18th century cooking

[sdnapier]

Does anyone follow "Jas Townsend and Son" on you tube? He cooks over open fires, and in dutch ovens, and explains how things were done back when. I have only just discovered him and am finding it interesting.

[elkhound]

yeppers

[farmgal]

thanks for sharing, I love the way he did the pies, I am doing that this summer camping with my horse friends.

Now back to watching him...lol

[Bob Huntress]

I have not watched that show, yet, I yearn for a life off the grid. My research in preparation for such a move teaches me that utilizing the technology of the days before electricity was so available is the primary technology to do this. Inorder to manage life without electricity, the ultimate adaptation is a return to how people preserved and prepared food in those historic days. I am not morally adversed to solar panels and home generated power. I just doesn't feel that in most cases enough can be produced economically. I learned as a teenager how to cook on an old wood cook stove as well as on an open fire. Believe it or not, it was in the Navy, while in Italy that I learned how to bake in a dutch oven. A pizza shop girl taught me how to make bread and pizza in one. Bread isn't as hard as I had thought. The secret is having a closable entrance to the oven, in her case a door that you put over the oven while the bread is baking. When I get my dream place way, way way out beyond civilization, I would like to build it with an attached, covered but opened outside kitchen with a cook stove a cverable wood covered grill and a dutch oven. Because everything used to cook with is fired with wood, I believe that winter use will find it plenty warm enough to work in, and since it is outside the living area of the house, and open, it should help keep the house from becoming unbearably hot during the summer. Because it would be covered, it should remain relatively comfortably dry when raining. I feel root cellars should help with some of the minor refrigeration that will be lost without electricity, also. Basically, understanding how they cooked back in the old school day, is a major factor in preparing for my dream off the grid life.

[Kelly]

Thanks for the link...have been enjoying his videos since your post!

[hippygirl]

Originally Posted by Kelly

Thanks for the link...have been enjoying his videos since your post!

Oh man...same here! Makes me want to build my own cob oven.

[meanwhile]

Link? where is the link? I want to see.

[||Downhome||]

http://www.youtube.com/user/jastowns.../videos?view=0

[sdnapier]

Originally Posted by Bob Huntress

I have not watched that show, yet, I yearn for a life off the grid. My research in preparation for such a move teaches me that utilizing the technology of the days before electricity was so available is the primary technology to do this. Inorder to manage life without electricity, the ultimate adaptation is a return to how people preserved and prepared food in those historic days. I am not morally adversed to solar panels and home generated power. I just doesn't feel that in most cases enough can be produced economically. I learned as a teenager how to cook on an old wood cook stove as well as on an open fire. Believe it or not, it was in the Navy, while in Italy that I learned how to bake in a dutch oven. A pizza shop girl taught me how to make bread and pizza in one. Bread isn't as hard as I had thought. The secret is having a closable entrance to the oven, in her case a door that you put over the oven while the bread is baking. When I get my dream place way, way way out beyond civilization, I would like to build it with an attached, covered but opened outside kitchen with a cook stove a cverable wood covered grill and a dutch oven. Because everything used to cook with is fired with wood, I believe that winter use will find it plenty warm enough to work in, and since it is outside the living area of the house, and open, it should help keep the house from becoming unbearably hot during the summer. Because it would be covered, it should remain relatively comfortably dry when raining. I feel root cellars should help with some of the minor refrigeration that will be lost without electricity, also. Basically, understanding how they cooked back in the old school day, is a major factor in preparing for my dream off the grid life.

I think you are spot on with all your plans. I have been looking at property and have been noticing that some listings are now mentioning that there is a canning kitchen on the property. Must mean more people are asking for them. Many homes in the deep south used to have a summer kitchen. I think they are wonderful and can't wait till I have one. Good luck to you !

[Becka03]

Thanks for posting this!

[FarmChix]

I haven't yet, but now I'm intrigued! Heading over there....

[lemonthyme7]

It's good to know about the video's - thank you! We used to get his catalog when we were involved in doing rendezvous (we did French/Indian War time period). I look forward to watching these.

[Terrabus]

I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen or heard of him before now. He has a lot of information online and a lot of very good videos. Thanks for the link!

[Old Vet]

I love dutch oven to cook with but I can cook with nothing except the fire. I used to teach girl scouts how to boil water in a paper cup just to get their attention then I would teach them how to make skewers to put meat on to make jerky. Then I taught them to make a stew with hot rocks. Most of the girls are grown up now and I still know some of them and many have cooked this way every time they go camping. That way you don't need a many pots to cook with.

[Pony]

Great. Just when I thought I was going to be able to drag myself away from the computer... :P

Don't forget Tales From the Green Valley (Jacobean Farm); Victorian Farm; and Edwardian Farm. Oh! And the Tudor Christmas Feast! All with Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands, and Peter Ginn.

Oh, my...

[Brighton]

They started out with the NWTA (Northwest Territory Alliance), and grew from there. I have a lot of their things and learned a lot from them during my time in the NWTA years ago.

I miss the NWTA, there is nothing like it in Colorado, that is for sure!

[Terrabus]

And you can't forget Supersizers Go!

[Matt73]

Yesterday, the wife and I (for our Anniversary) went to the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch in Stonewall, TX. They have a working farm on site, where the Park Rangers dress in period clothing from 1800's and grow their own fruits and vegetables, have a Jersey cow for milk, pigs, sheep for wool, chickens for eggs and meat... they can everything during the spring and summer when production is the best, make their own butter and cheese... all without electricity and with period equipment. I talked with a couple of them for about 30 minutes, and they claim it isn't hard. It really moved me to start gearing our lifestyles to that direction. I am not a prepper by any means, but I don't want to let my family starve while waiting for the government if something disastrous happened that knocked out power and communications...

[TNHermit]

This place may be of interest. Lot of free. A few missing. Haven't read them all