Mini Cajun Microwave

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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby slatts » 25 Jan 2014, 17:59

Hahaha ive been thinking about it a lot since I see the program.

I would line it with aluminium sheets not steel if that's what you was thinking.

I only thought of smoking as an after thought as I love a bit of smoke on my meat now but yeah they are just a big oven, I was on the understanding that the box as a whole with bottom was to retain the heat to make it like a conventional oven, enclosed unit.

Either way I think the idea is awesome and whatever the size its a bit of garden theatre like the old beer can chicken. Although pulling a whole cooked pig out of a box is a bit better than a chicken standing up in a smoker with a can of beer up its bum.

I'd definitely dry rub the meat side and inject through the skin, bit scared of the price of pigs :lol: maybe a smaller pig is a good idea to start with. I'd only want it butterflied no other butchery.
On one video they said the head and brains was the best bit, now ive tried a lot of things, frogs legs, snails, ostrich, zebra and crocodile but pigs brains really do not do it for me!!!!!!! They also said to take out the kidneys if they are included in the pig.

Ive got an old butler sink I dug up in my garden, like you I think i'll try a cheap version first, making a box out of ply, no handles or legs just sit it on the sink. Foil the inside and maybe just buy some dirt cheap cooking trays for the coals to sit on and some for the pig to sit on, maybe just get a big chunk of pork even half a pig and try it out.
Wish I hadn't of seen it until the summer as i'll spend the next few months winding myself up wanting to do it :D
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby robgunby » 26 Jan 2014, 11:58

I don't know why youre waiting slatts, I'm gonna get out there and get it going asap!

The prototype with no base will be on a piece of bare, packed earth in my garden, which will create an enclosed space. If all goes well I will put a base on it and mount it on some legs and wheels.

If the price of a pig daunts you, go for a half pig. Still got the theatre element. I think mine will be used more as a giant oven for cooking large roast meals, but I will try a half pig or a whole suckling one day :)

Hmm, pig's brains...I've tried calf's head before, it was....interesting. If you like the richness of offal, and don't mind or even enjoy the strange, strange textures of the various parts of a head, then you'll love it ;)

I'd go for a crispy pig's ear though!

The butler sink as a base idea is interesting. That porcelain will hold a lot of heat, and will in addition act as a heatsink to prevent your ply from getting too hot I imagine.
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby slatts » 26 Jan 2014, 15:18

Hi

As it goes I have a lot of earth to get rid of out of my garden so I could even just use that as a base for it.

I'd love to start now but work has been rubbish this month, always is being a self employed tiler as nobody wants any work done after xmas etc and the bloody tax man wants his money.
Once ive paid out what I need to then i'll be buying the wood to make it, depends on how much the metal bits cost I might just go for it and make a decent one.

Just need to chat to the butcher and get a deal for a small pig.

I'll be posting pictures of the build and first cook on it anyway, hopefully in a month or 2.
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby robgunby » 26 Jan 2014, 19:13

I feel your pain man. I was waiting January out, and as soon as payday seems a reality, £600 of extra costs come out of nowhere and poof goes my expendible income.

However, being self employed with little work gives you one advantage over me - you have time to look about and scrounge some plywood ;)

Back to being serious - I reckon we'll both be completing around the same time. Perhaps when we get closer, one of us should start a fresh post to share ideas and post progress on our builds.
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby slatts » 27 Jan 2014, 08:18

Hi

I hate January, a month of pain. Also when im off the wife will go to work so ive got the kids which is when I really miss work :lol: :lol:

It also hasn't stopped raining down here, would rather build it in the dry, protect the outside of it with some fence paint or something like that, been doing some work at a fence panel making business and they have a treatment plant so I might be able to paint the outside using some proper stuff, shame they don't use any plywood there.

Just got to find the metal tray now but my uncle is a mobile car mechanic so hopefully he can find me one of those trays for the oil the garages use.

Will def do a new thread with the build.
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby CyderPig » 07 Mar 2014, 09:31

Hi Lads
The pair of you have been doing a lot of good thinking on this project!
Tin foil will work to line the box, adding smoke to the box can be done by fitting a Venturi type Smoke generator to the end wall of the box and drilling a few small holes in the other, or you could just drop a Pro Q in the bottom of the box where the meat cannot drip on it.
Cheers Si
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby robgunby » 07 Mar 2014, 11:24

Yeah good call Si. I would use the venturi for a heavier smoke, as mine kicks out a thick plume, and the proq if I wanted a mild smoke or was doing a longer cook. The ProQ really doesnt kick out a lot of smoke over an hour. Another thought, would using the proQ mean having to have quite a lot of ventilation, and thus lose heat from the chamber? Venturi might therefore be the way to go...

Glad you reminded me about this Si, my oven has a 150F temperature difference between racks 2" away in the centre. Time to move my roasts outside.
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Re: Mini Cajun Microwave

Postby CyderPig » 07 Mar 2014, 14:16

Hi Rob
The last time I used mine I cold smoked the Pork before putting it in the Cajun microwave.
Cooking a whole Sunday dinner outside is easy to do one of these toys.
Si
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