

A view from outside the car - 7:00 a.m.

I left for the day at 4:00; so, the eggs were in the car for about nine hours. When I first got to the car, I didn't think the eggs had cooked. I don't know why I thought that because clearly they are not going to fluff up like scrambled eggs when they are basically just baking all day long. At any rate, I opened up the door and discovered that the eggs had indeed cooked, almost to the point of burning. They were a solid mass of egg and very hard and stuck to the bowl.

4:00 p.m.

Overdone eggs - 4:00 p.m.

A view from above - 4:00 p.m.

You know how if you over boil an egg and the yolk will get a bluish/black on the outside? Well, that's what happened with these eggs too. They were overcooked. The yolks were basically the color of Velveeta they had cooked so much and there was bluish/black on some parts of the egg.

A view from the underside - 4:00 p.m.

I did not eat this experiment. I'm not a big fan of eggs anyway and these were just not appealing to me in the least. I will say the eggs were a beast to get off of my bowl; apparently I should have used more butter. I ran the bowl through the dishwasher twice before some of the crustier egg finally came off.

So, that's the story of cooking eggs in the car. I wouldn't recommend leaving it out there for nine hours if you are looking to cook it and eat it. If you added some onion, mushrooms, cheese, etc. then it might make for a good omelet. Hmmm, maybe I'll try that another time.

Cooking in the Car: Crescent Rolls

So, we’ve hit 100 degrees or higher for what feels like the last 100 days. Seriously, I don’t remember what it was like to walk outside and not sweat. Since the 100 degree days have decided to return, that also means that Cooking in the Car has returned and the 2012 edition is pretty good if I do say so myself. Before we get started though, I need to know something from you readers. Do, you want all the Cooking in Car segments posted in the same week or would you prefer one a week? Let me know in the comments; and if you are not familiar with Cooking in the Car, you can check out the previous years’ posts by searching "Cooking in the Car" on the left-hand side of the page. Sorry - I can't figure out how to link to all the posts. Ok, folks, here we go; it’s Cooking the Car 2012!

You will be happy to know that Wednesday night I went out and cleaned off my windshield and dashboard. The Hackberry tree in my yard is dropping lots of sap as is the case every summer and the windshield was beyond nasty. So, cleaning was essential before opening up the oven for the summer.

I started 2012 Cooking in the Car on Thursday, June 28 with Crescent Rolls, you know the ones Pilsbury makes and you buy in the refrigerated section at your local grocery store. I had a four pack of these in my fridge and they were yelling to be cooked in the car.

I rolled them out and into the crescent roll form and laid them out on the baking sheet before leaving for work. I arrive at work right at 7:00 a.m. and promptly put the baking sheet with the four rolls on the dash.

In the kitchen before work

On the dash - 7:00 a.m.

Up close - 7:00 a.m.

A view from outside the car - 7:00 a.m.

I left work around 3:45 since I had an appointment at 4:00. When I arrived at the car, I was actually kind of surprised to see that the crescent rolls had a golden brown color. I figured they would probably cook, but didn’t think they would get really brown. As it turns out, the golden brown wasn’t just on the outside, but it was all the way through, including the bottom. The outside of the rolls had a flakiness to them like you would find on a real croissant. Normally when I bake these at home they don’t really get flaky.

On the dash - 3:45 p.m.

Up close - 3:45 p.m.

A single roll - 3:45 p.m.

The bottom side - 3:45 p.m.

The rolls were not hard, in other words, I doubt they would break a window, but if they had been left out a few more hours they might have become that way. They tasted just like they had been baked in a real oven. They could have used a little butter though. Perhaps next time I will melt a side dish of butter.

After taking a bite - 3:45 p.m.

Golden brown all the way through!

The high on Thursday was 104 (I think I remembered that correctly).

So, if you are ever without an oven and are craving some crescent rolls in the hot summer, just put some on your dash and you’ll have them in no time, or at least in a few hours.

Don't foget to let me know if you want all the cooking posts in a group or one a week! Thanks!

A Teaser

Have a great weekend!

Cooking In The Car: Brownies

Last Thursday, while I was getting ready for work, I noticed that the weatherman said it was going to be a blistering 96 degrees outside. It had been hot the day before (98 or so) and the forecast was in the low 90s. So, I figured if they were forecasting 96 and really hot then it would be a great day to try to get in a day of cooking in the car.

So, after I got dressed and put on my face (as the older ladies like to say), I grabbed a box of brownie mix from the pantry and got to work mixing it up. Soon after, it was in the pan and ready for a day of baking on the dashboard oven.

Once I got to work, I placed the dish on the dash and headed in. I forgot to get the exact time, but it was some time after 7:00. I did not go out and check on the brownies at lunch time because I knew they would need the whole day of undisturbed baking.

I left work and headed out to the car around 4:30 or so. I was excited to see the progress of the brownies. I opened up the car door and proceeded to take the pan out of the dashboard and let me tell you, people, that pan was HOT! I nearly needed an oven mitt to hold it and couldn’t hold it for a long period of time. I was going to set the brownies in my lap to take a photo but the pan was too hot to hold in my lap. So instead, I got out of the car and placed the pan in the front seat to take the photo.

The brownies had formed a thin crusty layer at the top – you know that flaky top brownie layer. The insides, however, were still pretty runny. There were small chocolate chips in the batter and they had all melted but the brownies were not cooked all the way through. They were a tad bit thicker than when I had first placed them in the car but no where near being able to cut and eat like a real brownie.

I ended up taking them home and finished the baking in the oven. I served them up at work the next day and they were eaten by many. I had some left over to take home too and ate the remainder over the weekend.

My phone told me the temperature got up to 99 degrees and the heat index was 102. I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but I would really like to get a thermometer to put beside whatever I’m cooking in the car so we can all see how hot it gets in there. I know, and you do too that the inside of a car gets way hotter than the outside temperature. So, I’m anxious to get a thermometer to see just how hot it gets on the dashboard oven.

This cooking in the car experiment somehow left a greasy spot on my dash which gives me a chuckle each day. Guess I should have put a towel up there or something. I wonder what people think when they walk by my car – do they even notice that there is something cooking on the dash? Hmmm, I wonder.

I’m not sure that we are going to have many more scorchers this summer, thankfully. The temps have been in the low to mid 90s as of late, unlike Texas where they are still suffering from 100 plus degree days. Yikes! I’ll keep my eye out for another hot day and see if I can’t come up with something else to cook before the summer is out. As always, your suggestions are welcome.

It’s That Time of Year Again

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the return of cooking in the car! I’ll give you a moment while you regain your composure. OK, moving on. So many of you have left comments about the return of cooking in the car and prior to my vacation, I had so many other things on my mind that I could never remember to pull something together for cooking in the car.

Now that I’m back, however, cooking in the car is making its 2011 comeback with the debut of frozen pizza. Just how well did the frozen pizza cook in the car? Let’s take a look.

Tuesday afternoon, I stopped by Star Market in Five Points and for $1.17 bought a Jeno’s frozen pizza to be cooked in the car on Wednesday, which was one of the hottest days of the year, reaching at least 100 degrees, if not more. I never heard the official temperature reading, but my phone said it was 100.

Wednesday morning, I got to work about 7:20 and opened up the pizza box, took the pizza out of the plastic wrapper and placed it on my small cookie tray and put it on the dashboard for a day of cooking.

I ate lunch in the cafeteria yesterday and after lunch, around 12:15 or so, I went outside to check on the pizza. It was well on its way to being done. In fact, I probably could have and should have gone ahead and eaten it for lunch. The cheese didn’t melt, mostly just hardened, but the outer crust was getting crispy and it probably would have been perfect for eating. I, however, left it in the car to see how it would turn out by the end of the day.

Looking good at lunch time

Cooked to perfection

I left work later than usual yesterday because I was working on a project and so about 4:45, I finally headed out for the day. When I got to the car, the pizza was more than done. It was a lot crispier than I would have preferred. I took the pizza home and decided I would give it a try there. Since I was still full from lunch, I wasn’t planning on eating a big meal any time soon, but did want to try the pizza to see how it turned out.

A little too done at the end of the day

Once I got home, I brought the pizza inside and attempted to tear a piece off. It was more difficult than I expected due to the crispiness of the pizza. I finally managed to tear a piece off and took a bite. It wasn’t bad, but as I said, a lot crispier/more done than I would have preferred. I suppose I should have ceased the cooking at lunch time.

A bite taken - even the crust was a golden brown

Sorry for the terrible lighting in my kitchen

So, there you have it folks, the first cooking in the car experiment for 2011 was somewhat a success. You can cook pizza on the dash of your car, which is good to know if you are in the mood for pizza and don’t want to go out at lunch time. Stay tuned for more cooking in the car this August. Suggestions will be taken in the comments.

A Clue...

...Regarding Tomorrow's Post.

Cooking In The Car Part III

Yesterday was the first day of fall and the temperature reached 98 degrees here in Huntsville; 98 degrees – in September! I’m not sure what the heat index ended up being, but I assure you it was probably higher than 98 degrees. I wore a sleeveless dress when I should be wearing long sleeves – it’s September for crying out loud. Next week the temperature is supposed to be in the 70s. I’m not going to hold my breath.

If ya’ll pray for anything, pray for cooler weather! Well, unless you don’t want cooler weather I guess. I’m just really ready for a break from all this heat we’ve had this summer. My grass doesn’t really need to be cut, but I would like to trim it up and pull up what’s left of the tomato vines that didn’t shrivel up in the sweltering sun but I just can’t bring myself to get out in the heat and do it.

Since it was going to be yet another sweltering Alabama day yesterday, I prepared in advance and decided to try cooking in the car again. Of course after yesterday’s cooking experiment I thought to myself that I really need a thermometer to place in the car so that we would know what the temperature was throughout the day. Maybe I’ll break down and invest in one soon.

Yesterday’s experiment was at the suggestion of Erika in the comments section of Cooking in the Car Part Two. She suggested baking a potato, and that’s exactly what I did.

I had three different types of potatoes at the house, but went with the smallest, the red potato in hopes that it would actually cook. I wrapped it in some foil and placed it on the dash when I arrived at work. I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday morning, so I didn’t arrive at work until 9:45 and I left for the day at 4:00. So, the potato was in the car for a little over six hours.

When I got to the car, I was obviously anxious to see if it had cooked. I opened it up and…. Wah, wah, wah – it was still hard. It was extremely hot to the touch – quite literally a hot potato, and even had sweated some as it had a spot or two of what appeared to be water, but it hadn’t really cooked at all.

So, this third Cooking in the Car experiment was unsuccessful, leaving me with a record of 1-1-1. I’m calling the egg a tie since it cooked a tiny bit. I don’t think the car was as hot as it had been back in August when I baked the cookies and even on the day that I attempted to boil the egg. So, I might give the potato experiment another go next summer if we have a day in the 100s, which we most assuredly will.

The red potato before being placed in the hot sun.

On the dashboard of the car.

Up close and personal with the red potato

The skin is a little shriveled and it was somewhat tenderer than it was before,

but still didn't cook enough to bite into.