How to Cook for 60 people with 2 Volcanos and Milk Cans

Milk Can Cooking on the Volcano

If I've heard it once.. Ive heard it 50,000 times. The Volcano is too small, unless you use a Dutch Oven and stack them, to cook for a big group. I say: Fiddlesticks.
And, tonight, (with help from my brother) I proved the naysayers wrong. :) 

Two 10 Gallon Milk cans
on two Volcano
Collapsibles.

Milk Can Cooking -
2 Volcano Collapsible Propanes
Two 10 gallon stainless steel milk cans.
Two 20lb Propane Bottles.
1 Pair of Heavy Duty Gloves
1 Pair Of Scissors
2 LARGE packages of Cheese Cloth
Long Tongs
A folding Colander That will fit through the throat of the milk can and expand to cover the bottom. Bed bath and beyond carries them. The ones at Walmart are too small.
Oven Mitts or Hot Pads

The Ingredients -

20 lbs of ham, (Water Added like Farmland) sliced into 1/3 lb slices. (I got the Deli at Walmart to do this for me.)
14 Lbs of Onions. (I used  a combination of Walla Walla and Candy, but you can use any white onion)
6 Lbs of Kielbasa
60 Fist Sized (Think Petite Womans Fist if you want them to cook more quickly)
4 Dozen ears of Corn.
Spices that you like. I used Trader Joe's Spices of the World 21 Seasoning Salute.

The Prep. This is where all the hard work comes in.
If you didn't have the Deli Do it, slice the Ham into 1/3 Lb slices. On a 5lb Ham, this works out to 15 slices per ham or a total of 60 slices. Put 30 Slices in one 2 gallon zip lock bag and the rest in another.
Slice the onions into at least quarters, if they are big, slice them into 1/8ths Divide the onions into two equally full big zip lock bags. (I used 2 gallon size)
Slice the Kielbasa ( I bought six 1lb Pkgs. so it was easy to divide them) into about 1/2 wide slices. Put 3lbs in one bag and 3 in the other.
Shuck the corn and break it in 1/2. Divide the corn 48 pieces for each can. 

Getting the Food into the Milk Cans
Put yourVolcanos on the ground. You will hate lifting full 10 gallon cans from height.
Get your Volcanos Started.
Put the Milk cans on the Volcanos
Put the Colanders in the bottom
Pour in about 16 oz. of water into the bottom of the milk can.

Cut the cheese cloth into about 3 foot long strips. The objective is to make a very loose bag. You have to bring the food out the same hole you put it down in. Put the potatoes on the cheese cloth and tie it, diaper style, so that you form a bag. (It should fit VERY loose) Put the potatoes down into the bottom of the Milk can. Repeat this for the 2nd.
Take your corn and place it on top of the Potatoes. There isn't any particular order. Repeat for the 2nd can.
Using the Cheese Cloth again, mix 1/2 of the ham and 1/2 of the kielbasa on the cheese cloth. Put your spice on the mix and then tie that into a bag, also and slip it into the milk can. Repeat for the 2nd can.
Using your cheese cloth, do the same thing for the onions. Don't add more spice.

Put the top on the milk can (We had to jiggle the cans a little bit to get it all to fit.) Wait.Pretty soon you will see steam coming out of  the top of the milk can. From that point it takes about 1 hour to cook. If the milk cans STOP steaming.. add more water if you dont think they are done or turn it off.

When the hour is up, turn the heat down on one of the milk cans, and turn the other one off. Take the lid off the one that you turned off. Put on your gloves. (Save you from Steam burns) And grab your tongs. Grab the cheese cloth in a thick spot, and pull out the onions. (Anything in a bag can take some finagaling to get out and/ or strong pulling) Put them in your serving platter (Sweet onions are pretty good this way) Repeat for the Ham/Kielbasa mix. With your tongs (Now you know why you wanted long) take out the corn and after that, take out the potatoes..
Let the people start to eat.. When you start to get low on food.. Repeat for the 2nd can... That way the food will stay hot.. and delicious.

Remember this is STEAMED food. That means at 5000 ft of elevation it comes out of the can at about 204 degrees. It cools of quickly. Don't lolligag in serving it.

Taste the corn.. All the flavor from the onions and ham and kielbasa should have filtered down on that and the potatoes. If the corn is delicious w/o any butter ... You did it right.. Likewise the potatoes.

Layout your cheese cloth and get ready to build a bag

Tie the cheese cloth into a bag. Sort of diaper style.

You have to feed them down into the milk can. They come out the same way. However, they were HOT and I was busy, so  I didnt take any pictures of that.

Ham and Kielbasa mixed. If you DONT use the water added ham, it will be really dry. Think shoe leather.

My Brother was worried that we wouldn't get enough heat with the Volcano. He was W R O N G.

You can see the steam if you look close

Looks delicious.. And it was..

Like Hungry Locusts, they came in swarms and it soon vanished.

mark infanger utah

A Recipe That Looked Tasty

Multi Pepper Flat Iron Steaks

I found (read stole) this great recipe for Flat Iron Steaks

Ingredients

    1 tablespoon smoked paprika
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 teaspoon brown sugar
    2 teaspoons chili powder
    1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
    1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    1/2 teaspoon onion powder
    1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
    2 pounds flat iron steaks

Directions

    Stir together the paprika, salt, sugar, chili powder, chipotle powder, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin in a small bowl until blended. Rub the seasoning mix all over the flat iron steaks, then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap. Marinate in the refrigerator 2 to 8 hours (the longer the better).
    Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
    Cook the steaks on the preheated grill until cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium. Allow the steaks to rest for 5 minutes in a warm location before slicing.

mark infanger utah

Dutch Oven Potatoes - WOW!

I was invited to a family reunion this past weekend. I usually dread family reunions. Outside of my own cousins and Uncles and Aunts, I dont know any of the rest of the crew.
Add on top of that that it was my mothers family and the paternal family of one of my Aunts, I thought there would be few people, outside those I mentioned, that I knew. 

The first nights activities started around 7pm and we didnt get there until about 8:30. we got leftovers. Mostly cookies, cake and junk. None of which looked too appealing to me. 

Someone said to me: Did you try the Dutch Oven Potatoes? I thought, Ho-hum BORING. However, when I tasted said food, I was delighted.

After talking to the Chef, Don Bird from Bear Lake, and a little cajoling, he gave me the basic recipe. I thought I would share it with you. 

In a 12" deep Dutch oven

Slice 20 lbs of potatoes. He used Idaho Bakers, I would try reds, also. He also took the skin off. When asked why, he said the spuds were about a year old, but normally he would not do that. 

1/2 lb Bacon

1 Big Yellow Onion
Carrots and Veggies to taste (Zucchini works well, but add it way late in the cook or it will turn to mush)
1 can of pickled Jalapenos (Fresh would work, but they would be more spicy)
1 Can of 7up Or Beer.
1/2 Cup Oil
1 Cube of butter. (NOT margarine)

Brown onions and bacon till onions carmelize.
Add the butter and melt it.
Add the oil - Use your discretion on the amount of oil.
Add the Potatoes
Add the Jalapenos (optional)
Add the Carrots
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Stir so that it is all well mixed together

Cook  with lid on DO for 30 minutes
Add 7up or beer
If you are using Zucchini this is about the time to add it in.
Also about the right time to put cheese on the top.

Cook about 15 more minutes and you are ready to go.

You can add cheese on top - Cheddar or Colby is the most common, but I was told a good pepper jack would work well, also. 

written by Mark Infanger Utah

The Volcano Jr

We have talked a little bit about bringing the Volcano Jr. back. For the most part the responses have been positive.

We feel that it would be MOST useful for singles who want something that does not require a specific fuel. IE it could burn charcoal or wood, instead of hard to find butane cylinders or white gas or otherwise. Those things seem to be the first thing to disappear when disaster strikes. 

The whole setup (we would probably make a Dutch Oven to specifically fit this) would weigh less than 20lbs, fit into a case. We would probably also make a Volcano Lid for it, also.

The Volcano Jr will fit either an 6" Dutch Oven or a 8" Dutch Oven as seen below.

The Lodge 6" Dutch Oven From the Lodge Site

Designed to meet consumer demands for smaller renditions of family favorites, desserts, sauces, or specialized recipes, the new 1-quart Lodge Camp Dutch Oven joins the list of eight Camp Ovens produced in South Pittsburg, TN.

Item No.	Description
L6CO3	Lodge Logic 1 qt. Camp Oven 6-5/8" dia, 3" depth

Or the 8 inch. Info is also from the Lodge Site

The Lodge portable “camp stove” is the pot that does it all. The flanged lid holds hot coals and inverts for use as a griddle. The integral legs allow the oven to sit perfectly over hot coals. Includes Camp Dutch Oven Cooking 101 cookbook.
SKU	Description
L8CO3	2 qt., 8" dia., Depth: 3"

 

And in case any of you are wondering, the Volcano Jr. Belongs to Mark Infanger Utah, and is not for sale.

A Great Recipe From the Cookbook

We decided that once a week we would pull a recipe from the Cook Book and give it a whirl.


Babecued Hamburgers with Onion Rings
2lbs lean ground beef
2 tsps. BBQ sauce
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
Cheese slices -optional.
1 egg
1/4 cup corn meal.
1 Large onion (one slice per burger)

We modified this recipe so that it could be use with the middle grill and the lid.
Put 19 Kingsford Charcoal briquettes on the bottom grill of the Volcano. Light them and wait till they are completely white and all the lighter fluid smell is gone. This will take about 15 minutes or so.

Mix BBQ sauce, mustard, egg and cormeal together and add to ground beef. We found it handy to have some surgical glove so that you could knead the ingredients together for better consistency. Make into patties about 1/2 inch thick and 3.5 inches in diameter. Make them all the same size they will all fit on the Middle Grill. (If they are all 3.5 inches, you can get 7 on the grill)

Open the bottom vent to 100%. Place all the burgers on the middle grill. and cover with the lid. Let cook for about 10 min. Turn the burgers and continue cooking. Cook times will vary, but we cooked ours an additional 15 min (with the lid on) and then place the onion and cheese on top.

Since we still had a completely unoccupied top grill we thought.. What can we do? We decided that we could use the Volcano as a double decker cooker and grilled Avocados (Be sure to put some spices on them before you grill them or you will just have hot Avocado.. (not that tasty)

The avocado and pineapple slices all ready for the grill. The limes were to spice up the burgers. I add two different rubs to the avocados. One was a lime cilantro and the other was a garlic herb. They turned out not too bad.














Here is what the finished product looked like.. All the burgers disappeared in about 30 seconds.. They were very tasty.

New Product Coming Soon!!

Summer time brings with it thoughts of the outdoors.. BBQ and, of course, outdoor cooking. We are going to introduce, in the very near future, a line of flexible skewers. (Pictures later)
The skewers are made from stainless steel and can be flexed to fit around the top of the Volcano, giving you ample room for 3 or 4 flexible skewers.. A LOT of food, basically.
Keep your eyes here.. We've tested them till the cows come home and think you will agree that they belong in your cooking set up.. The perfect complement to your Volcano Outdoor Portable Grill.

Keep your eyes peeled.. I'll post news here as it develops..
We will also be introducing 2 OTHER products this year.. However, I have to keep those under wraps for now.. Stay tuned! 

Flexible Skewers Make Using ALL the space on your Volcano Easier.

I hope that spring decides to show up..

I don't know about where you live, but here in Utah, it seems like Spring took a vacation and we skipped right back into late fall. Since October of 2010, we have had exactly 1 day over 70 degrees. Uggh.
As most of you know.. The Volcano is in short supply. (We anticipate that they will be back in stock in May) To that end, if you would like to be one of the FIRST to receive one when they come in.. Call us at 866.320.2005 and ORDER one for $149.95. This price includes shipping to ANY of the 48 contiguous states. Please note FREE freight ONLY applies to back ordered items. Call if you have questions.
The big concern here in Utah is that it will warm up too fast, the snow pack will melt too quickly and we will get flooding. Wise council would be to pack your charcoal briquettes in something waterproof. I suggest that, for your 72 hour kit, you keep it in a Dry Sack (like they use on River Rafting expeditions). Waxed matches. The Boy Scouts were right.. Being prepared is a pretty good idea.