Down Under You Can Cook Christmas Dinner In Your Car, And That's Not Good

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Australian chef Matt Moran made a video to highlight the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars during the holidays — and for the rest of their summer — by cooking lamb in the car, according to Australian newspaper The Age.

The video was produced for Kidsafe Australia, a group that highlights the dangers of leaving children in hot cars. Moran calls the car his new “ unconventional oven.”

The lamb was actually overdone in the 90 minutes it baked in the sweltering heat near Bondi Beach.

Of course, we’re no stranger to the dangers of leaving children unattended in the U.S. According to KidsAndCars.Org, on average 38 children die each year after they’ve been left in hot cars.

KidSafe Australia says 5,000 children are left in hot cars every year across that country.

Although Christmas in Australia is significantly warmer than in many places in the U.S., it’s a good reminder that leaving a child in a car for any amount of time can be dangerous — regardless of season.

Related/unrelated: For cold-weather U.S. states, remember that “puffers” (or warming your car up unattended) is illegal in many places and a ripe target for car thieves. Many parents I know start their cars to warm them up for small children and get tickets, or worse — have their car stolen. Ask Santa for a remote starter this year maybe?

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Mcs Mcs on Dec 23, 2015

    >> Related/unrelated: For cold-weather U.S. states, remember that “puffers” (or warming your car up unattended) is illegal in many places and a ripe target for car thieves. Not a problem if you have an EV. You can even warm it up in an attached garage. Obviously works best while connected to a power source, but I've done it while unplugged as well. The car isn't in run mode so it can't be driven away. My car locks the cable into the socket, so there's the prospect of cutting through an electrified cable and a car and a charger that will send out texts if the charge is interrupted. It's also handy if you have to make a stop after food shopping on a hot day and want to keep the food cold.

    • See 2 previous
    • Redav Redav on Dec 26, 2015

      @chris724 I don't know about all, but I have seen heat pumps on EVs for heating because they consume much less power than resistance heaters. Also, some EVs concentrate heating on touch points (seat, steering wheel) instead of heating the whole interior.

  • Redav Redav on Dec 26, 2015

    Legally, how is a 'puffer' different than a car with remote start?

    • Sgeffe Sgeffe on Dec 27, 2015

      True. Many upper-trim Hondas, lots of GMs, and probably many other makes too, have factory remote-start as standard. And even on my 2013 Accord not so equipped, I had a duplicate "emergency key" (the one in the keyless-start fob) which goes right on my ring, and which I can use to let the car warm in order to clear snow or ice from it for a few minutes by locking the car while running with that key (as long as another fob isn't in the car). Though I suppose that even the southern Australian latitudes don't have to deal with snow, even in July or August, at the height of their winter.

  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
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