How To Retire 6 Months Every Year
(Page 13 of 22)
May/June 1970
By Irv Thomas
The capital expense won't bankrupt you, either. I've bought used, single-burner models from the Salvation Army for $4.00 and the most expensive push-button, twin-burner, chromed, variable-heat hot plate I ever saw (and purchased in Seattle four years ago) only set me back $24.95. That seemed a big investment at the time (as did the $4.00 unit when Barry Slothauer and I split the cost in Honolulu) but it's already had a lot of rough use from the west coast to North Carolina to Ohio and should faithfully serve for another 10 or 20 years.
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The only real drawback to a hot plate is the limited heat range of the average unit. The lowest heat is always far too intense for simmering stews and other lazy cooking. I solve this problem by bending the wire from three or four heavy coat hangers into a series of triangular, three-legged racks of various heights. Using a combination of the heats on the plate and a high or low or in-between rack, I can vary cooking speeds over a greater range than the most expensive electric stove. Incidentally, these racks get HOT so I always switch them with the same pair of pliers 1 used to make them.
I have an old Army surplus mess kit that cost me - I think - two bucks 10 years ago and it fits a round hot-plate burner perfectly. It has a tight fitting lid and, over the years, I've eaten some heroic stews out of that rig.
Stews are beautiful. Just brown one or two or three kinds of meat, throw it into the pot, add all the vegetables you can find, top with a layer of barley and some vinegar and - adding water as needed - let the whole savory mix bubble lightly for about three days . . . if it lasts that long. Dip out steaming bowlfuls as you desire.
I've even baked cookies and cornbread on a hot plate by draping an aluminum foil "oven" over a flat pan set up on a high rack. The idea, of course, is to set the foil up so it directs as much heat to the top of the "cookie sheet" as the burner applies to the bottom.
By substituting a blue enameled roaster for the flat pan, I have also "oven roasted" some memorable pork shoulders and chunks of beef.
Have you ever baked a potato by burying it in the sand near a roaring beach fire? I've worked a variation on that by wrapping a potato in foil, covering it well in sand in a big tin juice can and baking the whole thing on my trusty hot plate.
All in all, with a cheap burner, a pair of pliers and a few odds and ends, I've eaten exceptionally well for months at a time on $8.00 to $10.00 a week. - JS ODDS AND ENDS
By the time you have gotten rid of your car, cut down your rent and faced up to the tyranny of the local supermarket, you will begin to see all the creative possibilities of cracking myths and breaking habits.
I wondered for weeks if I could live without knowing what was happening in the world around me, and finally made the bold move of cutting off newspapers and news magazines. The world and I went our separate ways. I, perhaps a little more ignorant, but a few dollars and many hours richer. The straight press never had much to say to me anyhow, and I'm able to put more reading time into things of value.
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