By: Rick Brashear,
Tulsa, Ok. USA
Cooking using the heat from a vehicle engine is not at all new. G.I.s since WWII heated their food using the engine heat. Some would make can holders from wire or sheet metal fitting up next to the block or head. They would punch a hole in the can to let the pressure out while it heated and then drive.
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Response from Vicki:
Hello, Rick. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
When Mike and I drove team for U.S. Xpress, the truck we were issued had a can of Campbell’s chunky soup wedged down next to the engine. The driver who had put it there was obviously unable to get it back out! There is no telling how many times the soup had been heated over and over. Even if it had been able to be removed, it was probably beyond the point of being edible. If the truck is still in operation, the can may now be considered a permanent part of the truck!
Obviously, any driver who attempts to heat his/her meal with engine heat needs to make sure that the item: 1) will stay put while the truck is in motion, and 2) can be removed for eating after stopping.
Mike likes to cite a trucker fable about the guy who tried to heat his “beanie weenies” with engine heat. Somewhere down the road, a call for him came over the CB radio, “Hey, driver, you got beans on your fender!” The driver who was attempting to heat his meal replied, “Oh, well, there goes lunch!” 🙂
We make a small attempt at humor about using engine heat to cook food on our cooking turkey page. We prefer to use a hot pot, crock pot, electric skillet or waffle iron to cook our food — using power from an appropriately sized inverter.
For drivers who do not yet have an inverter set up in their trucks who want to beat the high cost of meals eaten in a restaurant (particularly a truck stop restaurant), using engine heat is a viable alternative. We have never tried it ourselves but would be interested to hear from drivers who have used it — whether with success or failure — to get their perspective.
Thanks again for sharing.
We wish you safe travels and lots of money saving opportunities on the road.
Best regards,
Vicki Simons
https://truck-drivers-money-saving-tips.com/
