We bought a freeze dryer, with the intention of having better tasting freeze dried foods available.  It's been a wild success so far, and we're literally still in the experimental stage. So far, we've freeze dried fruits, raw and cooked vegetables, hamburger patties, and beef stew.  We've tested each to ensure they do taste better than commercial freeze dried foods, so we are really happy.  Now we need to work up more meal combos and package accordingly. I'd not really thought much about taking along freeze dried foods on RV trips, but I'm liking the idea more and more.  We could save so much on weight, prep time, etc., and yet still have the really tasty meals we prefer, when there's just not enough time to do up a proper meal. Not having cans and bottles bouncing around and making noise will be another nice perk. Yep, I'm really enjoying this contraption. ... View more

Who says you can't grill a pizza while camping?  A couple of tips: 1) buy premade pizza dough and 2) a pizza stone is a must.  In the grill / pellet smoker run it up to 400 degrees and BAM, you have a great personalized pizza! ... View more

What is your go-to for rescuing a ruined meal? I've used bacon and condensed milk to keep from throwing out melted ice cream. Fridge in the old tt went out. We had a third of a container of vanilla ice cream left. I mixed condensed milk in with it, added it to a roux and created a gravy with bacon bits in it. Was really good. ... View more

We're having a big family get-together soon and one of my kids requested a big batch of my beans. "Can you make it a double batch, dad?" It's my own recipe with bits and pieces taken from various inspirations. I need to refine the recipe though, because measurements like 12-16 jalapeños or 8-12 poblanos got me in trouble this time. The ratio of peppers is pretty strong and I might need to smoke another pan of straight beans tonight and mix them in with the rest to calm it down a little. They're still delicious though. Ingredients: 4 - 40 oz Cans of Pinto Beans 6 - 10 oz Cans of Rotel Tomatoes w/chiles 4 lbs Ground Beef 2 lbs Bacon 1 bunch Cilantro 2 cups Red Onion finely chopped 4-6 Poblano Peppers chopped 6-8 Large Jalapeños. Clean half and leave seeds & veins in half. 1.5 Tbsp Kosher Salt. Don't round up. There's plenty of salt in the other ingredients. 2 Tbsp Ground Pepper 2 Tbsp Cumin Directions: Cook the ground beef and let it drain while you fuss with everything else. Cook the chopped bacon until it's cooked, but not too crispy. Drain the grease, but leave some grease in the nooks of the bacon pieces. Dice the Poblanos, Jalapeños, Onions, and chop the Cilantro. Mix everything in a full-sized foil pan or two half-pans if your grill can't fit the large pan. Don't forget to mix in the spices. Smoke for an hour at low temp (175° - 195°). Stir at 30 min. Turn up the heat to 325° and cook for at least two more hours. Stir every 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the liquids and don't let them boil off. Cook until the poblanos are soft and sweet (heat is gone).   ... View more

I'm looking forward to cooking our birds on Thanksgiving, but I'm curious to know how folks do their turkeys. I was hoping this new forum would have a built in poll feature, but I don't see one (yet). Do you: Bake Fry Smoke Other? I'm doing two turkeys on the pellet smoker spatchcock style. I remove the backbone and lay them flat on the grill covered with dry rub and smoke the spatchcocks for around two hours until they're done. My wife has always been queen of the turkeys, but she turned her crown over to me to do the birds outdoors so she can use the oven for other dishes. ... View more

Replace one word in a movie title with Bacon ... View more

It seems everyone is making space for electric coolers and making them easier to use with sliding shelves. Are they that much better then rv fridges https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-wheeled-coolers/ that wouldn't require a special shelf? ... View more

Let's see your setups and hear what you like and dislike. I'm currently using and enjoying: HitchFire grill station a Jetboil for my coffee a cast iron skillet for over the fire ... View more

I got this a while ago and finally got to use it. It works really well! Comes apart into a small carry bag so easy to take anywhere. You can use it on any heat source. I did a video review so you can see it. You can order it from Amazon. Video --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BSZsmP5X78 ... View more

This is super easy, amazingly delicious, and the batter can be used with ANY fruit.  It's not overly sweet, but you could use less sweetener if you like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Eyxjp0x2o&t=4s I used two bags of cranberries, substituted almond flour and Splenda for the flour and sugar, and that version is now a keeper. ... View more