In the 1970’s and 1980’s there were several books the either had characters that did it or promoted it.
Why is there no cooking tray in my new car’s engine bay?
Is it dangerous? (It would be less physically dangerous if there was a specific spot for it.)
It’s really inefficient. A stove has all of the heat being concentrated to one spot while a car has a whole cooling system spreading out and dissipating the heat, and cars are more efficient at that than in the 70s. Having enough heat to cook with is generally bad for an engine so by design you would want it to cool before it’s that hot.
I have had a few coworkers who put their lunch containers in their engine bay so that it would heat up for lunch though, that was for a job that had us driving around to 3-7 jobs in a day.
Too much stuff to remove to get to either of my car’s electric motors. Also that might cause a legit warranty denial someday…
With an electric car one may be able to plug an actual oven in…
They have been doing this since at least the 70s, when I saw it. There is nothing preventing anybody from doing it, you just want to be sure the food is wrapped in tin foil or some other heat proof metal container that keeps the bad air out.
They did this on Top Gear (or Grand Tour maybe, can’t remember). Personally, cooking doneness aside, I wouldn’t want some exhaust leakage from the engine or burning oil that’s seeping from a gasket to taint the flavor of the food even if there were a guarantee of no carcinogens from it.
If you have an EV, you can plug in an induction cooktop
It’s very hard to get the car inside the kitchen.
This is very true.
Much easier to plumb water to the garage.
Keep the garage door closed for free heating in the winter.
Op, what’s unsaid here is that there’s planning and enough required knowledge that is a barrier to entry for most people.
Planning: the engine will only get hot enough to do this after a drive of 30-45+ minutes, plus cook time. So for each person, each trip, it means specific planning of what to make, and when you can make it.
Knowledge: engines vary in design, and people vary in their comfort in how much they trust themselves to do things in their engine bay without risking damage. Taking some wire, making a secure spot to hold something wrapped in foil, and it not being in the way of anything AND if it slips or comes lose won’t get caught in a belt is something I feel fine doing, but I do a lot of janky redneck stuff all the time.
Most people barely know how to change their oil, and since the 90s, more and more cars are complex such that they seem designed to be repaired and maintained by someone else not the owner. This makes the simple act of opening the hood intimidating for most people. One survey I found online puts comfort in doing basic cat maintenance at 20% of people. Extrapolate from there an increasingly small group that is comfortable doing weird stuff, ok doing risky weird stuff to their car, and who don’t want to stop at a real restaurant to eat on a road trip (where my spouse will prefer to pee, not the side of the road), and you get a small enough number of people that is not surprising this isn’t common.
Most car trips don’t warrant a stopping for food.
There is very little space in the engine compartment on modern cars.
The engine usually run around 90°C which is not enough to boil water. You could use the exhaust pipe but that is harder to reach.
The 90°C is a big issue as I would need ~205°C (400 °F) for real baking.
Most car trips don’t warrant a stopping for food.
Yes. It would be helpful in areas where the grocery store (or Costco) is 15 to 30 minutes from the eating place (home).
In the 70’s fuel was cheap.
Nowadays, if I need to let the engine run for an hour, I can go to a michelin star restaurant for the same price. (OK it’s an over statement, but there is definitely cheaper and more optimal way to cook a meal on the road)
There’s a diner in town that tastes like this is how they cook their sausage, except it’s done on a 70s era F150.
Everyone’s overlooking that op asked why cars weren’t designed for cooking with the waste heat from the engine.
I think you could easily have a loop out of the radiator that was used as a heater for an enclosed air frier.
Totally a waste but it would be feasible
It is very hard to time your trip so that you get there when everything is done. those who try it either have overcooked food or have to drive around for a while after they get there for the meal to finish.
in the end it works but not well enough to do it. Even truckers who eat on the road find separate appliances better.
Mmm. Engine block eggs. If we can keep these down, we’ll be sitting pretty.
Quiet, I can’t hear the eggs!
Mythbusters has an episode with Alton Brown where they cook a thanksgiving meal in the engine bay. It went surprisingly well, although figuring out where to put everything and the different cooking temps were tricky.
Mythbusters has an episode (Food Fables) with Alton Brown
Thank you. Looks like Episode 196 from Season 13 Episode 7.
