OK, AMONG the best improvisations I have seen

Brilliant idea!!

My current favourite is making pot racks out of tent pegs for homemade tin can wood stoves.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=51Gd8b-GHQw

Does the heat affect the tempered edge at all?

It doesn't take much heat to fry an egg. Most shovels are made of a mild steel, aiming toward toughness rather than edge-holding ability. They are tempered, but brief exposure to heat shouldn't have a significant impact.

I use hardware-store spades to manage the fire and coals in my firepit. I've never noticed a problem (I sharpen the front edge for digging/chopping plant material in my garden and yard, so I'd notice). But the steel is only exposed to heat for a few moments -- it doesn't sit in the coals and glow red.

I don't think I would try to cook with one of my Cold Steel shovels though. The temper on those is key to their multi-functionality. And the paint would likely add some spice of its own (bleah).

HAHAHAHA !!!
I am defintely gonna' do that to my family on our next camping trip.

What's the bet that they all jump in the car and drive to McDonalds? The odds of this outcome are pretty strong.

But I'm still gonna' do it.
Thanks for sharing :-)

Pete2

Another inprovisation, Asian construction workers baking bread on a hot barrel. Fire inside the barrel.

http://almoqayad.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4490

That takes skill. The guy could open a pizza restaurant. Why is he working construction?

Not to distract from our admiration for the guy's ingenuity, would it be safe to use a barrel to bake bread, presumably at a high temperature? Wouldn't there be paint and all that nasty stuff?

Oh, wait a minute, maybe that is his restaurant...

These construction workers come from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and work in oil rich countries. They make their own food for secveral reasons. Either their traditional types of food are not available nearby the construction site, and/or it can be expensive. So, they save time and monety by using whatever is available to make home-made food.

Regarding paint ..etc. most of these workers are not undeucated and they are not really concerned with such details. A good wash of the barrel is enough for them . They can be very skilled in saving time and money, or managing to do the near-impossible, but safety isn't always high in their list.

Having said that, I think the barrel has been used for so many years and all paint is already gone by that time. I have seen these barrels during construction of my house and several relatives' houses. The barrels are usually used to store water for the construction and they are rusty inside and out.