Things that Work! Camp's Fire TM Bar-B-Que Box tested by Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze When we received the Bar-B-Que Box to test, it was too late in the season to use for cook outs at the lake. Another use suggested by the retailer was emergency cooking. Alright then, I could put together an emergency kit for my car. Just in case I was trapped in the snow and couldn't keep myself warm with the engine, for fear of asphyxiation. We had some Brown Marys (MREs- Meals Ready to Eat) left over from working the forest fires in 1987 so I figured I could set up a fairly good mock emergency test. Packaging The BBQ Box is tidily encased in clear plastic wrap. It measures 6x6x6 inches. It is cardboard on four sides and open on the top. Two sides have vent holes. A third side has a vent hole with a wick poking out. This is taped securely to the side of the box. It contains no petroleum, but does contain mesquite and hickory briquets. The packaging is small, clean and weighs only 2.75 lbs. Documentation All the documentation you need is on the box. Since it is sealed in plastic, it will be there when you need it. Described as a Self-Starting, Complete Bar- B-Que Fire Unit it also states it is petroleum free to save our environment. The instructions are extremely simple. 1.) Remove plastic wrap. 2.) Place basket in center of grill. 3.) Light exposed wick on side of box. 4.) Begin cooking when basket burns away and charcoal is hot...about ten minutes. There is also the obligatory warning not to use this product in an unventilated area. This is because toxic fumes may accumulate and cause death. Testing Grounds We live in the Siskiyou Mountains and must cross a high pass to get to town. I own a 4-wheel drive station wagon which, in the winter, also has studded tires. Still, there have been times when the prospect of getting back home through a blizzard has been dicey, at best. With the temperature dropping into the teens at night this seemed like a good rugged test for this product. If it survived this test, then a cook out at the lake would be a picnic. I assembled a small box of essentials to carry with me in the car. It included three Brown Marys, two clean shop rags, one piece of hardware screen (folded), matches in a waterproof container, one soup spoon, teaspoon and fork, a small saucepan with lid, a folding shovel and a two litre plastic bottle of water. This all fit into a small cardboard box that took up very little space in my car. Performance Up into the snow, where Stan and I gave the Bar-B-Que Box a real workout. By bending the screen flat, then bending the corners down I was able to make a bed for the box. I cleared a patch of snow with the shovel and set down the screen. After removing the plastic from the BBQB I struck two matches together and lit the fuse. It started right up. In fact, it was like a fuse on a cartoon cannon. It glowed and hissed even after it burned down inside the box. The instructions said it would take ten minutes for the coals to be ready. Under the test conditions it took 25 minutes for the coals to be ready to cook on. During that time I opened the Brown Mary and ate the freeze-dried peaches and the peanut butter and hardtack. I gave Stan the 'cookie, chocolate covered'. After depositing the 'beef slices in barbeque sauce' into my small sauce pan we waited another ten minutes for the coals to be just right. The fire was quite hot. The pot began boiling in two minutes. If it had been a real emergency fire for heat purposes I would have kept some briquets out and added them as necessary to keep the heat longer. There were about 40 briquets in the box and that was plenty for any cooking purposes. We each took a bite of the cooked food, for testing purposes, but we gave the lion's share to the dogs. Feasibility The Bar-B-Que Box costs $3.50 each. It is tidy, compact and efficient. I like that it doesn't use petroleum products. Quick, easy, inexpensive and it works. That just about covers all my prerequisites. I liked it a lot and look forward to this summer at the lake for some hassle free cooking. Access Author: Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze, c/o Home Power, POB 130, Hornbrook, CA 96044 Maker: Bob Taylor, 4770 Orseth Rd., Poulsbo, WA 98370 ¥ 206-697-3685