Thermal cookers: have you used one?

Former_MSE_Andrea

Evening everyone!

On Twitter this evening Elaine Colliar has said she's making a Thermal Cookery Bag this weekend. Has anyone else used one?

How did it go?

Memory_Girl

OOohh I iz famous!!!!!

BTW tried out the prototype yesterday - made a very frugal beef and barley stew (60p per plateful)

Ten minutes boiling on the hob in a covered pan and then 5 and a half hours snuggled up in the thermal cooker and look:



The meat was soft enough to break with a spoon - the barley was cooked but hadn't gone all smooshy and the veggies were cooked but kept their shape.

And the gravy ............... to die for!!!!:j

Off to make a kedgeree for late breakfast and a bean soup for lunch - but I am thinking I like my new toy very much (especially as it cost me nothing to make!!)

And then? Well I have enough fabric to make another 5 or so - so I will be making them up today and gifting on to some young families who are really skint at the moment.

If you are paying for leccy using a key-card I can see being able to cook cheap homemade stews and soups WITHOUT having your cooker on for 3 - 4 hours is going to make a huge difference to their fuel bills. But first a very large coffee I think!!

MG


PS The Forum team have asked for a link - but I will leave it up to them to insert if they think its OK.

greenbee

Love the fact that it's pink and spotty and matches your kitchen :-)

How long did it take to make? And do you just use normal slow cooker recipe timings?

Memory_Girl

The prototype took me a couple of hours to make ..... but then I had to figure out the pattern as I was going along.

You know I think it takes longer to set yourself up for a session of sewing than it does to actually do it!!!!

The timings seem to be about the same as slow-cooker .... for instance for lunch today I made Italian 5 Bean Soup - that's veggies and tomato passata with a soup bean mix in.

Took ten minutes boiling on the hob and then five hours in the bag - but the beans were cooked all the way through which was lovely.



Wondering what to go and make now - although I have promised to make overnight porridge to see how that works.

MG

greenbee

Rice pudding for tea

SailorSam

http://www.rv-insight.com/Thermal-Cooking.html

kaya

Didn't see the article but it all sounds a bit dodgy, 5-60deg C is the temp at which bacteria breeds like a fluffy bunny in a meadow so unless this bag is keeping your food at a minimum of 65deg I would expect to get a squitty bottom and bad guts sooner or later if cooking meat/fish etc. have a quick read up on sous vide cooking for more info on holding temps and things

Mojisola

kaya wrote: »

Didn't see the article but it all sounds a bit dodgy, 5-60deg C is the temp at which bacteria breeds like a fluffy bunny in a meadow so unless this bag is keeping your food at a minimum of 65deg I would expect to get a squitty bottom and bad guts sooner or later if cooking meat/fish etc. have a quick read up on sous vide cooking for more info on holding temps and things

The older version of this cooking, the hay box, was widely used during WW2 to save on fuel. If people had been getting frequent bouts of food poisoning, it would soon have gone out of favour.

Memory_Girl

Its a sensible question to ask ............... "Elf N Safety" and all that.

BTW kaya the soup was at 87 degrees (I am a food geek so had a thermometer to hand today)

As the pot is still far too hot to handle without an oven glove and the food steaming freely I am happy that the food is being held at a high enough temperature ..... its certainly much higher than 65 degrees.

MG

ariba10

The British Army used them during and after the war

They called them Hay Boxes.

[Deleted User]

I found a big enough piece of suitable 100% cotton material in my store and have the wonderbag cut out and ready to sew. I just need to get some polystyrene beads and can't wait to have a go at cooking in it!