cooking on the cheap

[fish]

now in the old days folk would save on fuel when cooking by heating the food to be cooked till hot then putting the whole pan with the lid in a big box and pack hay all round and on top to insulate it,thus i hour of fuell could cook for many hours saving a fortune.
well i dont have a hay box so i simply heat a pan of stew then put all the coats and fleeces in the house on top.


the stew is at 80 deg C.
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m92/fishfish_01/cooking/DSC00847.jpg

then covered :
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m92/fishfish_01/cooking/DSC00848.jpg

and
12 hours later (over night)its still at a respectable 60 deg C and now cooked right through!!!
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m92/fishfish_01/cooking/DSC00849.jpg

thanks for looking.

[Bambii]

I saw the haybox cooking thing on a world war 2 program. Looks like it works well, and saves alot of fuel.

[GaryBeaner]

As my friend Carl Hooper from the fast show would say with a dodgy accent..."That's amazing!"

[Ashley Cawley]

That's superb Fish!.. something I've not tried. Any idea what sort of volume pot you had going for the stew?

[GaryBeaner]

I was so impressed I had to find out more!
This fella uses a modified cool box and billy cans. I was also thinking how much money you could save in motroway sevice stations rather than a £5 sandwich!

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/hayboxcooker.htm

[Metal mug]

Has anyone used a steampit to cook? It's very similar and really enjoyable way to cook. You can do whole chickens wrapped up in leaves, or tin foil if you're pushed for time.

[Martin]

Has anyone used a steampit to cook? It's very similar and really enjoyable way to cook. You can do whole chickens wrapped up in leaves, or tin foil if you're pushed for time.

Just a thought Jack, how pushed for time are you likely to be if you're contemplating cooking a whole chicken in a steampit??? ;)

Martin

[Metal mug]

Just a thought Jack, how pushed for time are you likely to be if you're contemplating cooking a whole chicken in a steampit??? ;)

Martin You might be a high flying stock broker who has to steam cook a whole chicken before the markets open.:)

[Martin]

You might be a high flying stock broker who has to steam cook a whole chicken before the markets open.:)

Good point, well made. I clearly hadn't considered that eventuality. :D

Martin

[gemgenie]

Good idea but just bear in mind food safety aspects - dont want food poisoning do we .... especially if we are out camping with no toilet.

I know its a bit partypooper but its the nature of a food scientist to worry about these things lol.

[fish]

guts like a billy goat here in the sticks!