Retained - Heat Cooking

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

And if you get the 8+ years out of the cheap stuff that we have so far got out of the above then......

But i doubt it....

And $60*8=480, so I can buy 8 of these and still be ahead....

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by tamif27

And $60*8=480, so I can buy 8 of these and still be ahead....

No you can't, unless you want to carry all 8 sets out to sea or take all eight sets 200+ kays into the bush camping.....

There is a reason stuff is cheap, i have been down the cheap track many times, no more........

But you can do what you like, i don't care....

[frank_f]

This is the same thing isn't it?
Amazon.com: Thermos Thermal Cooker RPC-6000 2x3L & 6L Stainless Steel Pots: Kitchen & Dining

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by frank_f

This is the same thing isn't it?
Amazon.com: Thermos Thermal Cooker RPC-6000 2x3L & 6L Stainless Steel Pots: Kitchen & Dining

Thats the stuff.......

[Talbot]

I have the Mr Ds Eco Friendly Cookware thermal cooker, and the cobb BBQ. Both ideal for those trips to the beach, and the thermal cooker is a great concept as weather goes bad.

[tamicatana]

I've received my 'cheap' thermal cooker. I think it's just fine, here's some pix

[JanetGroene]

Woke up once to find campsite surrounded by water and campfire drowned. Thanks to SS thermoses had coffee and hot oatmeal. Got a muddy day off to better start....

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Any old SS vacuum type thermos works very well too

I typically used a small thermos to cook with while backpacking. I would have meals pre-made, of rice/lentils, spices, dried veggies/onions. Sometimes dried beans (soaked in the thermos the night before), and occasionally dried meats... I'd cook in the morning right along with making my coffee and oatmeal... I'd make my coffee/oatmeal first then add the food to the leftover water (I had it all precisely measured) and return to a boil, pour the whole thing into the thermos, put thermos in backpack, and off you go. It's ready within 20 minutes or so (cooks like a pressure cooker) and stays piping hot and fresh (not overcooked) for up to 24 hours.

Same principle also used in backpacking, is to make a pot cozy out of reflective insulation material. You just bring your meal to a boil and place the pot in the cozy and let sit until it's cooked... I like the thermos better for one-person meals, but the cozy is more useful for bigger pots.

The principal for backpacking was to use the least amount of cooking fuel possible. So making an entire day's hot meals just by boiling water once in the morning, using about an ounce of alcohol, was extremely useful.

[meuritt]

Thanks for the rice tip. I've continued to experiment and have tried brown rice, which held together better and wild rice which works even better. I am using the 16 Thermos/Nissan. While it warms I measure out 1 cup of mixed vegs, cube small potato if no rice is planned, prepare a bit of meat, usually chicken thigh, season and fill the measuring cup to 15oz with broth. Bring to boil and put in prewarmed thermos. If rice is going in, now is the time to add it, just before putting the lid on.

Wife eats her lunch some time 7+ hours after I get it in the thermos, it is hot enough on opening to still be too hot to eat.

I've done similar in the larger wide mouth thermos for after day sail lunches to great fanfare. I've never made soup before, except opening cans and heating, this has been fun. Next on the list of things to learn in the galley is the yoghurt.

Tami, have you actually used that set? There were two that looked similar online, one got very mixed reviews, would like to hear how yours performs.

Mike

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by meuritt

Tami, have you actually used that set? There were two that looked similar online, one got very mixed reviews, would like to hear how yours performs.

Mike

I've only just gotten the thing, but I did make some rice. It worked for that. I didn't leave it all day, a few hours. I would expect that the higher-end products might be better, but for the price I think this set is ok so far.

I like the way it's designed with the handles, but it's honestly not what I'd call heavy-duty, but that is ok with me. I might have done better to purchase a wide-mouth Thermos just because I don't need the big size of this set. I'm having that same problem with pressure cookers, which are all huge, even the small ones, ha ha

The reviews at Home Depot, which is where I found this, all seemed positive.

[JanetGroene]

Endless variations on this theme. I had a trimaran friend who used an insulated ice bucket to keep her mashed potatoes hot. That freed up burners to make gravy, coffee and other last-minute additions to holiday meals. You can also cook eggs in the shell overnight. It takes some experimenting to see how much boiling water is needed in what size thermos for how many eggs, depending on whether you want them soft or hard-boiled.

[meuritt]

I was at a very large thrift store and found a good sized thermal cooker for $3. Didn't buy it, there ought to have been a latch to hold the lid down, it looked like it, and the lid flopped around, I didn't recognize the name to even think about spare/repairs part.

Thanks to this thread I've discovered and enjoyed this thermal cooking idea, aka haybox cooking, aka retained heat cooking, known for more than 100 years now. I was talking to my 80 YO mom about it this weekend, she never did it back on the farm in Oklahoma, but does remember slow cooking in the 70's.

This past week I prepared hardboiled eggs, boiled potato, noodles, overdone at one hour, should have been half that, maybe less, and two yogurts, one a success, one not so much, wild rice and brown rice. I also make soup for my sweetie for her late shift work. 1 cup of frozen vegs, seasoning and usually some sort of meat, fill to 16 oz with broth, bring to boil, add wild rice and pour into pre warmed 16 oz thermos. She dines about 7 hours later to a fresh hot soup.

The thing I like best about this is the clean up of a thermos is easier than a pot because the food doesn't stick. So when this technique goes aboard I will be saving water, propane and time spent stirring/tending to the pots on the stove.