Manifold Destiny: Cooking with your Engine

The Internal Combustion Engine is probably one of the most inefficient machines ever devised, and a significant amount of energy from the combustion of fuel gets wasted as heat. Why not put some of that heat to use and let it cook your food?

Under-hood temperatures of an idling vehicle can be between 100 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, with the exhaust manifold reaching temperatures in excess of 500 degrees. This means when you are out on the trail you have an excellent opportunity to cook a meal up while you are doing your thing, and a piping hot meal is ready for you when you decide it is time to take a break.

There are plenty of clever ways to rig up a cook box under your hood, from disposable grill trays to permanently mounted metal boxes — there is no right or wrong way to do this, so put your creativity to work and build a setup that works for your vehicle.

What you will need, is recipes that are friendly with this cooking method, so here you go: Manifold Destiny, the one and only guide to using your engine block to cook with.