I was thinking..

About Preparedness today.. As I drove from Salt Lake City to Springville, I could see that there were many drivers who were not prepared. Either they didnt know how do drive in the snow, or their cars were not equipped to help them survive the TERRIBLE road conditions. I wonder, when TEOTAWKI happens, how many, especially if it happens in the dead of winter, will be unprepared? I know that A LOT of people have food storage. Few have fuel storage and even fewer yet have a way to cook/keep warm when disaster strikes.
To that end, watch our website in the next few days.. We will be putting up a "works" Volcano Package. I will be putting a coupon code on the BLOG that will give you an additon % off. JUST for being a blog follower.
Might do it for some of the accessories, also.. Maybe The Lid, for example. I am open to suggetions.

Left Over Christmas Ham idea...

First and foremost... I hate turkey. I know.. un-american.. I've never tasted your recipe... Ive not tried this or that.. Trust me.. been there.. done that.. got the T-Shirt. Deep fried turkey (Not as good as deep fried twinkies or mars bars) Basil rubbed turkeys.. Turkey cooked upside down in a bag.. Turkey stuff with pine nuts.. Turkey stuffed with stuff.. On and on.. I just don't like that texture. Ok! Enough about Turkey!

What I do like is a good ham.. Cure 81, Honey Baked ham, Bilinski's (www.bilinkskis.com)  Ham I am. (HamIAm.com) and a few others.. Sometimes the Costco ham (Believe it or not.. ) is pretty good.

The way I cook it is pretty simple. Face down, covered in tin foil. about 20 min per lb at 275 degrees. This gives you a juicy ham. Then add the glaze of choice.. I like this one:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup soft bread crumb

Directions:

Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard  in a bowl. Stir with a fork until sugar dissolves. Stir in bread crumbs. Spread glaze evenly over ham during final 30 minutes of cooking.

Ok. Cook your ham. Eat it. Like it. You will have a left over bone and, if you are smart, a little bit of meat on it.

Now is the time for your ham to be truly tasty. I like Ham hocks and beans.. Here is one of my favorite Recipes.

Ingredients

• left over bone and meat from your Christmas ham.
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onions( I like to go a little light on this)
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1/4 cup minced green bell peppers
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 quarts Chicken Stock or
• canned low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed, picked over, soaked overnight in water to cover, and drained(Most beans have rocks and crud in them... CLEAN THEM WELL!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup minced green onions (green and white parts)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Score the skin of each ham hock with a sharp knife.

Heat the oil in a large deep pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ham hocks, onions, celery, bell peppers, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours.

Add the beans and stir. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the beans are just tender and ham hocks are very tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Season with the salt and continue cooking for 15 to 30 minutes, until the beans are tender and the ham hocks are beginning to fall apart. Remove from the heat.

Spoon the ham hocks and beans into bowls (or cut the meat from the bones and stir the meat back into the pot of beans before ladling into bowls) and sprinkle with the green onions and parsley.

Yield: 4 servings

Sorry no pictures.. It was a madhouse at Christmas.. and, frankly, I was focused on other stuff. Enjoy.. Im going to try and post something here each week. So! my 12 followers.. Get your friends to check this out will you? And I will try to get more picture happy!

A Soup from my youth..

Some of you know that when I was younger, I lived in Bogota, Colombia. I thought I would take some of the "comfort food" from my youth and post the Recipes here.

This sou;p is called Ajiaco.. I think it is delicious and it's not very hard to make. However. FOLLOW the ingredients or you will never get an authentic flavor. The critical ingredient is the Guascas.. That seems to be the foundational flavor of the soup.
Also, here in the United States we cannot get the same potatoes that they use there (A variation of yellow ones that dont fall apart in hot water like Russets seem to do) That being said, I think you will find this easy to make and tasty.
I halved this recipe and used a 12 inch deep DO. The Volcano, natch, was the heat source.

AJIACO BOGOTANO



Equipment


12" deep Dutch Oven
potato peeler


Ingredients
3 pounds  chicken breast, on the bone with skin (or 1 whole chicken, cut into parts)
6 quarts water
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6 pounds  new red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 pounds  papas criollas (in the U.S. use Dutch Creamer, Baby Dutch Yellow, Yukon Gold, or Yellow Finn potatoes), cut into 1-inch chunks (In Utah country sometimes you can find them at Tenochitlan)
4 ears corn on the cob (fresh or frozen), cut into 3-inch pieces
2 handfuls of Guascas (about 5 g dried or 10 g fresh)






SERVE WITH
cilantro leaves
Crema Mexicana (or regular heavy cream if you can’t find the other)
capers
avocados, sliced
cooked rice


Preparation



 1. Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the DO, sprinkle with a handful of guascas, and add water. Bring to a boil and cook until the meat is tender. Remove chicken and set aside. Cover with foil and keep warm.

2. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for at least a couple hours, 4 hours is best. The yellow potatoes should start to break up in the soup, but if not, you can help the soup along by mashing some of the yellow potatoes in the pot.


3. Once the cooked chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones. Cut the meat into small pieces and drop them back into the pot.


4. About 5 minutes before serving, add the remaining guascas and let it cook for 5 minutes, then serve.5. Serve in deep bowls, making sure that each bowl gets some chicken and a piece of corn on the cob. Garnish with a dollop of heavy cream, capers, and cilantro leaves. You can eat the avocado on the side with the rice, or you can cut a slice into pieces and drop into your soup bowl. (I like the avocado chunks in my soup.)

Give it a whirl.. I think you will like it.. And I can report to my wifes grandmother that she will live on forever in her recipes.

Happy Holidays!!

From your friends at Volcano

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.

TWO "C" Grade Volcano Propane Stoves - First come first serve..

I recieved TWO "C" Grade Volcano Collapsible stoves.. First come first serve.... $40.00 each. If you live in Utah CASH ONLY. If you dont live in Utah..Shipping will apply AND a rebox charge.

So... C'mon down!!

I went to Chilis .. I loved the soup.. but thought it was overpriced.. I found the recipe and made it myself

My wife invited me to Chilis the other day for dinner. .. First of all, I HATE French Fries, so, generally, Chilis is NOT on the radar..
However, after much resistance on my part, we went.
After perusing the menu and seeing only 1000+ Calorie Burgers and stuff that is NOT on my diet.. I saw that they had a variety of soups.. Anyway, I tried their Chicken and Green Chile soup.. Long story short.. GREAT soup.. small portion.. Overpriced.
So....
I went out on the web and found a copycat recipe and tried it.. It was delicious..
ngredients:

This recipe below makes 12 servings.. (I cut it in 1/2 and still had a lot of soup)

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

* 1 lb chicken breast fillet (approx. 3 fillets)

* 1/2 cup diced onion

* 1 garlic clove, pressed, to taste

* 4 cups chicken broth

* 1 cup masa harina

* 3 cups water

* 1 cup enchilada sauce

* 16 ounces Velveeta cheese

* 1 teaspoon salt, to taste

* 1 teaspoon chili powder

* 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Garnish

* shredded cheddar cheese

* crumbled corn tortilla chips


Pico de Gallo

* 2 medium tomatoes, diced

* 1/2 cup diced Spanish onion

* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and de-ribbed

* 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh cilantro

* 1 pinch salt
 
HOW TO MAKE
 
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot over medium heat.


Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side.

Set chicken aside.

Add onions and garlic to pot and sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent.

Add chicken broth.

Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.

Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth.

Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.

Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.

Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.

Serve soup in cups or bowls, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and pico de gallo.





A Volcano Secret - Revealed ONLY on the blog

Volcano Secret - I am here, most nights, until 8pm. So, if you need to order something (I can't tell you shipping, I dont have access to that system after hours) Or tech support.. Or have some decent clean jokes.. Give me a call. 888.320.2005 of 801.420.2005 If you need help on Saturday, most of the time I have my cell phone with me.. Email me.. Ill try to get back to you ASAP. Sunday emails will be answered on Monday. mark@volcanogrills.com
Last and certainly NOT least.. I have some good quality Non Propane stoves.. great condition. (not fabulous, if they were fabulous, youd have to pay new!) Some of them good enough for gifts.. Call me and tell me you saw it on the blog.. Ill give them away for $50.00 each. If you pick them up it is CASH ONLY! So, if you are a briquette fan (as I am) these are a great way to take advantage of the Power of the Volcano for CHEEEEP!

Places to get a Volcano this weekend.

Volcano HOT DEAL
http://www.volcanogrills.com/

This weekend Maceys in Spanish Fork will be having their customer appreciation day. We will be at the Spanish Fork Maceys on FRIDAY Afternoon doing an in-store demo. (No free food, sorry) They will have special pricing. (I dont know what it will be) And, we will be giving away FREE Volcano Lids.

http://www.volcanogrills.com/virtuemart/accessories/lid-dp2.html

This will be the least expensive place this weekend -that I know about - to get a Volcano and a Lid!

The LAST of the Scratch and dent/returns.

I have a few A/B Volcanos WITHOUT Propane left. These are my choice (First come gets the better ones) and will go for $70/60 dollars each. HOWEVER if you are a follower of our blog.. Ill give you another $5.00 AND Ill sell you the Lid for $20.00.
If you pick up at our location its CASH only - If you are out of Utah.. shipping will be additional, of course.

Also Note - Until Christmas, I will be accepting NEW smaller dealers. Ill give you choice of ANY 5 Volcanos, 5 Lids and 5 cookbooks as your starter package AND -after your initial purchase - we will drop ship for $8.00 additional per unit.

So, get it while it's hot.. because on Thursday Dec 23 - the gates slam shut.

If you didnt see it on our site..

Totally out of the "A" and "B" Stoves. IF and when I get more they will be exclusively posted here.

Here is a recipe from our website.. Ill be posting more as time goes on.

Pot Stickers Recipe


¾ cup grated cabbage

6 oz lean ground pork

5 oz chopped, fresh, or frozen shrimp

3 tbsp finely chopped green onion

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp. cornstarch

¼ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

36 round wonton wrappers

3 qts. Boiling water

2 tsp. hard margarine or butter


Place first 9 ingredients into a medium sized bowl and mix well. Put 2 ½ tsp. of the pork mixture onto the center of each wonton wrapper. Dampen the edge with water, fold over, and press to seal. Repeat. Keep covered with a damp tea towel to prevent drying out. Boil water in a large uncovered pot or Dutch oven and add up to 1/3 of the pot stickers. Return to a boil and leave for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, rinse with cold water, and repeat until all are cooked. Melt margarine/ butter in a non-stick fry pan. Arrange pot stickers close together in the pan and cook on one side only until well browned. Make 36.

The used stoves are almost gone

I am almost out of the "A" and "B" Stoves.. I have a decent quantity of the "C" stoves.

The Volcano lid worked like a dream

This past friday we had Mormon Times down to scope out the Volcano. We cooked bread in the Volcano. NO Dutch oven. We simply used a bread pan purchased at Maceys and put the Volcano Lid over the top. 30 minutes later... Perfect loaf of bread. We used 8 coals.. next time I think I will go to 6 coals and coat the top of the bread with an egg wash..
Also, the space under the stove served well to melt the butter to a nice gooey consistency.
Normally, I would post pictures, but I dont want to steal the thunder from Mormon Times. (Ive no idea when the article is coming out.. but will keep you posted)

http://www.volcanogrills.com/
mark@volcanogrills.com

Used Volcano Grills

Used Volcano Grill Pricing
"A" Stoves. $80.00. I am currently out of these. May have some more next week.
"B" Stoves $60.00
"C" Stoves $40.00

Give me a call at 801 420 2005!!


Mark

New stuff!!

For those of you who follow this blog - Today may well be your lucky day. I am in the process of sorting through all of our returns. These will be in a variety of conditions. All functional.. and working. The "A" stoves (I had six but sold them all) Will be mostly new, perhaps used once.. complete in every respect except for the Users manual (maybe) which you can download from the web) They may be slightly dirty. They are USED but they work. NO warranty -other than that they will work - included. The "B" stoves will be functional (I have 10 left) Will be dirty, (The grills especially) The burners may be discolored but fully functional. So, if you dont mind something of a dirty mess and can clean the stove and DRY it so that it does not rust.. These will be a good deal. The "C" grade stoves will be complete, some rust (Could be anywhere, but the bottom pan especially. They will be fully functional. I would suggest some naval jelly and then some hi-temp BBQ paint) They are messy. These, for the do it yourself person who does not mind applying a little elbow grease, will be a great deal. Give me a call at 888 320 2005.
If you are dead set on an "A" stove... I may have some more next weekend.. I got about 1/2 way through the project on Saturday (Look how hard I work for you!!) and decided to watch football. I will finish the project next week, I may have some more "A" stoves. I am not going to put this on the web.. I will put it on Facebook, however.
I will be posting more often. My goal is to do two things.
1- Each week post a new recipe that we took for a test drive. This past week we cook bread on the mid-grill in just a bread pan with the lid. No Dutch Oven required :) Ill post pics and etc pretty soon
2-Review some Volcano related product. For example, this week, I saw a hand crank lantern at Kohls (of all places) for $20.00. I think I will get one and test drive it to see if it is worth 20 bucks. If not, you might see the "cook it on a Volcano, it will cook anything slogan" applied.

I will keep you posted. 
Bookmark us. Tell your friends!!

-Mark
IMS
Volcano II Corporation
http://www.volcanogrills.com/
888.320.2005

New Videos up on the Website

Check out our new videos that we have posted on the www.volcanogrills.com website. These are instructional videos that will help understand the functionality of the Volcano. It show how to set-up, take down, and how to use with: charcoal, wood and propane. We should have several other videos up on the site in a few days.
Click the following link to go to the page- http://www.volcanogrills.com/videos.html

Volcano Review by Cooking-Outdoors.com

Special thanks to Gary House and Cooking-Outdoors.com for his review of the Volcano Grill. Gary offers information on opening and assembling the Volcano Grill with propane attachment.

Thanks for such a great video, Gary!

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Volcano Grills

The Volcano Collapsible Propane Grill is the most versatile and efficient grill on the market today. From the backyard to the great outdoors, this tri-fuel cooker allows you to cook whatever you want, whenever you want, while using a variety of fuels. The Volcano is very versatile; cooking with a wok, pots, pans, griddle, open-flame and is an exceptional grill.

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Extened Special Offer

The recent 48 hour special was such a success that Volcano Grills has extended the offer! We will continue to offer the Collapsible Volcano Grill for $129.95 (normally $149.95) and the Volcano Lid for $19.95 (normally $24.95). As an added discount to our FaceBook fans, use the coupon code 'FaceBook' for an additional 5% off any of our online Volcano products.

 

 

Visit the Volcano Grills website for more information.

48 Hour Special

Take advantage of our 48 hour special on Volcano Grills with Propane ($129.99) and Volcano Lid ($19.99). Special ends on Aug 19, 2010.

Visit http://www.volcanogrills.com/ for more details.

Why I love the Volcano Grill

From an anonymous college student,

College life can be quite a transition. Soon after moving out, I began to realize that even with all the good aspects of being a student there were also going to be some things that would be tough to get used to.

Number one, of course, is my financial state. If I could use one word to describe myself in college it may very well be “broke,” a term that experts often use to describe the state of having zero money. I have a pretty good job and everything, but as the amount of bills I have to pay stacks up, paydays have become more and more somber. I guess that the best way I can describe it is by comparing it to one’s birthday. When you were young your birthday was the happiest day of the year, a day filled with large amounts of sugar in the form of drastically over frosted cakes, friends, and presents, all a kid could ever want. But then, as you get older (and I’m assuming this since I’m really not that old yet) birthdays become dark and gloomy, a day when you realize how old you are and become incredibly depressed. But instead of once a year I get that every other week. Yikes.

Having no money is a gateway that eventually leads to other problems, like having no food. Okay, obviously if I had no food I would die but there are definitely worse things than death, like eating nothing but Ramen for an entire week (been there) or being forced to raid the fridge while your roommates are out and take just little amounts of things so they don’t notice and then mix those items into a sort of casserole that is hardly appetizing and rarely tastes very good. If there is one thing I’ve learned from my days in college it’s that combining condiments to make unique sauces is a dangerous and sometimes harmful road. But I will admit my lack of funds isn’t even the primary cause of this tomfoolery, I would mainly attribute it to my lack of cooking abilities.

But these two difficulties of college are also two of the reasons why the Volcano Grill is so great. First of all, it’s cheap! For a while, they were selling those things at Costco for a hundred bucks! For $100 I only have to sell my plasma like three times. And even on their website they go for about $150 which is still not bad seeing that you get everything you need for propane cooking too. It also solves problem number two, because what human being can’t cook a steak? I mean honestly, you just throw a large piece of meat over a fire until the inside isn’t pink anymore. And it’s delicious. I’ve also been enjoying stir fry which consists of a bag of Wal-Mart’s stir-fry vegetables and stir-fry sauce and some chopped up chicken ($8 total). My days of Ramen are finally over. Not to mention that it solves problem number three, that I live in a space that is smaller than many people’s closets. The Volcano Grill collapses down and fits semi-easily under my bed. The moral of the story is that the Volcano Grill is a fantastic product that I would recommend to all of you, whether you’re a college student or not. And as for my college friends, I’ll be seeing you all at the plasma donation center!

We cooked this delicious Apple Cobbler for a work party and it was loved by all. Try it yourself!

First, we lined the Dutch Oven with aluminum foil. We recommend doing this, especially with messy recipes like Cobbler to make it easier to clean up after. Then, we poured in our apple pie filling. We used apple but any kind of fruit filler will work (peach, cherry, blueberry, etc.) .

Next, we sprinkled a package of white cake mix on top of the filling, being sure not to mix the two. This is another thing that you can switch up according to your taste. Another example might be cherry filling with chocolate cake mix.

Then, we poured lemon-lime soda on top of the filling. A lot of recipes call for a can; we poured in about half of a 20 oz. bottle.

After adding the soda, we took a fork and mixed the soda into the cake mix, taking care not to mix it with our filling. If you get a little into the filling that's fine.

When we'd finished mixing, we sprinkled some powdered sugar on top of the mix for some added sweetness (you could also try cinnamon). Then, we put the lid on our Dutch Oven and dropped it into our Volcano Grill. Normally, you would cook with 8-12 briquettes for about 45 minutes to cook your Cobbler but we wanted to try it with low heat propane.

We used a Volcano Lid, which is an excellent tool to more efficiently trap the heat from briquettes and propane.

40-45 minutes later and our cobbler is looking delicious. We let it sit for a couple of minutes and then it was time to eat. A great fast and easy recipe that tastes great! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Win a lid!!

We will be holding drawings for every 100 people that click the "like" button on our Facebook page. Out of every 100 fans, one will win. This round, the winner will receive a free Volcano Lid! (a $24.95 value, click on the link to find out more).

Our Facebook pages:

http://www.facebook.com/volcano2

http://www.facebook.com/volcanogrills

We will be holding one drawing on our Volcano II page when it reaches 300 friends, but after that we will only continue the drawings on our newer "Volcano Grills" page. We believed this to be easier and a little less confusing for all of us :) Thanks for your support, everyone!

Welcome to the official blog for Volcano Grills!

Hey everyone, we're excited to announce the creation of our new blog! Here we'll post weekly (at least) updates with news, product information, new cooking ideas and recipes, answers to customer questions, neat stories, etc. Anything at all to help you explore the many uses of your grill. From tailgating to camping, from your patio to your boat, your Volcano does it all.

And whether you own a Volcano or not, we hope you enjoy and learn from our blog. And don't be afraid to share any comments or questions you may have as well. We always love hearing from you!

For more information, you can always check us out online at www.volcanogrills.com or follow us on our facebook page, www.facebook.com/volcanogrills. Thank you so much for your support! Tell your friends about us!