G'Day, This morning before we left the van park at Denman, Joy boiled up a 2kg piece of silverside in the Aldi dreampot .....boiled it for about an hour with the water about 50mm from the top, placed it in the container with the lid on and finally in the soft outer cover, handle locked.
It was then sat in the back of the Territory on a reasonably level spot. We then drove to Emu Plains (Nepean river holiday park - A1) via the Putty road. When we checked the pot, it had leaked about 200ml explaining the corned beef smell we had along the road.
Questions.....was it too full despite the instructions saying to fill to near the top....is the lid a proper seal......was the Putty road too windy despite my sedate driving (we were overtaken by a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost on this road BTW) or is this style of cooker not designed for carrying in a car?
We previously cooked rice, curries etc with no probs, just a bit unsure about carrying in the car when nearly full.
Into the actual outer pot only?? or right out of the thing into the thermal covering??
Lilian (SWMBO) has the attitude that if it leaks into the outer themo pot its fine...just par for the course really....but if it leaks outside than that can be a problem. Also she says she only covers the food with a small amount deep enough to keep everything moist...coz she reckons there should really be no evaporation in a sealed container.
BTW....we have the original Thermos Shuttle Chef....much the same as the others really...except it is now a few years old...looking well used too.
I use the Dreampot regularly and dont fill more than 2/3 at most or you may risk spilling or leaking into the outer pot If the seal is weak. I guess movement could result in a bit of leakage into the outer pot with things like corned silverside which is cooked in water, but it would be more like condensation from heat more than actual liquid. It sounds like you have over filled with water more than anything else. I also play safe and sit the sealed unit in a garbage bag inside one of those insulated cold shopping bags when traveling just to be safe. Never had a problem. As a general rule fill to cover or 2/3 max.
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The Maccas ....
2013 Avida Esperance Motorhome - based in northern NSW.
Thanks for the replies - looks like basically it was overfilled. It leaked past the glass lid to the inside of the outer insulated container, not into the insulated bag however there was some condensation there as well. When cooking something with a large mass it says to completely cover with water...the more the better so it can retain heat, however as we've now found out it's something not to be done in a moving vehicle, especially the Putty Rd.
The actual seal on the glass inner lid is a ring of stainless steel which then sits in a depression on the thermal outer casing....no positive locking, just sits there - we figured the outer lid holds the inner lid down.
Thanks again.
Just a thought for you Denis, we place our Dreampot inside a plastic milkcrate - works a charm and gives it a much more stable bottom - fits perfectly too.
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Pejay are travelling in a 2014 Holden Colorado LTZ Twin Cab Ute + 2013 Coromal Element van
Milkcrate for a base sounds good - thanks PJ
Doug - corned beef was great with cabbage and small potatoes cooked in the same water.....next day had it in sandwiches with tomato sauce. Yummo.
