I was cruising down the interstate back to Dallas. As I was moving and grooving down the road, I had this thought - If I had a grill/smoker/bbq pit pulling behind the truck, could I use it going down the road? (Example) In theory, I could start smoking at the house, and when I arrive, my food is ready.
Right now, I have two sets of issues.
How to keep the meat and fire/heat source consistently cooking?
If I had to stop and start, what would keep the meat stationary? I was thinking of creating a hanging basket that could swing with the movement of the road. This would keep the meat from bunching up against the side of the grill.
I would probably use a charcoal smoker since an active propane tank would be recipe for disaster. Therefore, I could make a grate to hold the charcoal in place at the bottom of the smoker.
Legal Issues
Are the cops going to pull me over because I’m breaking some law? If so, what law?
I probably cannot fill up with gas as a heat source of that nature would not be welcome, correct? I could always just unhook it near the gas station, fill up, and reattach.
This is all hypothetical right now, but I cannot rule out future endeavours if I get positive feedback. Thanks.
Why not use the engine’s heat instead of pulling along a grill? Wrap your food up in aluminum foil (don’t want to get engine oil and dirt all over your food, you know), stuff it in a spot on the engine where it’s not likely to fall off, and drive away.
Truckers have been doing it for years, and they even have cookbooks for it now. They tend to list miles instead of minutes for cooking times.
This is the first cookbook that popped up on a google search:
Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!
Securing everything against moving from vibration and bumps would be a huge challenge.
If anything gets discombobulated you won’t know it.
If some hot piece (grate, charcoal, etc.) manages to bounce loose it could do something really nasty to a vehicle that gets hit by it or runs over it, kicking it up.
Airflow relative to the trailer could do something unpredictable, such as altering the cooking or blowing something out, which is not likely to be benign.
I’m always surprised by how many obscure laws are out there, but I doubt anyone has a law as specific as “Thou shalt not grill while driving.” However, I don’t know of any jurisdiction that doesn’t have some very generic driving safety laws. “Unsafe driving” can cover all kinds of things. You may or may not get a ticket and your clever lawyer might get you out of any penalties, but I can’t see any cop ignoring smoke coming out the back of a vehicle or trailer.
Your best bet is going to be something like I use to keep food warm for picnics: bricks heated in the oven, lots of towels for insulation, support and cushioning and a bag or cooler to keep it enclosed. You can keep things very warm that way, even hot enough to continue the cooking process. (Though when I do it, I’m rarely aiming for more than about 150 F). There’s no smoke in this situation, but you get the nice low and slow heat you want in BBQ.
I haven’t seen them in a while but roofers in the olden days had trailers about the size of a large backyard grill with the tar for roofing kept hot and smoking driving down the street. They might be banned now in California for all I know. I remember driving behind one of those trucks being somewhat smelly driving behind the mobile BBQ pit would be much more pleasant.
OP, do you have two accounts here on the board? I ask because I read the same exact thread started by a different user and don’t wish to see you get in trouble. If you do have two names, you may want to see a mod about merging your accounts because having multiples is frowned on.
No, but the idea was to get a head start on the grilling since the truck was going to arrive late to the party. Instead, less than the a third of the way there the charcoal was gone and the steak was still raw.
