God bless the slow cooker!

[causeway]

Still living on my wee boat with no 'normal' cooker, just two rings and a p!ss poor grill.

Trying to break my junk food (convenience) habit and in the last few weeks the slow cooker has kept me right.

View attachment 27750

this should last me a while!

Of course with it being 160w max, you could even afford to use it underway if you have the right battery bank and inverter.

It's chilli-non-carne with Quorn, lentils and chickpeas. Boil up a full bag of frozen veg as the side dish. Serve on its own, with a few nachos or with a slab of nice bread.

Cheap and effective.

Last week i did 'Pulled Pork' (totally amazing), week before a chicken thing.

Possibly not Practical or boaty but it is for me.

It's blowing a mighty gale here at the moment. Going to have to sort out my clanging halyards.

 

[Burnham Bob]

agree about slo cooker being great but don't forget the good old pressure cooker. a lot quicker for making soups and stews and even pot roasts. and perfectly happy on a two burner hob. use mine a lot at home and we have a dinky one for the boat.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

We have a slow cooker on board but have stopped using it. We now use a Remoska instead as it does roasting brilliantly. Higher electric consumption, but you need it for a much shorter period of time so may well balance out.

http://www.remoska.co.uk/about-the-remoska/

We hardly ever use the gas oven now. Three years boat use and we have only just replaced our first gas bottle.

 

[causeway]

We have a slow cooker on board but have stopped using it. We now use a Remoska instead as it does roasting brilliantly. Higher electric consumption, but you need it for a much shorter period of time so may well balance out.

http://www.remoska.co.uk/about-the-remoska/

We hardly ever use the gas oven now. Three years boat use and we have only just replaced our first gas bottle.

Someone at work mentioned the remoska, I shall look into one.

 

[Cappen Boidseye]

The Remoska looks like it does the same job as those halogen mini oven things, the ones with the element in the lid and a fan for circulating the hot air around the big glass bowl thing.

I have had both a halogen one, which blew the lamp all over my food, that was a lousy machine, and before that, something similar with a conventional element, that was an excellent cooking thing, used to use it for all types of baking, roasting, grilling etc.

Does the Remoska have a circulating fan? also how do you cope with the lack of temp. control?
I must admit, when I started sailing on Royalist, I couldn't believe what the cooks used to do with the old range, diesel powered, it did one temperature (about 400 degrees F I believe), they seemed to be able to cook anything on that beast, but by heck, the galley was a hot place then! So maybe temperature control is not all it's cracked up to be!

 

[Neeves]

If they are still available I'd have a look at Mr D's Thermal Cooker. Its a copy, and much cheaper, of a Thermos Shuttle Chef. Think saucepan sized thermos. Boil up content, stick in thermal casing - meal ready a few hours later, you might need to re-heat. But has obvious low fuel demand (but does not warm galley in winter!)

Mr Ds not avail in Oz, but we use Shuttle Chefs. Great on passage.

No connections to either.

 

[Gordonmc]

If they are still available I'd have a look at Mr D's Thermal Cooker.

I have never come across the Thermal Cooker, but there was a similar product called the Hot Pot doing the rounds. Unfortunately the only source I am aware of, Lakeland, no longer stocks them.
I use a slow cooker a lot at home. Chuck everything in before going to the boat in the morning and its waiting ready and hot in the evening. Yesterday it was a rolled brisket of beef with onions and carrots and half a tin of Guinness which was most welcome after a day working on the hull outside in F7 winds and sleet. However, on a swinging mooring, they are not practical using not much power over a long period of time.

 

[Giblets]

Mr D's Thermal Cooker is still made. Have one myself and very good it is too. http://mrdscookware.com/

 

[Gordonmc]

Mr D's Thermal Cooker is still made. Have one myself and very good it is too. http://mrdscookware.com/

Thanks for that.
Have just ordered one.

 

[Neeves]

Try this:

http://mrdscookware.com/

The Thermos Shuttle Chef made Practical Sailor's 2012 Xmas list. Shuttle Chefs are available in USA, HK, Japan and Oz (not sure about elsewhere). Cheapest place would be a HK Dept store during a sale (sorry if this is not useful!). There are 'really' cheap look alikes using polystyrene as the insulator, they are not so good. Look for ones with a vacuum walled vessel (like a thermos!). Other brands are Tiger (and another unprounceable name), both Japanese.

We use the Shuttle Chef on the boat (but MrD's is cheaper - but not available in Oz). Think of anything you can casserole, put it together, bring to boil, stick in the Shuttle Chef and by nighttime you have a cooked meal, you will need to re-heat after 8 hours but its almost hot enough). They can come with nesting cookware so during the final re-heat (if you are well organised) you can cook potatoes or steam veg. Great for soups. You can 'steam' desserts, sponge puddings. If you are doing overnight passages they are good to keep the spirits up of the crew on watch as the food is piping hot without the need to heat. We have a cat so healing is not an issue - but if its going to be boisterous (as much an issue on a multi as mono) we would keep in the galley sink (they are quite big, size of a big stockpot).

Again - no interest, we think they are great, underrated and being a jingoist (and not long after Burns Night) the concept invented by a Scot (we, the inventor and I, went to the same school, so I do admit to an association).

Jonathan

Sorry, by the time I replied the 2 previous replies had come in! Maybe I'm slow or messages take a long time in the ether from this side of the world!

 

[Poignard]

I must admit, when I started sailing on Royalist, I couldn't believe what the cooks used to do with the old range, diesel powered, it did one temperature (about 400 degrees F I believe), they seemed to be able to cook anything on that beast, but by heck, the galley was a hot place then! So maybe temperature control is not all it's cracked up to be!

The best food I ever had in the RN was produced on the coal-fired range aboard HMS Plover.

http://www.tca2000.co.uk/plover colour small.jpg

 

[V1701]

If you have to use the gas another vote for the pressure cooker here. Live aboard FT & have a superb WMF 4.5 litre pressure cooker (http://www.amazon.co.uk/WMF-Perfect...OIVC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1359374814&sr=8-4), expensive but well worth it, the clever design means it doesn't produce much steam into the cabin but it was expensive. Then I have a mini one bought for about £20 off ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Good-Idea...tchen_Steamers_Cookers_PP&hash=item417049d8d1), more old fashioned design but still useful...

 

[causeway]

very interesting, thanks! I've heard of one of these types of devices before but it's made of material and you just put the pot inside instead.

edit: that was in reply to the thermos type thing.

 

[charles_reed]

agree about slo cooker being great but don't forget the good old pressure cooker. a lot quicker for making soups and stews and even pot roasts. and perfectly happy on a two burner hob. use mine a lot at home and we have a dinky one for the boat.

I find the pressure cooker far more valuable (on and off the boat) than a slow cooker.

I've also found heat storage (various devices but I use a wide-mouth vacuum flask) extremely valuable on the boat.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

The Remoska looks like it does the same job as those halogen mini oven things, the ones with the element in the lid and a fan for circulating the hot air around the big glass bowl thing.

I have had both a halogen one, which blew the lamp all over my food, that was a lousy machine, and before that, something similar with a conventional element, that was an excellent cooking thing, used to use it for all types of baking, roasting, grilling etc.

Does the Remoska have a circulating fan? also how do you cope with the lack of temp. control?
I must admit, when I started sailing on Royalist, I couldn't believe what the cooks used to do with the old range, diesel powered, it did one temperature (about 400 degrees F I believe), they seemed to be able to cook anything on that beast, but by heck, the galley was a hot place then! So maybe temperature control is not all it's cracked up to be!

The Remoska does not have a circulating fan. Doesnt seem to need one IMHO. We just shove the food in and it cooks it. Its a bit like using an AGA. Its on or its off.

When we have wanted to slow things down we just flick the switch off.

The cleverest way we use it is with one of those timer plugs you get for light switches. For example, before we leave the boat to go for a walk we put say a small chicken , potatoes, veg ewtc in the Remoska. Set the little timer so it is ready when we come back from the walk. Cant do that with a gas cooker!

For things that need long slow cooking we use the timer plug and have a series of on and off periods, say 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off for 3 hours. works fine.

They just work, dead simple to use, and WAY less washing up than roasting in the oven, veg on top, gravy in a saucepan etc.

 

[Blueboatman]

A good time to say thankyou to ExSolentboy.

I have been using a, rare, small model Remoska for six months now and have to say it is superb. Is there anything that thing can't cook?

Clean, quick, almost odourless, cooks top and bottom without puree-ing everything, and no cooking mess nor attention.
Lets me bung stuff in and carry on working, then when it all starts to smell great, it's ready. Good kit!

 

[Poignard]

+1 for the Remoska. The only snag is what to do with the very hot lid whilst you remove the food.

 

[Mrs FG]

Agree re the Remoska, but I think I've had about three break on me over the years - I think there's a vulnerable connection which doesn't tolerate being bumped at all. At least one used to blow the fuse in my kitchen socket (at home) on a regular basis.

 

[Blueboatman]

That is interesting.. Me being me I overcleaned the lid a bit and the fuse tripped, water inside...strip down revealed some very delicate ceramic and silicone rubber heat shields for the element bare ends...
I also note that lakeland will repair them for a flat fee, which I heartedly approve of, iirc around £50?

 

[Talbot]

You should consider an alternative method for roasting that does not use electricity. MrDs Thermal Cooker is good and works well. So does a pressure cooker.

But the Omnia Cooker appears to offer additional benefits.