Thermal cooker guide:

Not too long ago, I did not know what thermal cooker was and did not think I needed one either. About a year ago, we went to beach picnic with a few friends of ours and we had lugged some food and snacks to eat during the driving and at the beach. By the time we got there, our sandwiches were cold and unappealing to eat and we were ready to buy junk food at high prices at the beach! Yes, I know it is pathetic, we felt the same way but did not think of any better way to remedy the situation at the hand.

Our friends had brought some large stainless thing with them, I thought they were crazy carrying that thing around until they opened it and spooned really hot and delicious looking rice dish for them and since they were polite and nice, they shared some rice with us. Food was very filling and delicious, and it was great to eat warm food in cold beach. I was very much intrigued and I kept asking them questions such as how long does it to cook, where did they plug in power cords in car to cook the food, where they bought it, and can you cook vegetarian meals in it, and more. Our friend was very helpful and answered all my nagging question to my satisfaction. I came home to do more search and bought one for our household soon after.

I am really thankful for them to introduce thermal cooker in our household now. We use thermal cooker at home and outdoors locations. Now, I can impress some newbie like me at the beach or picnic and share my hot, nutritious meal with them. You will know everything about thermal cookware right here, such what it is, how it works and its benefits and how to use it, right here in this thermal cooker guide.

What is thermal cooker?

Thermal cooker is also known as thermal pot and works like almost a slow cooker or crock pot but it is very convenient and easy to use anywhere, it does not need power cord, and it cooks in own induction heat. It saves time and energy usage during the cooking process. It is healthier way to cook and one does not need to worry about spilling, burning the food. It can be used indoor, for picnic, camping, any location as it does not need any power or electricity. Food stays warm for hours, ready to eat when you are.

Thermal cooker is made of two parts.

1.  Insulated outer pot with lid

2. Stainless steel inner pot with lid

So, how do you cook in thermal cooker?

Cooking in thermal cooker is very simple and easy. Put your ingredients in inner pot from your recipe book. Put the inner pot on stove top for about 10 minutes or so, bringing to boil. Take it off from stove and place inner pot inside the outer pot of thermal cooker. Close the lid and you are done with cooking! That is it, really.

Based on your cooker and recipe you choose, food can be ready in 30 minutes or longer and it can keep hot for 6-12 hours, depending on brand and size of your thermal cooker.

What kind of food you can make with thermal cooker?

You can make soup, stew, rice dishes, bake a bread, cake and other main meals such as chili, chicken dishes, vegetable dishes, beans, cabbage roles and much more. Anything that can be cooked in slow cooker or crock pot can be cooked in the thermal cooker.

How does it cook without power?

After your place the inner pot inside the insulated outer pot, cooking will start in vacuum sealed pot.The food will continue to cook in its own heat. The insulated vacuum thermos thermal cooker have great heat retention and inside temperature can retain about 160 degree even after 8 hours.Some food will be cooked faster while other may take longer time. For example, rice can be done in 30 minutes, beef brisket can take up to 3.5 hours. Thermal cooker manufacture guide will have more information based on different brand and size of the thermal cooker.

You can leave thermal cooker unattended as there are no electricity or power cords to worry about. Nor thermal cooking requires your monitoring the cooking. That is the reason its make a great kitchen gadgets to cook in while you go to work, sleep, go out, in picnic, during car drive trips, camping and so on.

Our favorite way to use thermal cooker is to take it during our car drives, vacation and picnic time.

Benefits of thermal cooker:

• No extra power , electricity or energy needed
• Cook for 10 minutes on stove top, finish cooking by it self in outer pot
• Can leave unattended, as no power cord
• Can take it camping, day car trips and cook meals anywhere
• Keeps flavor, nutrients inside your food
• No smoke, odor, grease
• Easy clean up
• Food can keep hot for 6-12 hours without any power
• Food can keep hot or cold both
• Great for picnics, potlucks
• Convenient, and easy way to cook
• Great for busy people who want to cook at home
• It is similar to slow cooker but with benefits

Important and simple safety tips for your thermal cooker:

• Important to note that do not fill your inner pot more than 80%, as more food, more heat it will create.

• Do not open before food is cooked (within 30 minutes) as it will cause it to lose heat rapidly which is required to cook the food in its own heat in vacuum.

• Do not leave food longer than what manufacture’s guidelines says, usually between 6-12 hours. Check to make sure.

Choosing a thermal cooker:

If you think thermal cooker is right choice for you, how do you go about choosing the right one for you? There are many brands and models out there from from affordable to expensive range and different sizes. Tiger and Thermos thermal along with Zojirushi brands makes good quality thermal cookers.

We bought cheapest one at first, while it did it job and worked alright however, some of the food we needed to cook longer than 10 minutes in order for it to retain high heat. It was trial and error before we figured we needed a better thermal cooker and we bought another one that is working just right for us and I tell you a secret, it is not the most expensive one. It is Thermos Thermal Cooker.

There are many sizes of thermal cooker, we recommend that you buy at least 5 liter size or bigger thermal cooker otherwise you will be not able to feed more than 2 peoples in it. Some larger sizes include 8 liter size too for larger family needs. Thermal cooker can be best small appliance investment for many households.

In addition to there are some thermal cooker that comes with 2 inner pots, instead of one, so you can cook two different dishes at the same time. If you have 2 inner pots and want to make only one type of food, make sure you put ingredient in one pot and hot, boiled water in other inner pot to put it inside outer pot to retain enough heat to cook throughout.

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