Beaulieu Static Caravan Show

This weekend we had a stand at the Beaulieu Static Caravan Show. The weather was perfect.

The sun shone every day as we talked thermal cooking to many of the visitors to the show. One couple left the show and later decided to come back in to buy one.

Each day we took a cake and a main course to show what can be cooked in the thermal cooker. The steak and kidney pudding that we made for Sunday certainly was a hit with the male visitors who all seem to love this dish.

In the afternoon I did a demonstration of how to prepare a meal. This not only showed how quick it is to prepare a meal but meant we had a hot supper when we got home.

Fridays recipe: Chilli con carne - serves 8 people (use half the contents for 4 people): from Olive Magazine

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil


• 2 onions, finely chopped


• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely


• bunch of coriander, leaves picked, stalks chopped up finely


• 2 green chillies, diced finely


• 1 tsp of chilli flakes


• 2 tsp ground cumin


• 2 tsp ground cinnamon


• 2 tsp dried oregano


• 1 kg good-quality beef mince


• 2 tbsp tomato puree


• 200ml red wine


• 1 tsp of salt


• 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper


• 600g canned chopped tomatoes


• 2 tbsp black treacle


• 1 litre beef stock


• 2 red peppers diced


• 400g tin kidney beans


• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in the inner pot and gently fry the onions, garlic, coriander stalks and chillies on a medium heat for 5 minutes until softened.


2. Stir in the spices and oregano and cook for 2 minutes.


3. Turn up the heat to medium-high, add the beef mince and brown it.


4. Turn down the heat to medium and add the tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes.


5. Add the salt, pepper and red wine. Cook it for 2 minutes to let it reduce.


6. Stir in the canned tomatoes, peppers, kidney beans and black treacle.


7. Put the lid on the inner pot and turn of the heat.


8. Put the inner pot into the insulated outer pot and shut the lid.


9. Leave to cook in the thermal cooker for a minimum of 2 hours.


10. Before serving check the seasoning and adjust.


11. Serve with rice and garnish with the coriander leaves.
    

Energy savings using Thermal Cooker, Cobb and Ghillie Kettle.

I was sent this email the other day from Ian Knox who uses every day his Thermal Cooker, Cobb and Ghillie Kettle for cooking. He lives near Southampton in UK and as you can see is certainly do his bit towards trying to Helping Mother Earth.
The figures are for savings made between January to August 2009 compare to the same period 2008.

Ian's emails (all of these are published with Ian's permission)

---

22/04/2009:

As discussed my energy bills have been reduced from 76 GBP per month to as you can see 49GBP per month this reduction has been achieved by using the Cobb rather than our conventional oven.

From Ian's energy company:

Some good news: we are reducing your monthly Direct Debit to £49

We have reviewed your payments including your current credit balance of £2.63, and have calculated that we can reduce your monthly Direct Debit to £49.00.

You do not need to do anything as we'll start taking the new amount on 1 May 2009.

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16/09/2009:

Hello Dave
Just a quick update on things.
Firstly you will be pleased to know that my energy tracker with Eon shows that we have made a saving of 8.7% on electricity and 32.8%on gas by using Cobb,Shuttle chef and Ghillie Kettle which amounts to 111KWH of energy saved which is enough to light an average house for seven weeks on energy saving light bulbs.

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18/09/2009

Hello Dave

This is taken from our eon on line account, please feel free to use the information as you wish.

Regards

Your Energy Consumption Summary:

111 kWh energy saved = enough energy to light an average house* for 7 weeks using energy saving light bulbs the current year, your energy usage has:

Overall - Electricity plus Gas
gone down by 26.9%

Electricity - gone down by 8.7%
Gas - gone down by 32.8%


2009 - 3.139 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide

or

* 9,659 Miles travelled in an average sized car.**

Your CO2 emissions have gone down - a reduction of 0.651 tonnes on 2008

Mr D's Thermal Cookbook - Now Ready

Mr D's Kitchen - Thermal Cookbook

On the 1st of September, Mr D's Thermal Cookbook will be released. Initially in the UK, it will only be available free with a Shuttle Chef bought from Mr D's Kitchen. Customers who have bought a Shuttle Chef from from us in the past will be entitled to a copy for just the cost of the package & postage. If you own a Shuttle Chef bought from us and would like a recipe book please contact Mr D's Kitchen on 023 8084 2190.

In Australia the cookbook will be exclusively available through Thermal Cookware.

Other countries will be able to buy it contacting Mr D's Kitchen.

Mr D's Thermal Cookbook contains over 80 recipes and has a very useful section which contains information on how to use a thermal cooker.

The recipe book has taken over a year to write and has envolved many testers. I would like to take this opertunity to thank all of them.

Writing a recipe book for a thermal cooker is not as easy as I had though. Developing a way to make something like a Lemon Drizzle Cake meant making around 30 cakes to get the quantities and cooking times correct. At home 95% of all our meals over the last 6 months have come from the Shuttle Chef. Friends have come to dinner and ended up testing thermal cooked meals. As we cook by gas, using the Shuttle Chef has meant a considerable saving in our gas bill.

When things have gone wrong like sinking cakes, Lindi and Allan Rush from 'Thermal Cookware' in Australia have always been there on the end of the phone to give help and support. My good friend Mike Redcar has been a main tester using his Shuttle Chef most evenings to try out new ideas to see if they are working. Jenny my wife has been very involved developing many recipes such as the very popular 'Lamb Biryani'.

The recipes are divided into 11 sections.

• Soups
• Mains Poultry
• Mains Seafood
• Mains Lamb
• Mains Beef
• Mains Pork
• Mains Vegetarian
• Puddings
• Cakes
• Bread
• Basic Recipes

Among the recipes we have enjoyed are 'Lamb Shanks on Couscous' which are the best lamb shanks ever, Spiced Beef and 'Lemon Drizzle Cake' which is always a favourite and 'Lamb Biryani' which was the first recipe we ever made in a thermal cooker.

I do hope you enyoy the book I have enjoyed writing it.
Mr D

The Thermos Shuttle Chef - how it works

Thermal Cooking with The THERMOS® Shuttle Chef









After preparing your ingredients, put them into the inner pot along with either stock or water. Bring the contents to the boil and turn down the heat to a simmer.





The advantages of thermal Cooking

. Safe: It is not a pressure cooker, there are no power cords, no switches or electrical hazards to worry about.

. Energy Saving: After the food has been boiled for a short time, the cooker needs no external energy while thermal cooking. Food stays warm automatically after it’s ready.

. Convenience: The thermal cooking process requires no further supervision or monitoring. Food can be cooked while you are traveling. You can cook with the pot anywhere, anytime and it’s safe to use indoors or out.

. Economical: Decreases fuel costs, economizes time and energy.

. Healthy: Entraps flavor, minerals and vitamins; generate less odor, grease and smoke in the kitchen.

. User friendly: Never over cooks and cleans up easily.

. Durable: Unlike foam insulation used in other brands, Thermos’s vacuum insulated outer pot is a technology that foam insulation can’t begin to touch. Thermos produces the most effective insulated container and is engineered to last.

To order your Shuttle Chef:
MrDsKitchen Shop

Useful guide to cooking times

I though that today I would post this useful little chart from The Thermal Cooker site. It will give you a basic idea of cooking times for your own menues. Most slow cooker recipes can be used in the thermal cooker and by using either the times in a similar recipe or the times below you should end up with a perfectly cooked meal.

Food:	Simmer time after bringing to the boil:	Thermal cooking time:
Rice	5 mins	1 to 1.5 hours
Potatoes	5 mins	1 to 2 hours
Soup & Stock	10 mins	2 to 3 hours
Green Lentils	10 mins	3 to 4 hours
Pintos	10 mins	3 hours
Split Peas	10 mins	2 hours
Quinoa	5 mins	1.5 hours
Millet	5 mins	1 hours
Polenta	1 mins	1 hours
Winter Squash	5 mins	1 to 2 hours
Steamed bread	30 mins	3 hours
Chicken	6 mins	2 to 3 hours
Beef	13 mins	3 to 4 hours

Useful Tip 1 - How to cook for two people.

I was looking at Thermal Cookware site this morning and found this question and answer which I though may be of use to many who use a thermal cooker to cook for only two people.

Question:
Is it possible to cook a small meal as sometimes I do not have enough ingredients to fill a whole pot or I may just want to have enough for one or two people?

Answer:
If you are using the one pot Shuttle Chef you can certainly cook a smaller meal however it would only retain it's core temperature above 60 degrees (food safety standards) for less than 6 to 8 hours, therefore you could prepare a smaller meal in the morning to eat at lunch time or at lunch time to eat at dinner (say 4 hours later). Or you can bring the inner pot back up to the boil 4 hours later so that it would have another 4 hours before dropping below food safety standards.

When I have been cooking a small amount I have often put this in my cake tin which I cover with baking parchment and then put this on a trivet in the inner pot filled with enough water to come 3/4 of the way up the side of the tin. This system seems to work well. This is the same method that is used to cook cakes.