Thermal cookers: have you used one?

greenbee

If you click on Memory Girl's homepage she has a tutorial for a thermal bag on her blog (I think forum rules prevent her from telling you that herself...).

I've been using mine to make soup during the winter - chop stuff up at breakfast, chuck it in the pan, heat it up and then stuff it in the thermal bag so that whenever I have a chance for a break during the work day (I work from home) there is hot food. I then freeze the excess so I have easy meals when I'm travelling a lot/too busy to cook.

TBH it's sometimes easier to make fresh soup in the thermal bag than defrost something I've already done!

Today's experiment will be beef stew, as I've just picked up two heavily reduced packs of braising beef.

vouchersrme

I have just made a thermal bag from a free tutorial, I have used it twice and italian pork casserole and braised steak, both very successful . Well done but not the over cooked taste you sometimes get with a SC and still 73 degrees after 5 hours,

Memory_Girl

No thermal cooking for me today - but I have been inventorying my store cupboard.

I forsee a lot of beany dishes and thick soups over the next few months :-) Still it will mean more money to save for the future.

I know what you mean greenbee .. I can chop the veggies and bring them to a boil as I boil the kettle for my breakfast coffee. Snuggle the pot into the bag and lunch is ready whenever I am.

I have some lamb stock to use tomorrow ... so off to find somehting delicious I can "thermalise" for tomorrow.

MG

greenbee

My beef appears to be rather tough, so I've reheated it and am shoving it back in the bag overnight... hopefully it will see sense

Memory_Girl

I have had a little flurry of sales of the tutorial ... and I noticed that most were from South Africa.

It turns out that there are massive problems with the security of electricity over there at the moment and they are "load shedding" ... which means they are turning off power for several hours a day.

Looks like our OS South African ladies are prepping the best way the know how to ensure a hot meal for their families.

I though these beasties would be perfect for low income families - making the most of the amount of electricity you can afford to use to feed your family .... but it never occurred to me that it could very easily become a necessity.

Good luck to them all ..... I remember the 1970's and wouldn't wish that on anyone.

MG

[Deleted User]

This is the thread about thermal cookers bumping to get it on the radar again. Recipes here too so read through, it's worth it, Lyn xxx.