We woke in the wee hours to total darkness and the power out. First thought was AGH! EGGS! Fumble for a flashlight, light a few candles, get downstairs to the incubator and COLD!
Pace the house for an hour feeling frantic. Search for those hand warmer things that you break and a chemical reaction makes them hot. But they are in the snowmobile, I think, or more likely, behind the seat of Hub's truck, and the truck is gone. (he goes to work at 5)
Think Uno, think! Ah! Last night I was putzing around with the waterbator idea. I had lined my big turkey roaster with a black garbage bag and put about 2 inches of water in it while Hub made scoffing sounds from the sofa. Experimented to see if a 60 watt bulb would heat 2 inches of water in a roaster. It does. I meant to clean it all up before bed last night, but was too tired. Went to bed with a roaster full of bagged water sitting in the kitchen.
SO as I stand there, in the dark and cold with eggs getting colder all around me...I lit a fire in my little kitchen stove and set that roaster of cold water over the flame. In short order the water hit 111. I set the eggs in with a tea towel covering the garbage bag of water and took the roaster off the oven. Those eggs were toasty warm. Even though the water was 111, I knew the eggs had a ways to go before they hit that temp themselves. But at least they were warming up and not getting colder.
I was amazed at how long that water held temperature. Not only is air a very poor conductor of heat, it has practically ZERO heat mass. And as we blow it on eggs, we bung up their evaporation rate. I truly think this water bator is going to make me a billionaire! But I still haven't figured out a switch mechanism to turn the heat on and off.
So the eggs were saved thanks to my little wood stove and a roaster full of bagged water. My toes got warmed up AND I made some coffee.
A good time was had by all.
Pace the house for an hour feeling frantic. Search for those hand warmer things that you break and a chemical reaction makes them hot. But they are in the snowmobile, I think, or more likely, behind the seat of Hub's truck, and the truck is gone. (he goes to work at 5)
Think Uno, think! Ah! Last night I was putzing around with the waterbator idea. I had lined my big turkey roaster with a black garbage bag and put about 2 inches of water in it while Hub made scoffing sounds from the sofa. Experimented to see if a 60 watt bulb would heat 2 inches of water in a roaster. It does. I meant to clean it all up before bed last night, but was too tired. Went to bed with a roaster full of bagged water sitting in the kitchen.
SO as I stand there, in the dark and cold with eggs getting colder all around me...I lit a fire in my little kitchen stove and set that roaster of cold water over the flame. In short order the water hit 111. I set the eggs in with a tea towel covering the garbage bag of water and took the roaster off the oven. Those eggs were toasty warm. Even though the water was 111, I knew the eggs had a ways to go before they hit that temp themselves. But at least they were warming up and not getting colder.
I was amazed at how long that water held temperature. Not only is air a very poor conductor of heat, it has practically ZERO heat mass. And as we blow it on eggs, we bung up their evaporation rate. I truly think this water bator is going to make me a billionaire! But I still haven't figured out a switch mechanism to turn the heat on and off.
So the eggs were saved thanks to my little wood stove and a roaster full of bagged water. My toes got warmed up AND I made some coffee.
A good time was had by all.
