Finally we are are On The Road!
So, what was our first positive experience?
Cooking!
I mentioned earlier that I was planning to try using a Crockpot for cooking in our Class B Winnebago Era. Before beginning our excursion across Alaska and Canada, a few recipes were attempted in our safe home environment.
Another fact to remember is that only really easy recipes need apply. With limited space and supplies, meals in the crockpot will require very few spices as well as other ingredients. If I had to store all the spices that are kept in a regular kitchen, there would be no room for any other items. And the refrigerator in this "small home" is only 3.8 cu.ft. The ice chest is used for storing ice for drinks only. Usually it is best to go by a grocery store and purchase any cold items immediately before cooking.
That said, it doesn't apply to what I attempted today. When we did the final clean-out of our refrigerator/freezer at home, lo and behold, there were 2 small packages containing roast meat hiding in the back. I was so sure I had managed to cook all the meats and fish hiding in that frozen crevice.
Now, the moment of truth has arrived. The roast has now thawed in the refrigerator of the motorhome and needed to be cooked today. We planned to drive for about 3 hours and arrive in the early afternoon.
As I stated, only a few ingredients will be used. I liberally applied Carlos' favorite, "Adobo" seasoning, meat tenderizer, and a little Accent. That's all! There was just a very small piece of fat on the ends of the pieces of meat so I hoped that would help with the natural juices to help keep the meat moist.
Now, on to the cooking. We had purchased a 300 Watt inverter to use in our cigarette lighter to convert DC/AC power for the Crockpot. This was the true test. With all our packing, we never took the time to see if it really worked. We're crossing fingers and toes now.
Traveling down the road, it took a while for the pot to begin heating enough to feel it through the lid. So far, it seemed to be working. A little longer and actual heat was evident. We felt it might work. I did take the lid off to check once and that was probably our mistake. It smelled so good in the van afterwards that it was difficult to wait the entire 3 hours ..... Did you notice how the dog hangs around it?
There was an "accident" early, but we figured out how to prevent it. On one of our Alaskan bumps the entire crockpot fell over. Lucky for us the meat didn't roll out onto the floor and that there was very little juice that had cooked out. As a result, you can see that now we place the crockpot in a large plastic pan to prevent that from happening as again. And, we discovered that the heat from cooking did nothing to the plastic pan!
After 2 hours of cooking on the high temperature, the meat was basically cooked but it needed to become a little more tender. We took it out and cut it into small slices. It was then placed back into its own juices and let to cook on low for another hour. Again, the smells were very distracting!
Finally, we made it to the campsite and had time to sit and have our lunch. The sliced beef was extremely tender and made delicious sandwiches. Carlos actually added banana peppers and cabbage for a little extra. If we hadn't left behind the horseradish, we might have tried that as well.
Overall, I have to say that motorhome crockpot cooking was a success. It's a good thing, since we barely had enough room to store the Crockpot as it was. I think it would have been left at a thrift store if today had failed.
Now, I'm actually anxious to see what else will work. Any suggestions?
