I have never cooked a main meal in my life and am wanting to start now.
I have read about the Shuttle Chef by Thermos with it's vacuum method of retaining heat and the Dream Pot with it's insulation and have been looking out for the best price on the Thermos brand.
Was talking to a fellow traveller who swears by the Hawkins Pressure Cooker and uses it constantly.
As a solo nomad I would want a small capacity such as the 6 ltr Shuttle Chef with it's two @ 3 ltr pots $379 or the Dream Pot 5ltr @ $279 with dual pots and have seen the Hawkins Classic 1.5 ltr advertized on Ebay for under $40.
From reading about the products it seems to me that a big advantage of the thermal cookers is that the work can be done in the morning and enjoyed later whilst the pressure cooking has to be done just prior to eating.
I have absolutely no hands on experience so would like comments to help me get it right the first time. Clearly the pressure cooker has an immediate advantage in the price.
John
Bent Axle Bob said
10:49 AM Oct 23, 2011
Thermo cookers for me! 5 minutes to boil the water, put your silverside in, boil for another 18 minutes remove from heat source , put into insulated cover . Then come back 4 hours later and enjoy... Take into account what your dietary needs are as well as personal tastes, which can also determine the choice. The main factor is ....KISS.
Boroma577 said
06:38 PM Oct 23, 2011
I agree...thermal cooker for me and in my case it is a Dream Pot. Can also use the internal pots (1 large and 1 small) for other cooking if need be.
IMO, they are more versatile than a pressure cooker. I have cooked main meals, rice, sweets, cakes, scones etc in mine.
You are only limited by your imagination in what you can cook in a thermal pot.
Elle on Wheels said
11:19 PM Oct 23, 2011
The old pressure cookers were notorious for exploding but I think they are much safer these days. Like the others I think there is more versatility in a dream cooker. You might want to think about picking up a small bbq for outdoor cooking or at least a rack or a grill plate that you could use over an open fire just to add to your repitoire once you get into cooking.
Happywanderer said
11:18 AM Oct 24, 2011
John, If you have no experience in cooking Why don't you start with a good deep frypan with a lid. After many years of family cooking and still oven cooking for myself when at home it is all I want to do when out in the van. You will be amazed at the amount of different ways you can use a frying pan. And takes up less weight and space in your cupboards. You can do everything from bacon and eggs to a stirfry and you only need a bit of cooking oil or spray to start it off. So easy.
pauline said
04:23 PM Oct 24, 2011
I agree with Marg, a good deep frying pan is very versatile, I wouldn't be without mine when we travel, does a mean thai green curry too.
animalcarer said
07:13 PM Oct 24, 2011
I would have to agree with the deep frying pan, Sunbeam, and the large one is better.
You have been a well looked after little trout (no cooking). I think as a novice the thermal cooker and pressure cooker would stress you, we dont want big messes in your lovely new abode.
As you progess and become a Master chef on the road, you could revisit the endless possibilities, a little gas cooker might be fun when there is no power around, and the suggestion of a cooking plate to sling over the open fire, tinfoil to wrap your tatties in , you will be on your way
Lynette and howard.
Sheba said
07:40 PM Oct 24, 2011
Depends on whether you'll be in C'parks mostly, or Free-camping. In Parks, I'd go with the Fry-pan, but if Free-camping mainly, I'd stick with a Dream-pot and small [ Butane] Camping stove.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Happywanderer said
08:46 PM Oct 24, 2011
The deep frying pan with a lid I suggested is not the electric sort but just a basic you put on the gas stove. I bought a fantastic one at Aldi last week to keep out in the van so I don't have to keep carting things back and forth. Can be used on the gas cooker if you have one in the van or on a portable cooker outside on a table. Can have many uses and for some one not used to cooking would be very easy to learn numerous new recipes.
Sheba said
09:12 PM Oct 24, 2011
My mistake Marj. As soon as I saw "Sunbeam" in the previous post, I thought "Electric".
Cheers,
Sheba.
pauline said
09:15 PM Oct 24, 2011
That's the sort I meant as well Marg, got mine from the reject shop a real bargain with glass lid on for $9.99.
Elle on Wheels said
11:45 PM Oct 24, 2011
Hey John I see ebay have thermal cookers for $95 and dream pots for around $250 or so.
A dream pot or thermal pot is good for making a great stew or corned beef (which you were very keen on) or curry or pot roast or whatever takes your fancy using very little gas. You would have to prepare the food first which in the case of corned beef would be a matter of dropping the beef and a onion and carrot and a few spices into some water bringing it to the boil and throwing into a pot. Preparing a stew is a bit more complex. Like Lynette I reckon you have had an easy life not having had to cook before but then again I've not had to strip a carbie or install a turbine.
Anyway a bloke of your ingenility could easily master a dream pot after a few goes.
Marj's advice about the frypan is excellent as you will get to know about cooking first hand and get some quick results. With a pan you can do a great fry up - spuds, onion and sausages - great bloke food and if you add some capsicum and cabbage to the mix it will even be healthy. You can make eggs and bacon and tomato for special breakfast's. And you can experiment with slow cooking, as Marj also said and get a first hand feel for it' adding your herbs and spices as you go.
I would actually suggest you get a thermal type cooker as they are very good for your set up, but also get a good deep frypan with lid, and also a rack or plate to throw on an open fire as they will not take up much room. That way you will be equipped for every cooking experience.
cheers
yeoeleven said
04:06 PM Oct 25, 2011
Thank you for the replies, I have come to a decision and decided on the pressure cooker and have ordered the new Hawkins 2 ltr stainless steel model for $64 delivered,
There were 2 reasons for the purchase, firstly the price was hugely in favour of the pressure cooker and secondly I always make a point of arriving at my destination early and thus would have time enough to prepare then and the preparation before set off would only be a delay with the thermal cooker.. The mechanics of using either method does not phase me I will just get used to it.
As a preliminary excursion into cooking I have bought Uncle Ben's Express Mushroom Rice and a small tin of whole champignons for one meal as well as Uncle Ben's Express Savoury Chicken Rice and a jar of Patak's Butter Chicken for another.
I know that is not cooking but it is much more than I have done before having only opened and heated a container in the micrwave.
John
Ma said
07:31 PM Oct 25, 2011
It's a start Jon. Good on you.
With that Uncle Ben's Chicken rice, get yourself a chicken breast or thing and dice it up, give it a light fry in the saucepan before you do the rice then add the water and the rice and you have a tasty meal.
Same goes for the Patak's too
animalcarer said
07:41 PM Oct 25, 2011
Talking about food. Anaconda has a very good range of sealed vaccumed meals, they are a bit exy but one could do you three days. Aldies are still tops for tinned stuff, they do lovely sausages in a jar, they are really quite tasty. Another idea is to get a butcher to vaccum pack some steak for you before you set off. So for at least the first week you would be able to chill out. Knowing you have some meals up your sleeve.
goinsoon said
10:21 PM Oct 26, 2011
animalcarer wrote:
Talking about food. Anaconda has a very good range of sealed vaccumed meals, they are a bit exy but one could do you three days. Aldies are still tops for tinned stuff, they do lovely sausages in a jar, they are really quite tasty. Another idea is to get a butcher to vaccum pack some steak for you before you set off. So for at least the first week you would be able to chill out. Knowing you have some meals up your sleeve.
That Aldi bockwurst is fantastic, makes great hot dogs, all you have to do is take the top off the jar and zap for two minutes in the microwave if on power, or the old fashioned way in a pot wit water if not on power
03_troopy said
02:23 PM Oct 27, 2011
animalcarer wrote:
Talking about food. Anaconda has a very good range of sealed vaccumed meals, they are a bit exy but one could do you three days. Aldies are still tops for tinned stuff, they do lovely sausages in a jar, they are really quite tasty. Another idea is to get a butcher to vaccum pack some steak for you before you set off. So for at least the first week you would be able to chill out. Knowing you have some meals up your sleeve.
The butcher in the main shopping centre in Alice cryovacced (sp) some meat for us when we were out that way. The beef and camel he said were good for 2 and half to 3 weeks in the fridge, depending on temp and the sausages for probably 10 days
03_troopy said
02:25 PM Oct 27, 2011
We picked this up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. They were asking $10, but let us have it for $5. It is a glass vaccuum vessle so will have to be a bit careful but should be OK for not too rough a territory.
-- Edited by 03_troopy on Thursday 27th of October 2011 02:26:57 PM
Elle on Wheels said
09:35 PM Oct 28, 2011
Hey Troopy that is one heck of a thermal cooking device - you could feed everyone on the campsite. Make sure you post your itinerary so i can I can line up for my dinner everynight.
03_troopy said
06:15 PM Oct 29, 2011
Elle on Wheels wrote:
Hey Troopy that is one heck of a thermal cooking device - you could feed everyone on the campsite. Make sure you post your itinerary so i can I can line up for my dinner everynight.
Elle, the pots only hold about 2L each, so whether it is usefull remains to be seen. But Rice in one, curry in the second and desert in the third sounds good. If you look at the pic, the tiles are 300mm X 300mm, so that might bring it back into perspective. And if we find it's just another thing that seemed good at the time, I'm pretty sure we can get the $5 back at a garage sale.. ;)
ChiChi1 said
07:09 PM Oct 29, 2011
I'm not much into cooking on the road. The most adventurous would be a steak or a piece of fish fried in a non stick frypan. I don't like processed foods so mostly end up with lots of fruit and vegetables purchased locally. I am a "picker" "little bit of this and a little bit of that" all day long. If I really want something different I will go to a resturant and order something I can't cook on the road.
AmandaJayne said
05:13 PM Oct 30, 2011
We're taking both the cobb and a thermal cooker... meals from both taste great and they are alot different from eachother... of course we have the portable gas burners for hurried meals.... but I thought a little veriety would be the way to go :) Hubby wants to cook outside for most of the time so the hotplates inside wont be used very much....
Boroma577 said
10:51 PM Nov 5, 2011
yeoeleven wrote:
Thank you for the replies, I have come to a decision and decided on the pressure cooker
John
Good on you John.....glad to hear we have been of assistance to you and hope you have many great meals from your pressure cooker.
Boroma577 said
10:52 PM Nov 5, 2011
03_troopy wrote:
We picked this up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. They were asking $10, but let us have it for $5.
What a bargain troopy.
Eudard said
06:36 PM Nov 15, 2011
I grew up on soups and stew. My mum is totally anal about cooking. Good soups are a must in my family. So, here's my 2 cents worth.
For Chinese soups, braising and stew, best method is a charcoal stove. I kid you not. The taste cannot compare with anything else. I know, I know.... most ppl can't use charcoal stove... so, the next best alternative is the slow cooker. It's made of clay, so, no risk of Al poisoning (go Google and you will see that it's medically proven that it is a contributing factor to Alzheimer's). With slow cooker, also there's no risk to kids or pets getting burnt.
Pressure cooker. Don't like the taste of the soup. It is just not the same. I have one but used it only a couple of time a long time ago. It's now a white elephant sitting in my cabinet. Also, the hissing sound that it gives scares me off.
Thermal cooker. Got this as a gift but didn't like it because I can't control the heat and it does lose heat pretty fast. Ok to cook vegetable soup but to make traditional soup with herbs and to make 'mei chye kou rou', cannot lah.
Rice cooker is an option too but careful about the Aluminums pot. If using rice cooker, maybe can consider double boiling it Cantonese style in small clay pots if your family is small.
-- Edited by Eudard on Tuesday 15th of November 2011 06:38:08 PM
dawa said
02:32 PM Jan 3, 2012
i used a pressure cooker for 20 years and my aunt before me.we never even looked like having one explode.
Of course we were using wood stoves.
dawa
dawa said
02:34 PM Jan 3, 2012
excellent buy.
Put in the rice before the days travel. 10 mins to stirfry veggies and u have a quick nutritous meal.
dawa
Santa said
09:28 PM Sep 16, 2012
dawa wrote:
i used a pressure cooker for 20 years and my aunt before me.we never even looked like having one explode. Of course we were using wood stoves. dawa
In all of my years have never seen one explode, however if you had the fire turned up a little high they were subject to venting their contents all over the kitchen, pea soup on kitchen walls can make a bit of a mess.
Santa said
09:35 PM Sep 16, 2012
Food poisoning worries me with these methods of slow cooking, my feeling is that a pressure cooker would be a far safer option.
(Precaution
If a large part of the cooking time is spent at temperatures lower than 60 °C (as when the contents of the cooker are slowly cooling over a long period), a danger of food poisoning due to bacterial infection, or toxins produced by multiplying bacteria, arises. It is essential to heat food sufficiently at the outset of vacuum cooking. 60 °C throughout the dish for 10 minutes is sufficient to kill most pathogens of interest, effectively pasteurizing the dish.[4] The best practice is to bring briefly to a rolling boil then put the pot in the flask. This keeps it hottest longest. However the bacteria which causes deadly botulism, Clostridium botulinum, is widespread and can survive boiling and will multiply in certain foods at room temperatures in a sealed container. Foods that have not been autoclaved or pressure cooked at a temperature of 121°C+ (250°F+) for at least 3 minutes should be assumed to contain live Clostridium botulinum. If this food reaches temperatures of 3 °C to 43 °C (38 °F to 110 °F) it should be assumed to contain Clostridium botulinum multiplying and producing deadly botulin toxin. Remove the food before it cools to 43 °C (110 °F) and eat, keep hot, or refrigerate. If there is any question of the possibility of botulinum toxin, the food should be reheated to 80°C+ (176°F+) for 20 minutes to deactivate the toxin. Note that this does NOT kill the spores, but just neutralises the toxin. You can use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature when you open the flask. The better the flask, the more food, and the less the time, the higher the final temperature will be. You can also cover the flask top with fluffy towels or other insulating material to increase the amount of insulation and the final temperature. Most flask tops are not vacuum insulated, so are not as effective insulators as the vacuum flask sides. See insulation values of common materials. Growth of the Clostridium botulinum bacterium is prevented by high acidity (or high dissolved sugar), so dishes with a high proportion of tomatoes or lemons are usually safe.)
I have never cooked a main meal in my life and am wanting to start now.
I have read about the Shuttle Chef by Thermos with it's vacuum method of retaining heat and the Dream Pot with it's insulation and have been looking out for the best price on the Thermos brand.
Was talking to a fellow traveller who swears by the Hawkins Pressure Cooker and uses it constantly.
As a solo nomad I would want a small capacity such as the 6 ltr Shuttle Chef with it's two @ 3 ltr pots $379 or the Dream Pot 5ltr @ $279 with dual pots and have seen the Hawkins Classic 1.5 ltr advertized on Ebay for under $40.
From reading about the products it seems to me that a big advantage of the thermal cookers is that the work can be done in the morning and enjoyed later whilst the pressure cooking has to be done just prior to eating.
I have absolutely no hands on experience so would like comments to help me get it right the first time. Clearly the pressure cooker has an immediate advantage in the price.
John
I agree...thermal cooker for me and in my case it is a Dream Pot. Can also use the internal pots (1 large and 1 small) for other cooking if need be.
IMO, they are more versatile than a pressure cooker. I have cooked main meals, rice, sweets, cakes, scones etc in mine.
You are only limited by your imagination in what you can cook in a thermal pot.
After many years of family cooking and still oven cooking for myself when at home it is all I want to do when out in the van.
You will be amazed at the amount of different ways you can use a frying pan. And takes up less weight and space in your cupboards.
You can do everything from bacon and eggs to a stirfry and you only need a bit of cooking oil or spray to start it off. So easy.
I would have to agree with the deep frying pan, Sunbeam, and the large one is better.
You have been a well looked after little trout (no cooking). I think as a novice the thermal cooker and pressure cooker would stress you, we dont want big messes in your lovely new abode.
As you progess and become a Master chef on the road, you could revisit the endless possibilities, a little gas cooker might be fun when there is no power around, and the suggestion of a cooking plate to sling over the open fire, tinfoil to wrap your tatties in , you will be on your way
Lynette and howard.
Depends on whether you'll be in C'parks mostly, or Free-camping. In Parks, I'd go with the Fry-pan, but if Free-camping mainly, I'd stick with a Dream-pot and small [ Butane] Camping stove.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Can be used on the gas cooker if you have one in the van or on a portable cooker outside on a table. Can have many uses and for some one not used to cooking would be very easy to learn numerous new recipes.
My mistake Marj. As soon as I saw "Sunbeam" in the previous post, I thought "Electric".
Cheers,
Sheba.
A dream pot or thermal pot is good for making a great stew or corned beef (which you were very keen on) or curry or pot roast or whatever takes your fancy using very little gas. You would have to prepare the food first which in the case of corned beef would be a matter of dropping the beef and a onion and carrot and a few spices into some water bringing it to the boil and throwing into a pot. Preparing a stew is a bit more complex. Like Lynette I reckon you have had an easy life not having had to cook before but then again I've not had to strip a carbie or install a turbine.
Anyway a bloke of your ingenility could easily master a dream pot after a few goes.
Marj's advice about the frypan is excellent as you will get to know about cooking first hand and get some quick results. With a pan you can do a great fry up - spuds, onion and sausages - great bloke food and if you add some capsicum and cabbage to the mix it will even be healthy. You can make eggs and bacon and tomato for special breakfast's. And you can experiment with slow cooking, as Marj also said and get a first hand feel for it' adding your herbs and spices as you go.
I would actually suggest you get a thermal type cooker as they are very good for your set up, but also get a good deep frypan with lid, and also a rack or plate to throw on an open fire as they will not take up much room. That way you will be equipped for every cooking experience.
cheers
Thank you for the replies, I have come to a decision and decided on the pressure cooker and have ordered the new Hawkins 2 ltr stainless steel model for $64 delivered,
There were 2 reasons for the purchase, firstly the price was hugely in favour of the pressure cooker and secondly I always make a point of arriving at my destination early and thus would have time enough to prepare then and the preparation before set off would only be a delay with the thermal cooker.. The mechanics of using either method does not phase me I will just get used to it.
As a preliminary excursion into cooking I have bought Uncle Ben's Express Mushroom Rice and a small tin of whole champignons for one meal as well as Uncle Ben's Express Savoury Chicken Rice and a jar of Patak's Butter Chicken for another.
I know that is not cooking but it is much more than I have done before having only opened and heated a container in the micrwave.
John
It's a start Jon. Good on you.
With that Uncle Ben's Chicken rice, get yourself a chicken breast or thing and dice it up, give it a light fry in the saucepan before you do the rice then add the water and the rice and you have a tasty meal.
Same goes for the Patak's too
Talking about food. Anaconda has a very good range of sealed vaccumed meals, they are a bit exy but one could do you three days. Aldies are still tops for tinned stuff, they do lovely sausages in a jar, they are really quite tasty. Another idea is to get a butcher to vaccum pack some steak for you before you set off. So for at least the first week you would be able to chill out. Knowing you have some meals up your sleeve.
That Aldi bockwurst is fantastic, makes great hot dogs, all you have to do is take the top off the jar and zap for two minutes in the microwave if on power, or the old fashioned way in a pot wit water if not on power
The butcher in the main shopping centre in Alice cryovacced (sp) some meat for us when we were out that way. The beef and camel he said were good for 2 and half to 3 weeks in the fridge, depending on temp and the sausages for probably 10 days
We picked this up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. They were asking $10, but let us have it for $5. It is a glass vaccuum vessle so will have to be a bit careful but should be OK for not too rough a territory.
-- Edited by 03_troopy on Thursday 27th of October 2011 02:26:57 PM
Elle, the pots only hold about 2L each, so whether it is usefull remains to be seen. But Rice in one, curry in the second and desert in the third sounds good. If you look at the pic, the tiles are 300mm X 300mm, so that might bring it back into perspective. And if we find it's just another thing that seemed good at the time, I'm pretty sure we can get the $5 back at a garage sale.. ;)
We're taking both the cobb and a thermal cooker... meals from both taste great and they are alot different from eachother... of course we have the portable gas burners for hurried meals.... but I thought a little veriety would be the way to go :) Hubby wants to cook outside for most of the time so the hotplates inside wont be used very much....
Good on you John.....glad to hear we have been of assistance to you and hope you have many great meals from your pressure cooker.
What a bargain troopy.
I grew up on soups and stew. My mum is totally anal about cooking. Good soups are a must in my family. So, here's my 2 cents worth.
For Chinese soups, braising and stew, best method is a charcoal stove. I kid you not. The taste cannot compare with anything else. I know, I know.... most ppl can't use charcoal stove... so, the next best alternative is the slow cooker. It's made of clay, so, no risk of Al poisoning (go Google and you will see that it's medically proven that it is a contributing factor to Alzheimer's). With slow cooker, also there's no risk to kids or pets getting burnt.
Pressure cooker. Don't like the taste of the soup. It is just not the same. I have one but used it only a couple of time a long time ago. It's now a white elephant sitting in my cabinet. Also, the hissing sound that it gives scares me off.
Thermal cooker. Got this as a gift but didn't like it because I can't control the heat and it does lose heat pretty fast. Ok to cook vegetable soup but to make traditional soup with herbs and to make 'mei chye kou rou', cannot lah.
Rice cooker is an option too but careful about the Aluminums pot. If using rice cooker, maybe can consider double boiling it Cantonese style in small clay pots if your family is small.
-- Edited by Eudard on Tuesday 15th of November 2011 06:38:08 PM
In all of my years have never seen one explode, however if you had the fire turned up a little high they were subject to venting their contents all over the kitchen, pea soup on kitchen walls can make a bit of a mess.
(Precaution
If a large part of the cooking time is spent at temperatures lower than 60 °C (as when the contents of the cooker are slowly cooling over a long period), a danger of food poisoning due to bacterial infection, or toxins produced by multiplying bacteria, arises. It is essential to heat food sufficiently at the outset of vacuum cooking. 60 °C throughout the dish for 10 minutes is sufficient to kill most pathogens of interest, effectively pasteurizing the dish.[4] The best practice is to bring briefly to a rolling boil then put the pot in the flask. This keeps it hottest longest.
However the bacteria which causes deadly botulism, Clostridium botulinum, is widespread and can survive boiling and will multiply in certain foods at room temperatures in a sealed container. Foods that have not been autoclaved or pressure cooked at a temperature of 121°C+ (250°F+) for at least 3 minutes should be assumed to contain live Clostridium botulinum. If this food reaches temperatures of 3 °C to 43 °C (38 °F to 110 °F) it should be assumed to contain Clostridium botulinum multiplying and producing deadly botulin toxin. Remove the food before it cools to 43 °C (110 °F) and eat, keep hot, or refrigerate.
If there is any question of the possibility of botulinum toxin, the food should be reheated to 80°C+ (176°F+) for 20 minutes to deactivate the toxin. Note that this does NOT kill the spores, but just neutralises the toxin.
You can use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature when you open the flask. The better the flask, the more food, and the less the time, the higher the final temperature will be. You can also cover the flask top with fluffy towels or other insulating material to increase the amount of insulation and the final temperature. Most flask tops are not vacuum insulated, so are not as effective insulators as the vacuum flask sides. See insulation values of common materials.
Growth of the Clostridium botulinum bacterium is prevented by high acidity (or high dissolved sugar), so dishes with a high proportion of tomatoes or lemons are usually safe.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_flask_cooking