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#90309 - 02/16/08 11:21 AM Good lord, we are wimps in the City...
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada

So the microwave at chateau phat died during the week, something grounded out and now it emits huge sparks and massive electical shows inside the faraday cage that is the microwave body - it did this while my wife and daughter were doing something. Anyway, the point is, we all survived for many years without microwave ovens - I do it all the time in the boonies - but let the microwave die in the house, and nope, we're running right out to spend 300 bucks on another one, and there's just no convincing she who must be obeyed that we don't need this.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
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#90310 - 02/16/08 12:30 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
tahomus Offline
member

Registered: 04/01/06
Posts: 23
Loc: Tahoma, CA
Oh, phat, sorry to hear of your loss (of $300!).

When my kid went to college, we bought her a small nuker.

After her 1st. year on campus, she moved into her own apartment, bringing home items she no longer wanted. Among those items was the microwave!

She decided she didn't want it, saying she eats better food if she cooks it. With the nuker, she tended to eat frozen burritos, and etc. Now, nearly a year later, she still doesn't want it back. It's taking up space in the closet. I'd mail it to you, but the postage would be killer!

I use my nuker to re-heat leftovers nearly every day. In the days when I didn't have a nuker, I'd reheat leftovers in small dishes placed inside a pressure cooker. I think it was as fast as the nuker, but definitely more steps- putting everything together, adjusting pressure, etc. Then someone gave me their old nuker....

I asked her if she ever used her pressure cooker for reheating- she doesn't. (She also hasn't learned how to use her pressure cooker.)

Peace does come at a price!

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#90311 - 02/16/08 01:00 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
NiytOwl Offline
member

Registered: 11/06/04
Posts: 501
Loc: California
(Humorous observation - please don't take personally!)

Hmmm...let's point out here that when you ARE out footin' it in the boonies, your skin-out weight is probably 99% high tech materials. Polypro, PET, Spectra, Nylon, titanium, aluminum, Lexan, silicon, tritium, lithium, etc.. Take those away and we're left with cotton, wool, leather and steel. One could make the point that humans survived for at least a million years without those things, but I get the feeling a lot of us would fight tooth-and-nail for our lightweight gear! So count your blessings and give that little woman the high tech conveniences she wants since she lets you have yours! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

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#90312 - 02/16/08 01:16 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
MattnID Offline
member

Registered: 06/02/07
Posts: 317
Loc: Idaho
lol, sorry to hear about the loss of your microwave. Can't say I can put those things down however. They're nice for a nice quick bite when you don't always have that time to cook. I know of my microwave broke, I'd probably just not eat lunch since that seems to be the only time I use it really. I think it'd be far more ridiculous if they made a mini-microwave that was backpacking(small and compact, not necessarily light). Though who knows, they already might have one out on the market, hehe.
_________________________
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.-Aristotle

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#90313 - 02/16/08 01:43 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
Finkster Offline
member

Registered: 04/10/04
Posts: 28
Check out Craigslist.com there might be someone in your area giving away a used microwave for free.

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#90314 - 02/16/08 02:27 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: NiytOwl]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada

Oh don't worry nity - I'll let the better half have her conveniences. I know what's good for me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

On the other hand I've often thought about what you say about the high tech materiels on my back, and how different what I'd be carrying woud be if I were doing this a hundred years ago. I'm not so sure I agree with your assessment about weight of these modern doo-dads and how much heavier my skin out would be... I might be marginally less comfortable, but
I doubt by a lot, and I might carry a little more weight.

But the more I think about it, a lot of what I carry is for leave no trace. because in this day and age, there are simply too many of us to do otherwise in many places.

If you throw lnt out the window, I'm pretty convinced I could still hike quite comfortably, albeit with a far different style, on nothing but old school materiels.

Pot - much the same, tin or copper boiler.
stove - none use fires everywhere.
fuel - don't need it - see above.
spoon - regular stainless steel.
clothing - wool - I essentially do this in the winter anyway.
jacket - oilcloth anorak.
small very sharp belt axe - I have one of these. they're "heavy" but worth it in this scenario
1 nice thick heavy wool blanket.
maybe a light oilcloth tarp to wrap it all up in.

Stopping to make camp consists of about a half hour to an hour of fieldcraft, finding firewood and performing small localized clearcutting operations of any and all nearby spruce boughs to make my bed and shelter. No the shelter won't be 100% waterproof but I have done this, and believe me, a big wool blanket is really quite warm, even when a little bit wet.
now true, you don't wanna be soaked. but you won't be if you're at all careful. and if you get
a little wet, or the blanket is not warm enough at night - look out nearby wood supply - I've
slept next to a fire I've kept going all night too - and this works just fine in a pinch. particularly when you drag in the large poles and feed em' in lengthwise.

The heaviest thing in the kit is, well, the big old wool blanket. and essientially it's the only thing I don't currently have like this. Them nice 8 point HBC jobbies are expensive!
_________________________
Any fool can be uncomfortable...
My 3 season gear list
Winter list.
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#90315 - 02/16/08 05:45 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Thinking about how they did it in the old days is how I ended up getting the burros. I guess I went a few steps past the wool blanket thing huh?

To be fair, I still haven't taken them out on a backpacking trip, but they are carrying my load and then some on day hikes and they're making great fertilizer all the rest of the time. But back to the point, the old timers didn't carry all that much. Pack animals carried the load.

Cooking perfect bacon... I think just that alone makes having a microwave worth it. I could live with out one, but I don't. I like having it. Sometimes I want food really super-duper fast.

In the last year we've switched almost entirely to cooking with cast iron instead of stainless pans. After getting the hang of it we all like it better than even teflon for non-stick cooking. We had to re-season all the old pans our parents and grandparents had left us because we ignored them for so long but that was part of the fun of learning to use them.

Them old timers knew some stuff.

Bill

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#90316 - 02/16/08 06:46 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: billstephenson]
Brumfield Offline
member

Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 255
Loc: Expat from New Orleans, now in...
Quote:
Thinking about how they did it in the old days is how I ended up getting the burros. I guess I went a few steps past the wool blanket thing huh?

To be fair, I still haven't taken them out on a backpacking trip, but they are carrying my load and then some on day hikes and they're making great fertilizer all the rest of the time. But back to the point, the old timers didn't carry all that much. Pack animals carried the load.

Cooking perfect bacon... I think just that alone makes having a microwave worth it. I could live with out one, but I don't. I like having it. Sometimes I want food really super-duper fast.

In the last year we've switched almost entirely to cooking with cast iron instead of stainless pans. After getting the hang of it we all like it better than even teflon for non-stick cooking. We had to re-season all the old pans our parents and grandparents had left us because we ignored them for so long but that was part of the fun of learning to use them.

Them old timers knew some stuff.

Bill


Hey, Bill. Burros will keep me on the trail well into my old age. I haven't started using them yet, but they offer me a great assurance of continued mobility for those later years. There are burros just about every where here. We see them every day climbing up and down the mountain past our house, and we hear them day and night in the village below us. They are wonderful, sweet natured animals, and many of the elderly here could not get around without them. I see the animals packing sacks of corn, firewood, big metal milk cans sloshing along tied across their backs, and of course bearing their human passengers with sandaled feet swinging to the little fellow's rhythmic walk. My dad placed burros with his high strung Tennessee Walkers as a calming effect. It worked well.

I grew up with cast iron in the kitchen and I still use it today. Nothing beats cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet. As you probably know, the secret is to first get the empty, but greased skillet hot enough in the oven to make a golden dark brown crust form when the batter hits the smoking hot skillet. There's an art to it, for sure. I have friends from New York that now can make good old Southern Style cornbread like a pro. She carried a big cast iron skillet from New Orleans back home to NYC in her carry on luggage, plus ten pounds of course grist mill ground yellow corn meal. When I start using a burro to pack my gear for me, I'm adding a cast iron skillet to the rig. Brum
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#90317 - 02/16/08 07:01 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: Brumfield]
mockturtle Offline
member

Registered: 06/06/07
Posts: 251
Loc: WA

Quote:
Nothing beats cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet.
Amen, brother! And I don't like sugar in my cornbread, either.

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#90318 - 02/16/08 07:51 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
finallyME Offline
member

Registered: 09/24/07
Posts: 2710
Loc: Utah
Ah, the old microwave. Reminds me of when I was thinking about using one to heat water in a distiller. This was a senior design project, and the catch was that the water had to be boiled by human power only. In my early brainstorming for ideas, I was thinking about a microwave. So, I found a microwave blog for microwave engineers, and asked them the beginner questions of energy efficiency etc. They helped me realize early on that a human powered microwave is not a great idea. But, the funny thing I found on the blog was some guy trying to show the error of all these microwave engineers. He claimed that microwave food was bad because of the radiation. He sighted "case studies" of people dying, like someone dying from microwaved blood (some person needed a blood transfusion, the doctor microwaved the blood to room temp, the patient died afterwards, the death was blamed on the microwave, not the fact that the person needed a blood transfusion for some reason). The whole thing reminded me of our di-hydrogen monoxide discussion. Moral of the story, I guess it is hard for some people to understand what really is "radiation". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
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#90319 - 02/16/08 08:57 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: mockturtle]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
I was just reading somewhere about after greasing the pan and heating it up, you sprinkle corn meal on the bottom and sides before pouring in the batter. That's to keep it from sticking.

I sure do love corn bread and beans <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bill

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#90320 - 02/17/08 06:07 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: mockturtle]
Brumfield Offline
member

Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 255
Loc: Expat from New Orleans, now in...
Quote:
Brumfield wrote: Nothing beats cornbread cooked in a cast iron skillet.
OregonMouse wrote: Amen, brother! And I don't like sugar in my cornbread , either. [/quote]

Brumfield wrote: My, I hate sweet cornbread. If I wanted cake, I'd bake a cake. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I've even seen people put sugar on their grits instead of salt, black pepper, and butter, they must've been from NEW YORK CITY, or Canada, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> or some other non-Southern gourmet eatin place like that. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Brum
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#90321 - 02/17/08 06:28 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: billstephenson]
Brumfield Offline
member

Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 255
Loc: Expat from New Orleans, now in...
BillStephenson wrote:
Quote:
I was just reading somewhere about after greasing the pan and heating it up, you sprinkle corn meal on the bottom and sides before pouring in the batter. That's to keep it from sticking.

I sure do love corn bread and beans <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Bill


Brumfield wrote: There ya go, Bill... I can tell you're a true cornbread connoisseur. I use a little cornmeal and wheat flour mixed together. Just sprinkle it on the bottom and also around the inside edges of the greased hot skillet just before pouring in the batter, helps it not to stick and gives it a special floury surface to the crust. When I take the baked bread out of the oven I always have a big ole spoon of butter ready to dollop on top and shove it around while it melts all over that hot bread. The butter settles about a quarter of an inch into the cornbread giving it that wonderful buttery flavor that makes fresh-baked bread just to die for. It also keeps the bread from drying out while it sits out on the stove-top all day tempting everybody that walks by.

You should taste the beans here cooked up with fresh local herbs and spices from the street market. Of course I aways start my beans out with a pound or two of browned lean ground beef, then add the onions, lots of garlic, spices, herbs, chili peppers...YUMMMM!! ! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Brum

PS: I cook Szechuan too. But, good old cornbread and beans is just hard to beat!
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#90322 - 02/17/08 07:17 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
Bearpaw Offline
Moderator

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 1732
Loc: Tennessee
You're paying 300 bucks for a microwave!?!?! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Was it a double convection oven or some such concoction? I haven't paid more than $30-40 for a microwave in my life. I realize there isn't a Walmart around, but I've always grabbed the simplest one available the handful of times I've needed to buy one, I think three times in the last 12 years. I have one in my home and one in my classroom, and they're both working fine. My classrom one cost about $25. I hope you don't need to pay $300 to nuke a burrito...............
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#90323 - 02/17/08 07:32 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
chaz Offline
member

Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Tennessee
What's so amazing to me about people using a microwave is, even though it's faster than any other type of cooking/warming, some people are pissed that they have to wait even 10 extra seconds. It wouldn't bother me if we didn't have everything in an instant. Some things are worth waiting for.

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#90324 - 02/17/08 07:39 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: Brumfield]
chaz Offline
member

Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 1149
Loc: Tennessee
Fix me a plate, I'm on my way <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
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Enjoy your next trip...

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#90325 - 02/17/08 10:19 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: Bearpaw]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada

My daring better half insists on the over the range combination microwave hood thingy. thus making two 80 dollar units into a 300 dollar unit. and so that when one dies they both go...

Don't get me started. I know what a microwave costs <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
_________________________
Any fool can be uncomfortable...
My 3 season gear list
Winter list.
Browse my pictures


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#90326 - 02/17/08 10:36 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: Bearpaw]
Brumfield Offline
member

Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 255
Loc: Expat from New Orleans, now in...
Quote:
You're paying 300 bucks for a microwave!?!?! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />



Shhh. Knock it off, Shawn, I 'm trying to sell phat my micro for $300. Brum <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
_________________________



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#90327 - 02/17/08 10:44 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: phat]
Dryer Offline

Moderator

Registered: 12/05/02
Posts: 3591
Loc: Texas
Quote:
My daring better half insists on the over the range combination microwave hood thingy.


Ours is like that. The surprising benefit is that the transformer and magnetron were MUCH beefier, halving cooking times, with double the wattage. Plus, you get a nice light and a good fan. You get what you pay for. You'll like it.

Canadian $300? I paid about that in U.S. buks.
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#90328 - 02/17/08 10:49 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps in the City... [Re: Dryer]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Quote:
Quote:
My daring better half insists on the over the range combination microwave hood thingy.


Ours is like that. The surprising benefit is that the transformer and magnetron were MUCH beefier, halving cooking times, with double the wattage. Plus, you get a nice light and a good van. You get what you pay for. You'll like it.

Canadian $300? I paid about that in U.S. buks.


Yeah, CDN $284 for the higher model GE spacesaver.... Hooray for a low US dollar <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

And yes, it's pretty and fits in the kitchen better. But I could buy a 60 dollar wal-mart microwave, a new quilt and a GG virga for that money <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
_________________________
Any fool can be uncomfortable...
My 3 season gear list
Winter list.
Browse my pictures


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#90329 - 02/17/08 11:05 AM Re: Good lord, we are wimps ...worth waiting [Re: chaz]
Brumfield Offline
member

Registered: 12/23/07
Posts: 255
Loc: Expat from New Orleans, now in...
Chaz wrote:
Quote:
What's so amazing to me about people using a microwave is, even though it's faster than any other type of cooking/warming, some people are pissed that they have to wait even 10 extra seconds. It wouldn't bother me if we didn't have everything in an instant. Some things are worth waiting for.


Brumfield wrote:
Wisdom of the ages, well spoken, Tenable Tennessean ! Brum
_________________________



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#90330 - 02/17/08 02:02 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: Brumfield]
mockturtle Offline
member

Registered: 06/06/07
Posts: 251
Loc: WA
Quote:
Amen, brother! And I don't like sugar in my cornbread , either.

Actually, it was I who said it, not Oregon Mouse. But maybe she doesn't like sugar in her cornbread, either! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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#90331 - 02/17/08 02:10 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: mockturtle]
OregonMouse Offline
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Just to be on the record: I don't like sugar in my cornbread, either! Nor would I spend $300 for a microwave!
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#90332 - 02/17/08 02:16 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: OregonMouse]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Quote:
Just to be on the record: I don't like sugar in my cornbread, either! Nor would I spend $300 for a microwave!


And for the record, I don' t like sugar in my cornbread either! but I love the stuff..

and I didn't spend $300 on a microwave. I did however just get back from spending $279 on
a microwave/range hood combo thingy to replace the one that died.. grrrr..
_________________________
Any fool can be uncomfortable...
My 3 season gear list
Winter list.
Browse my pictures


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#90333 - 02/17/08 04:38 PM Re: Good lord, we are wimps- Burrows & Cast Iron [Re: phat]
billstephenson Offline
Moderator

Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Quote:
I did however just get back from spending $279 on
a microwave/range hood combo thingy to replace the one that died.. grrrr..


I do feel yer pain. We spent about the same a few years ago to replace one like yours. Ours just up and died, no fireworks or sparks or nothing. At least you got a little excitement with it's last hurrah. Think of all the time on the trail you could buy for $279.

No... Wait, don't think about that.

Think about all the time you'll save up to use on the trail because you weren't waiting as long for food to get hot <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bill

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