Cajun Microwave

[ElMostro]

I have been wanting to make one of these for a while and finally took a break to make one. It is a "Cajun Microwave" and works by cooking the meat from above. You can use charcoal or left over scraps of wood (which I have plenty of). I made it from Cedar and the inside is lined with sheet metal. This is what I call the "Deployable version" since it only weighs about 25 pounds and can be easily transported. This is the first one I make and it was an experiment to see if it worked so I made it to look like a planter just in case it did not work I could use it as a palnter

Anyway, once I proved the concept the next step up is to make one that can fit whole small pig around 125 pounds. The idea is not new nor did I come up with it but I built this one by looking at pictures and making it up as I went.

Here is experiment #1, it was a 12 pond pork shoulder and cooked in 4.5 hours:


Lighting the fire, it was a muggy day in Texas and the wood scraps created quite a bit of smoke:

This experiment used about 1/3 bag of charcoal and some wood scraps:

For the last 45 minutes I placed some corn inside to roast, here are the results:

And a close up:

Here it experiment #2, it was a 14 pound shoulder and a 20 pound turkey, this one took about 6 hours and the weather outside was about 40 degrees. For the last 45 minutes I roasted some potatoes and corn with the residual heat from the embers:

And here are the results:

Thanks for looking, Eugene.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

I can almost smell the results from here....MMMMMMMMMMMgood!

 

[rjwolfe3]

OMG that food looks so good! Just curious to know where you found the plans to make it?

 

[glycerine]

so everything got cooked all the way through? It's odd seeing something heated only from the top like that. You'd think it wouldn't work that well!

 

[jleiwig]

so everything got cooked all the way through? It's odd seeing something heated only from the top like that. You'd think it wouldn't work that well!

Why not? Most ovens now have the heating element on the top of the oven.

I'm drooling over here man...that shoulder and that turkey looks to die for!

 

[ElMostro]

OMG that food looks so good! Just curious to know where you found the plans to make it?

No plans for this one since I made it from pics I saw on line. But if it helps, the outer dimensions are 30" long by 21" wide and 17" deep. The bottom is adjustable so depending on what I am cooking I can lift the floor up wich make the inside cavity smaller so you have to heat up less area and it cooks faster. Also I forgot to mention, there is a layer of 1/4" "Hardi board" (it is a cement board that is used when making tiled counter tops) between the cedar and the sheet metal, it works as an insulator to keep more heat inside the box. This board added about 15 pounds to the overall weight.

 

[ElMostro]

so everything got cooked all the way through? It's odd seeing something heated only from the top like that. You'd think it wouldn't work that well!

Yep, that is what I said when I saw one since most of the heat is just going up and "away" so I had to test it, and it does work. I was also sruprized at how little charcoal is used.
I will be making some "enhancemnts" to this one soon to take advantage of all the heat that rises. I figure you can cook some burgers and dogs while you wait for the main course.

 

[glycerine]

Why not? Most ovens now have the heating element on the top of the oven.

I'm drooling over here man...that shoulder and that turkey looks to die for!

I didn't know that. I always thought that when only the top was used, it was for broiling things. But I'm not much of a cook. Just knowing that heat rises, I would never have expected this to work because I'd think the bottom would have been harder to keep well heated.

 

[glycerine]

Yep, that is what I said when I saw one since most of the heat is just going up and "away" so I had to test it, and it does work. I was also sruprized at how little charcoal is used.
I will be making some "enhancemnts" to this one soon to take advantage of all the heat that rises. I figure you can cook some burgers and dogs while you wait for the main course.

That's neat. What type of metal is best to used as a lining? What holds heat the longest? Any idea? I guess the better question is what metal did you use?

 

[jleiwig]

The one thing I forgot to mention is that looks like galvanized sheet metal. Be very careful as the coating burning can cause illness and death when heated. I wouldn't want it in my food. I would only use stainless steel if it were me.

 

[cnirenberg]

Too bad you are in Texas. Looks delicious over here.

 

[Noah]

After Googling there doesn't seem to be a lot of specific pics on design...
but here is a site that lists some good info on materials used, etc...
http://cajunmicrowaveplans.com/content/cajun-microwave-material-list

 

[el_d]

Thats kinda like the hole my Dad used to dig at my grandmothers for Christmas tamales. She would have my father dig a hole in the ground, line it with bricks, then she would wrap a cows head in foil and throw it in the hole. The holw ould get covered up with a piece of courugated tin used for roofing and a large fire would be started on the tin. Give the fire a while to burn and die down and by morning there was a prfectly cooked cows head for the tamales.

 

[jleiwig]

Thats kinda like the hole my Dad used to dig at my grandmothers for Christmas tamales. She would have my father dig a hole in the ground, line it with bricks, then she would wrap a cows head in foil and throw it in the hole. The holw ould get covered up with a piece of courugated tin used for roofing and a large fire would be started on the tin. Give the fire a while to burn and die down and by morning there was a prfectly cooked cows head for the tamales.

You had me until you said cows head...then I threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[Rick_G]

Looks like more fun than turning pens.

 

[rjwolfe3]

cows head in foil

Well I have tried tongue and brain but not the whole head. Interesting way to cook it though. I have heard of putting a whole pig in the ground and cooking it. I am really intrigued by this Canjun Microwave and am doing more research on it.

 

[cnirenberg]

You had me until you said cows head...then I threw up in my mouth a little.

a little?

 

[jleiwig]

a little?

Yup..I'd consider myself fairly adventurous, but seeing bessies head on a platter just would be that appetizing to me.

 

[el_d]

Oh Im sorry in english its reffered to as Hot Dogs.:biggrin:

Actualy my sons say the hot dog looks like a cats butt. Just the two ends of the hot dog.........

 

[jleiwig]

So I've been thinking about making one of these for the summer.

My plan so far:

http://download.plansnow.com/free-planter-boxes.pdf

Use the tall design it would be around 32" wide x 18" deep x 32" overall height.

I'll have to check the scrap metal dealer to see if they have any stainless steel scraps I could use. Most websites speak of using aluminum, but I think I'd rather use stainless if I can afford it.

Line it with either the hardyboard as illustrated here by elmostro, or fire bricks if cheap enough.

I was going to just buy one of the GSM smokers, but I think I may like to go this route instead.

 

[greggas]

I finally got myself to stop thinking about food 24/7 after the holidays and now I'm starving after looking at this post...thanks eugene!