Anyone got a Mr D’s thermal cooker?

[Speleo62]

has anyone got a Mr D’s thermal cooker, if so what do you think of it? What do you cook in yours? Just got one from the boat show.

 

[ArunAlec]

I've been tempted, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. Did you get the basic set up or the one with the top pot?

 

[Speleo62]

I've been tempted, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. Did you get the basic set up or the one with the top pot?

One with top pot, i’m Hoping it’s going to be a good asset to the van. Less packet use and Tesco meals and more fresh produce.

 

[Borris]

We have two, the standard one with the top pot and a much larger one that caters for fifteen to twenty. We purchased the small one for Cali use and the larger one for large family parties of which we have plenty. With four children and their families including eight grandchildren, it comes in very useful as the main meal can be prepared long before they all come crashing through the front door.

These things are brilliant and the smaller one is ideal for use with a Cali. We used ours last weekend whilst camping in our Beach at the Henham Steam Fair in Suffolk. After breakfast on the Saturday morning we prepared a delicious beef stew. It only took about twenty minutes and then it had the rest of the day to cook slowly. We ate half of it on Saturday night with a few buttered slices of crusty loaf, all washed down with a bottle of local Suffolk red wine (an aquired taste which we've yet to aquire). We had the rest of the stew at home on Sunday evening.

First we sweated plenty of chopped onions and garlic with olive oil in the main pan until browned then whilst they were removed to a separate bowl, we seared the diced beef then chucked the whole lot in together with washed new potatoes, chopped carrots, etc etc and a bouquet garni of thyme or bay leaves to suit. My wife also likes to add ground Cumin and ground Corriander. Then you have to add liquid to cover the contents. By liquid you can use water but we prefer red wine and water with the emphasis on the red wine. Oh I nearly forgot, a beef stock cube or in our case a table spoon of Bovril. You can add salt and pepper to suit when you serve but we've found that the Bovril is enough to give it a great flavour. Bring up to the boil and keep it there for 12 -15 minutes. Then remove from the heat and place inside the thermal container and forget it until dinner time. Note: The instructions say that the Mr Ds works at its optimum efficiency when 80% full.

When you are ready for your meal it may just be necessary to bring it back up to the boil shortly before serving. This depends on how long it's been between prep and eating. However usually you will find it still hot and beautifully cooked.

Because these cooking devices are sealed the juices don't reduce. So you can either serve as is or remove some of the juice first. On this occasion we used it for a soup starter and it was amazing.

The beauty of these thermal cookers is that you can prep a meal in only a short time before you leave home, then after boiling for only ten to fifteen minutes on the heat, stick it the thermal container. Then you can drive several hundred miles to your destination and have a lovely hot meal ready for when you've arrived. They're also great for picnics and for people who live busy working lives. In fact, as they use very little energy to cook a meal I have always thought that they would be ideal for families who are finding it difficult to make ends meet and also students.

We've used ours a lot and have made chillis, curry with rice in the top pot at the same time, as well as casseroles etc. You can also make cakes and puddings in them as well.

For some more ideas go on Youtube. Type in Mr Ds Thermal Cooker and himself will appear demonstrating his numerous recipes.

I hope that helps.

Could these also be a good line in the club shop?

 

[Speleo62]

Thanks Borris, I knew someone had one on the forum. Going to try it in the Cali on Friday.

 

[Erbster]

We have one too- bought at the boat show, as well. I love the fact that we can cook earlier in the day, and that it makes two dishes (eg curry and rice). We have a bread tin too and make fresh bread in it when we’re away in our boat. The thermal cooker is time- and fuel-efficient. I’m sure you’ll find it useful in the van. Just make sure it’s clipped shut and wedged in place if you are travelling whilst the food is cooking inside.


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[Borris]

Sorry, I forgot to mention one vital ingredient from the beef stew. A beef stock cube or table spoon full of Bovril. We used the latter which gives the whole thing a wonderful taste. I've now amended the recipe accordingly.

 

[Borris]

As thermal cookers are sealed they don't reduce the contents so there is always quite a lot of what we call jossup (Liquid) when the meal is ready to be served. That's fine but we are currently experimenting with adding pearl barley and/or pulses etc at some point to soak up some of this excess liquid. As previously mentioned it makes glorious soup.

 

[Erbster]

Red lentils...


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[Elly Swanson]

Hi peeps. Santa bought me one. Did a boiled bacon. Although it was at home in the kitchen would be just as easy in the Cali.

As I wanted to use the cooking liquor for a soup and gravy base I soaked it in cold water all day and drained it. Bought the joint to the boil and dumped the water.

New clean water: added chopped onion, carrot, celery, finely chopped ginger & garlic, whole pepper corns, bayleaves, one pork stock cube. Boiled and simmered for 15 mins.

Put in the thermal outer pot at 9pm. Next day got it out at 8am, later than intended. At first thought I thought it was a bit dry and watery. Let it cool completely and put it in the fridge for 30 mins. Sliced it thinly, rewrapped in foil and left it in the fridge. Because it had time to sit and settle it was actually very moist and tasty.

What I would do differently next time or when I’m in the Cali (it’s getting closer, just waiting to be shipped):

• Buy a premium joint from a good butcher who cures their own (so less soaking required), rather than a supermarket joint.
• Use a smaller joint. Although it fitted in the 3l pot with all the veggies, etc, when sliced there was enough to feed an army.
• Start it at a time when it doesn’t have to be in the cooker for so long.
• Add a bouquet garni too.
• Maybe have apple juice for half the liquid &/or use chopped apple.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Today I did chicken korma and rice. Again a learning curve. Used Sainsbury’s powdered korma mix. Followed the ingredients on the pot and recipe more or less, to see how it’d turn out. Took a photo of the label, not initially to load here but because I was having trouble reading the small text and couldn’t find a magnifier (good tip if you struggle with labels/small text is to take a photo on your tablet/phone and read them on there zoomed in).

Anyway, this is how it went, 3 hrs in the thermal pot

• The curry
  • 4 boneless chicken thighs.
  • grated the garlic, ginger &, funny enough, the almonds too.
  • could have done with double the amount of powder.
  • didn’t want to put the cream in until after it came out of the thermal pot and wanted to thicken on the hob after, but when I went to the fridge the cream was 5 days past sell by (school girl error). So thickened with milk and cornflour.
• The rice:
  • I like brown rice and it takes longer to cook so thought it would need to be boiled/simmered for about 10 mins before going in the thermal top pot.
  • it turned out soft and a cross between mushy/fluffy (I like aldente) and a bit watery.

In conclusion:

• I need to get my act together and check all ingredients to avoid disappointments. Although the curry was really nice, milk and cornflour doesn’t cut it over cream!
• The 3l pot is narrow so the initial fry of the onions and chicken was more like a “steam” (Mary Berry would be tut-tutting and wagging a finger in disapproval). Next time I’ll start in a frying pan to get the nice brown caramelisation for look and flavour.
• I need to experiment cooking rice in the top pot:
  • proportion of water to rice,
  • initial cooking time
  • thermal cooking time

Happy to receive comments and suggestions, especially on the rice issue.

 

[Erbster]

Life’s too short for brown rice!

Often cook curries in thermal cooker- cheaper cuts of beef and lamb work really well. Did you smell the cream; I trust my nose more the bbe dates (though my wife is horrified by this and often overrules me).

I make a masala blend which I take on trips, so I don’t have to buy supermarket curry powder.


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[Elly Swanson]

Find the handles on the Mr D’s top pot a little frustrating but realised today that my Tefal Ingenio detachable pan handle fits it great, so I can use it like a saucepan and remove the handle when it goes in the thermal cooker.

You can buy the handle as a separate item. It would be good to use in the Cali:

• It’s easy to clip on and off but has a really firm hold when on.
• If you use camping pans it would be sturdier than the handles on them.
• If you have ordinary kitchen pans with handles you could save a lot of space by removing them and just having one detachable handle.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Life’s too short for brown rice!

Often cook curries in thermal cooker- cheaper cuts of beef and lamb work really well. Did you smell the cream; I trust my nose more the bbe dates (though my wife is horrified by this and often overrules me).

I make a masala blend which I take on trips, so I don’t have to buy supermarket curry powder.


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Hi Erbster. Yes, the cream was well and truly gone! I too go on look and smell most often, but am more cautious with the use by dates than I am with best befores. I had terrible food poisoning once on a long summer holiday which wrecked 4 weeks out of 6, didn’t go home but couldn’t move more than 50m from the porta potti or a loo.

What do you put in your masala blend? Do you store it in plastic containers, bags, tins? I’m trying out supermarket pots to use when camping, should really pull my finger out, get more organised and preprepare some blends.

If you like spices there’s a great new book out called “the science of spice” by Dr Stuart Farrimord. He’s very cleverly created a periodic table of the spice flavours and compounds. It’s really informative with spice profiles, geographical & historical info as well as some lovely recipes. My hubby got it for me for Christmas. Here’s some pics:









By the way, brown rice rocks !

 

[Borris]

[QUOTE="Elly Swanson]

• The 3l pot is narrow so the initial fry of the onions and chicken was more like a “steam” (Mary Berry would be tut-tutting and wagging a finger in disapproval). Next time I’ll start in a frying pan to get the nice brown caramelisation for look and flavour.

Try caramelising the onions first on their own in your Mr D's then removing them whilst you do the chicken. It works perfectly without needing to use a separate frying pan. Ideal if you are in your van because firstly it means less washing up and secondly much less likelihood of fat spitting out over your Cali interior from the Mr D's cook pot.

 

[Erbster]

Good shout Borris.

Ellie - that book is going straight on my amazon wish list!

I use two masalas, which I keep as a dry powder for a few weeks (they improve) and if there’s any left, I fry it off in oil and store as a paste in the fridge.

These are links from a very old website I made which I used to store odd recipes I used:

http://erb.org.uk/cookbook/bm.html

http://erb.org.uk/cookbook/bgm.html



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[Elly Swanson]

[QUOTE="Elly Swanson]

• The 3l pot is narrow so the initial fry of the onions and chicken was more like a “steam” (Mary Berry would be tut-tutting and wagging a finger in disapproval). Next time I’ll start in a frying pan to get the nice brown caramelisation for look and flavour.

Try caramelising the onions first on their own in your Mr D's then removing them whilst you do the chicken. It works perfectly without needing to use a separate frying pan. Ideal if you are in your van because firstly it means less washing up and secondly much less likelihood of fat spitting out over your Cali interior from the Mr D's cook pot.

Thanks, Boris. As long as I remember not to use another clean dish to put them in while they wait.

For the amount of onion & chicken I used I think I’d need 4 batches. But I then I might reduce the portions of chicken and add more nuts and some actual coconut anyway, maybe a few sultanas too.

Do you do rice in a top pot?

 

[Elly Swanson]

Good shout Borris.

Ellie - that book is going straight on my amazon wish list!

I use two masalas, which I keep as a dry powder for a few weeks (they improve) and if there’s any left, I fry it off in oil and store as a paste in the fridge.

These are links from a very old website I made which I used to store odd recipes I used:

http://erb.org.uk/cookbook/bm.html

http://erb.org.uk/cookbook/bgm.html



https://caliventures364847572.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the cookbook links, Erbster. Very interesting and informative.

 

[MattBW]

If anyone fancies being a guest on campervan cookout let me know I did reach out to Mr D but I guess as he makes his own films he may not be interested.

I must admit I do wonder if my tagine recipe would be amazing in something like this depends how long it can stay hot for?

 

[SimonB]

If anyone fancies being a guest on campervan cookout let me know I did reach out to Mr D but I guess as he makes his own films he may not be interested.

I must admit I do wonder if my tagine recipe would be amazing in something like this depends how long it can stay hot for?

It stays hot for 4-6 hours Matt possibly longer. It stays hotter longer the more you have in it, rice is cooked to perfection. It's just like an electric slow cooker without the electric bit, so very safe in a Cali. Prepare the food, heat up the pan, put the food in to cook and drive to your destination with the Mr D in a cupboard gently cooking.

 

[Elly Swanson]

If anyone fancies being a guest on campervan cookout let me know I did reach out to Mr D but I guess as he makes his own films he may not be interested.

I must admit I do wonder if my tagine recipe would be amazing in something like this depends how long it can stay hot for?

Mr D is a one man show and it may be that he’s too busy with other stuff. He’s a nice guy. I had a problem with my first order and he sorted it quickly and effectively, even though he was run off his feet before Xmas.

 

[Erbster]

I’ve met him twice and he’s s very nice bloke. Eg. My thermal cooker developed a problem which he sorted by return. I’ve twice tweeted him with what I’ve cooked. No response on one occasion, polite reply on the other. My conclusion was also that he is a busy one man band.


https://caliventures364847572.wordpress.com/

 

[Elly Swanson]

I've been tempted, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. Did you get the basic set up or the one with the top pot?

OMG, your profile picture, ArunAlec, looks just like Dave Knowles (Mr D) if you take off the Beard! Take a look here

 

[Elly Swanson]

I th

If anyone fancies being a guest on campervan cookout let me know I did reach out to Mr D but I guess as he makes his own films he may not be interested.

I must admit I do wonder if my tagine recipe would be amazing in something like this depends how long it can stay hot for?

I think once I get the Cali and we get sorted out it would be fun to collaborate with you guys. As long as my messy cooking doesn’t put you off. Oh, and you may need a clapperboard because I talk like I write (for England)!

 

[Elly Swanson]

If anyone fancies being a guest on campervan cookout let me know I did reach out to Mr D but I guess as he makes his own films he may not be interested.

I must admit I do wonder if my tagine recipe would be amazing in something like this depends how long it can stay hot for?

Tagine recipes work great in a thermal pot, Matt. Difference is in a thermal pot you would have to use more liquid. In a tagine the shape of the “lid” captures steam and recycles it back into the dish. In a slow cooker, crockpot or thermal pot your food should be covered in liquid, and for the thermal process to work the pot needs to be 80-90% full. You can cook something in a top pot (that goes inside the inner pot) on its own if you put boiling water in the inner pot. Cake or or bread, you put in a sealed tin, on a trivet, with boiling water two thirds up the sides.

Hi peeps. Santa bought me one. Did a boiled bacon. Although it was at home in the kitchen would be just as easy in the Cali.

As I wanted to use the cooking liquor for a soup and gravy base I soaked it in cold water all day and drained it. Bought the joint to the boil and dumped the water.

New clean water: added chopped onion, carrot, celery, finely chopped ginger & garlic, whole pepper corns, bayleaves, one pork stock cube. Boiled and simmered for 15 mins.

Put in the thermal outer pot at 9pm. Next day got it out at 8am, later than intended. At first thought I thought it was a bit dry and watery. Let it cool completely and put it in the fridge for 30 mins. Sliced it thinly, rewrapped in foil and left it in the fridge. Because it had time to sit and settle it was actually very moist and tasty.

What I would do differently next time or when I’m in the Cali (it’s getting closer, just waiting to be shipped):

• Buy a premium joint from a good butcher who cures their own (so less soaking required), rather than a supermarket joint.
• Use a smaller joint. Although it fitted in the 3l pot with all the veggies, etc, when sliced there was enough to feed an army.
• Start it at a time when it doesn’t have to be in the cooker for so long.
• Add a bouquet garni too.
• Maybe have apple juice for half the liquid &/or use chopped apple.

Spontaneous second attempt so no premium joint, bouquet garni or apple juice. I did have a smaller bacon joint (375g).

Soaked overnight in cold water, no scummy discharge so just put in pan next morning with onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and 3 bay leaves. Topped with cold water & homemade chicken stock to cover (80% of pan filled).

Brought to boil and good simmer for 10 mins. Put in outer thermal cover. Went swimming. Four hours later opened pot and removed bacon straight away. Left it on a plate to cool.

Tested by 3 year old granddaughter who can be quite fussy. Thumbs up. Chilled in the fridge and goodness, what a difference: juicy, firm, easy to carve thinly and really tasty.

Lots of lovely licqor and veg (not all mushy like when pressure cooked) for bacon soup.

This is so quick, easy and cheap, with the bonus of the lovely licqor that can be used as a gravy or sauce stock, I won’t be buying boiled ham from the shops anymore.

The thermal pot will definitely be coming with us in the Cali. Full with a pre-prepared meal while we’re travelling and meals started on the van hob, camping stove or Cobb/trangia whilst we’re static.

Next experiments will be a pan of scouse and a boiled fruit cake. I don’t have a sealable bespoke cake pan so will use a foil top and tight elastic. Don’t think I have a trivet small enough, so will find a way to improvise.

Will let you know how it goes.