These cookers work on the maintaining of the heat generated when you initially heat up the food. That is it is insulated to stop the heat escaping.
We have improvised this method with the scouts using a hay box, so using anything that is insulated to seal the hot pot in should work the same, just don't have any space around the pot to allow heat to escape.
Method - food goes into a cast iron dutch oven, brought to boil, tight fitting lid put on, put in small box inside a box of hay, all sealed, go for a hike in the pm, come back to nice hot cooked meal.
We have also done this with pizza boxes.
Cheers Allara
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Enjoy life above ground...you will spend a lot of time under it
I have a Thermos "Shuttle Chef" and find it's does what it's intended to do quite well. I use it more at home than on the road and find it's excellent for soups and stews. whether the Aldi one would work as well as the Shuttle Chef, I've no idea.
We bought our eco pot earlier this year - could have bought dream pot or thermos brand. Chose eco pot as it had the back up for 12v power to keep food at acceptable safe temperatures after it was cooked.
Yes we paid $250 +/-, but well worth it.
Compare with Aldi products, I can't do, sorry, cant see that there is much to go wrong with the product, however the quality of the product may be of issue as the quality of the thermal capabilities and the steel inner pot may affect the correct temperatures for safe and reliable food consumption.
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Pay it forward - what goes around comes around
DUNMOWIN is no longer on the road and still DUNMOWIN!
Like most things in life you get what you pay for. I have worked all the major caravan shows for quite a few years and have seen and listened to the blurbs about the 4 or 5 different brands available at the shows. One in particular I wouldn't spend a cent on (But is sells well) and the salesman/cook and his cohorts couldn't lie straight in bed. Dream pot has been around the shows longer than any of the others and still boasts the thickest insulation over any other brand of insulated thermal cooker available. If one really wants the ants pants, then the 'Thermos Shuttle Chef' brand vacuum thermal cooker is the go. It's been sold around the world since before the 1st World war. One was carried by Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm on their epic Trans Pacific flight in the 'Southern Cross' from The USA to Australia in June 1928. The Thermos still the best, but that quality and performance will cost you a lot more. And so ends the lesson. Amen. Cheers, ozjohn.
-- Edited by ozjohn on Thursday 11th of November 2010 04:34:32 PM
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Retired Engineer, Ex Park Owner & Caravan Consultant. Holden 2.8 Colorado - Roma Elegance 17'6" Pop Top. Location: Mornington Peninsula Vic.
Hi all bought the cheap Aldi thermopot have cooked lamb shanks, corned beef in it so far and they turned out very well. Also fiddled with the pumpkin scone recipe and tried that in pot was edible but too moist.I think you could do and outstanding fruitcake in this pot. I umed and ahed about getting a pot as i also have a cob ,but can use the inner pots for other cooking so decided to leave behind other saucepans to save space.
The pot is suitable for small meals by filling the top pot with boiling water to create the heat long enough to cook say 2 shanks instead of the 6 most recipes are for. Cheers
I have the smaller model Shuttle Chef and cooked a yummy corned silverside in it a couple of days ago, also a veggie soup last week. With hindsight I would have been better to get the larger model with the two pots.
With regard to which is the better performer I'll be convinced when I see tests done in identical controlled conditions, meanwhile I'll treat all claims with a degree of skepticism.
