Retained Heat Cooking

[thinwater]

Fall is coming, which put me in the mood for stew, a dish that requires a long cooking time and a lot of fuel.


Many things that require a long simmer time, including rice, beans, stew, and many main dishes, require:

• Watching
• Fuel
• Put heat in the cabin, which is bad in the Summer.
• Put moisture in the cabin, which is bad in the winter.

I cook most of these, both on the boat and at home, by retained heat cooking. Instead of a crock pot, you heat them up on the stove and then place them in a well-insulated bag or container, which will keep the temperature about 160F for 4 hours or more. Sometimes I use a Wonder bag (I was given one for testing 10 years ago--works great). Sometimes I just fold the pot in some fleece blankets (at least 4 layers).



https://www.wonderbagworld.com/how-it-works
https://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Insul...4b37b1fff98742


Mostly, I like it on the boat because I can put dinner in a pot, take it off the stove, and go play without worry. Dinner will be ready when I get back. Rice is common. At home, I admit, I use a rice cooker, but I wouldn't want to burn the Ahs on the boat. I could.


I'm at home today, and just pull the stew out, after 3.5 hours in the bag. So good, without filling the house with the aroma, which would have had me very hungry.


Your retained heat cooking tricks?

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Fall is coming, which put me in the mood for stew, a dish that requires a long cooking time and a lot of fuel.

why not a pressure cooker? much more efficient and easier on fuel.

Check out Lorna Sass' pressure cooking cookbooks
https://lornasass.com/recipes

[wrwakefield]

We have used a Saratoga Jack’s thermal cooker for years. It is one of the cheaper models [~US$100 for our 5 liter model with two pans] I’m guessing because it uses injected foam instead of a vacuum for insulation, but works great anyway. They have lots of reasonably priced value add-ons too [bread pans, steamer, etc.]

A thermal cooker like this is also great when transporting meals elsewhere- be it in the dinghy or on shore…

We get lots of recipe ideas from 3rd party sources online, but basically they are all the same; brown proteins, etc. [optional]; add everything and boil for 10-15 mins. Put in insulated sleeve and wait a few hours [typically 4-8 depending upon what it is…]

For a meal that only fills half of the large pot, we fill the half sized pot with boiling water and set it on top for thermal mass while in the insulated ‘cooker’. [It nests into the top of the large pot without touching the food…] We can also cook two items at once using the two pots. e.g., chili in the bottom and rice, stout beer bread, or ? on top.

I am also an avid, long time pressure cooker user. [Uses less fuel, time, and reduces moisture released into boat.]. I also agree with Pelagia’s recommendation for Lorna Sass as an expert pressure cooking information and recipe source.

I also do some sous vide cooking, but only using the pressure cooker pot for the water bath and regulating manually on either the propane cooktop or [better yet] the induction plate when AC is available. [This instead of using one of the sous vide water bath devices…] I also sometimes just use the thermal cooker large pot and put the pot into the insulated sleeve, pulling it once or twice during cooking to bring the water bath up to ideal sous vide temp. [Usually less than 2 hours sous vide cook time…]

This is an excellent way of cooking proteins perfectly whether it be your favorite beef steak, pork roast, or hunks of fish that are not uniform in thickness/size. Finish with a sear on the grill. [For me, sous vide is a very controllable reverse-sear process that repeatedly yields excellent results.]

Just some of our approaches to reduced energy cooking onboard…

Cheers, Bill

PS: The Saratoga Jack cooking pots also work on the induction burner…

PPS: Original content augmented slightly during brief editing period…

[Captain Graham]

I cook at home with a crock pot because it is easy.
On my sailboat I like to us a pressure cooked and a towel.
Similar to what you do.

Cook the meal in the pressure cooked after it comes up to pressure (it whistles) I take it off the heat and wrap it in a towel until it is fully cooked.

[boatpoker]

Another vote for Wonderbag as it has the least use of fuel.

[Leadfree]

Tried retained heat, kicked it to the curb. AFAIC, pressure cooker is superior: Control over cooking, cooks quickly, low fuel consumption, and takes less space

[HankOnthewater]

I have the Shuttle Chef as retained heating on the boat. The 3 pans are of a very good quality and suitable for use as normal saucepans for propane and induction, or use is as retained heat type of cooking.
A Tefal pressure cooker is used nearly as often.

Tricks for retained heat cooking? Hmm I do not know any, as meals prepared are mostly very simple. Hehehe, I put the container with its insulating jacket in the bilge under the floorboards, midhsips, where its is very well secured, and minimal movement there.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Leadfree

Tried retained heat, kicked it to the curb. AFAIC, pressure cooker is superior: Control over cooking, cooks quickly, low fuel consumption, and takes less space

I would not say superior, I would say different.


Fuel consumption is about the same; you boil the food plus a few minutes.


Space is the same; you can use blankets you have on board.


The time is longer, but I mostly use it for things I prep early and then go out for a while. I don't have to watch it at all.


As for better, it depends. Some things are better cooked fast, others cooked slow. What I don't like about PC is getting food in the valve because I am cooking in rough conditions. Pressure cookers must be cleaned and used carefully.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by thinwater

As for better, it depends. Some things are better cooked fast, others cooked slow. What I don't like about PC is getting food in the valve because I am cooking in rough conditions. Pressure cookers must be cleaned and used carefully.

That's a concern, but with an electric pressure cooker we've found one big benefit for use underway. It doesn't have to be on the stove. It can sit in the galley sink or anywhere else we can adequately secure it while it does its thing.

[Leadfree]

I don’t have blankets on board

The thermal cooker I had and got rid of was physically fairly large, and had an inner pot much smaller than the outer, so there would have been more to store

My very simple Indian made pressure cooker would only get clogged if I had such extreme conditions that I would likely not want any fire lit nor, indeed, would I be interested in food.

As for slow, I can’t tell the difference between slow cooked and pressure for the things I eat