How to: Use Your Engine to Cook

Seriously, who hasn’t dreamed about engine-top cooking? Sizzling red meat on top of an engine block is too damn manly not to try at least once.

Start by prepping and seasoning your meat or veggies as you would for a standard BBQ, then double-wrap in tin foil. Check for the hottest spots on your car’s engine by letting it run for a few minutes and performing a tentative touch test. Somewhere in the vicinity of the exhaust manifold will probably be your best bet.

Next, you need to figure out how much space you’ve got once the hood is down. Ball up some tin foil into a cone a couple of inches larger than your intended meal package, then close the hood on top of it. If the cone is crushed, there’s probably not enough room; if it’s untouched, you’ll need to add a couple layers of foil on top of the real meat package to keep it from moving around. If necessary, use some light wire as a tether, but avoid using engine hoses and/or belts as restraints.

Now comes the fun part: hop in the car and drive. Figuring out cooking distances will naturally take some trial and error – depending on speed and recipe, you could be in for anywhere from 50 km for smaller things like veggies to 300 km for larger cuts of meat. MC