At first glance, the little 12-by-20-foot building nestled in the trees behind the house might look just like a shack used to house lawn equipment and ‘stuff’ that will eventually wind up donated to a resale store. Once inside my little “Cooking Shack,” the casual observer might wonder how in the world this tight space can be put to use as a culinary headquarters for an outdoorsman’s kitchen.
I’ll admit it, I have packed a lot of cooking equipment into a tight space, but I have also become quiet adept at using my confined quarters to prepare everything from sugar cured hams to black berry cobblers! There is even a homemade wooden table that quickly converts to a dining table that accommodates my buddies who come over for an early morning breakfast of homemade ham or sausage, eggs and hash brown potatoes, or in the wintertime, a steaming bowl of venison or wild pork chili.
I think you might enjoy a quick tour of this little structure where I convert the fruits of my fishing and hunting trips into some tasty meals. As you walk inside, you will note a very sturdy table that houses an antique meat grinder given to me by my long-time friend, the late Bob Hood, who wrote about the outdoors in Texas for almost half a century. The old meat grinder, which weighs a solid 80 pounds, still works perfectly. Bob used to joke that it could grind up a Volkswagen. I use it to grind wild game meat for my sausage-making each fall and winter.
The next item you will encounter adjacent the table is a little stand up freezer where I store fish and game. It is usually well stocked at the close of hunting seasons each year. As my supply of meat slowly decreases, fish fillets are added to fill any empty space.
The small wooden table in the back of the structure has my hand crank sausage stuffer mounted on one end, leaving plenty of room for my guests to dine. When I have company coming, I simply move items around to best put the space to use. The wooden table is also home for my pressure cooker I use to can everything from venison to salsa.
Centered on the left wall is a heavy-duty table made from 2 X 6’s that sports a cook top where my two-burner propane stove sits. Beneath it are a couple of shelves where I store pots and pans. I keep my big cast iron skillet with lid and a smaller skillet on top of the burner at all times, ready for action – one never knows when an impromptu fish fry might be in order!
That old cast iron skillet with lid has many uses and it always accompanies me on hunting trips in the fall. I use this skillet for making everything from chicken fried venison steak and gravy to roasts with carrots, onion and potatoes. Cast iron holds heat exceptionally well and is great for either frying or slow cooking over low heat.
Next to my propane burner sits a very handy refrigerator. In past years, I have worn out a couple of those little dorm size units, but they never worked well for me anyway. My sister recently gave me a ‘down-sized’ RV type refrigerator that is big enough to serve my needs perfectly. There is plenty of room to fit the plastic tub I use for brining wild pork hams or cooling freshly smoked sausages. Before, when brining meats for up to seven days, I took up space in our inside refrigerator, which always caused a bit of friction with the wife!
Adjacent to the refrigerator is my Smokin’ Tex electric smoker. I’ve used these smokers for the past 12 or so years and consider it the one item in my outdoor cooking arsenal that I would hate to live without. When it comes time to smoke meat, whether it be whole chickens or wild pork hams, I simply pull my smoker to the door of the shack, prop it open and let the cooker work its magic. I’ve used it so much through the years that the inside of the little building smells just like a smoke house.
Venison steaks on rosemary skewers
A couple years ago, I saw the need for two more items. One was a small chest freezer to keep the sausages and hams that I prepare in the wintertime; the other was an oven that I could use for baking. I solved my space problem by setting the little freezer at the end of the dining/sausage making table. On top of the freezer I placed a big wooden cutting board and on top of that, I set my new portable propane-powered oven. It does a great job baking biscuits, cobblers or even wild game enchiladas. The addition of an oven opened up new culinary worlds for me!
Outside my little cooking shack, I have a small cabin with bunks for what I refer to as ‘visiting dignitaries’; buddies who occasionally need a spot to sleep while in transit to and from outdoor destinations. In front of the cabin I have a fire pit and a cooking grill made from heavy duty expanded metal.
Yep, I’ve got my cooking shack set up just about like I want it. But on second thought, I might be able to squeeze in more useful item. Let me give that some more thought!
Email Luke Clayton via his website www.catfishradio.org. Here you can download his weekly outdoor radio show.
