Yet Another Energy Saving Cooking Gadget! The Thermal Cooker

[barry1010]

I'm a big fan of the slow cooker but this is even more energy efficient. A modern equivalent to the hay box - would be interested to hear if anyone has one.

I stumbled across it watching a YouTube vid of narrow boats, I find them relaxing at night when I can't sleep. Chap used it to cook a chicken curry

Yet another energy saving cooking gadget!

[Buenchico]

The reviews look pretty good (see link below) but, to be honest, I don't seem to use that much energy on cooking stuff anyway.

I cook some sort of casserole (or, at least, something that can be cooked in a casserole dish) in my gas oven on most days at this time of the year and I often leave the oven on low afterwards for several hours, just to get a little bit more heat from it into the house. I also cook/heat plenty of stuff on the hob. However my gas bill is only around £40 per quarter, which is mainly made up of the standing charge anyway.

So, for me, this rush to save energy used for cooking doesn't really make a lot of sense. (I'm still considering getting an air fryer though but that's only because I fancy some chips from time to time!).

[Buenchico]

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[Hazlinny]

Buen/ I am sure there will be those who will disagree but chips done in the air fryer aren't great. Maybe it's me to blame!

[nicebloke1]

The energy situation is a good marketing tactic.Most of these new items are ok investing in if you work many hours and have a big family. Frozen oven chips are ok once you get the heat and cooking time spot on, and you buy the best of the best.

[Bazile]

//However my gas bill is only around £40 per quarter, which is mainly made up of the standing charge anyway.//

You don't have gas CH Chris ?

[Canary42]

Interesting reading in that link, but what are "the safety concerns that come with plug-in slow cookers" ?

I've never had any trouble in over 15 years use.

[Buenchico]

>>> You don't have gas CH Chris ?

No. I'd make central heating illegal! There's absolutely no point heating any space that you're not actually using - unless there are cats in it, of course ;-)

My mate isn't short of a bob or two. (He pays his financial adviser thousands of pounds a year to manage his offshore investments). However he never turns the central heating in his home on, as he agrees with me that it's simply a waste.

[Buenchico]

. . . what are "the safety concerns that come with plug-in slow cookers" ?

Theoretically they exist when food isn't cooked at a high enough temperature:
https://www.eatthis.com/news-slow-cooker-danger-health-experts/
However there's no real risk when you use a slow cooker properly.

[barry1010]

I've been using electric slow cookers since the 1970s without problems but my mother's wasn't cooking the food properly and after writing to the manufacturer it turned out that her unheated kitchen was too cold that winter for the cooker to maintain temperature, it worked fine in the sitting room where the coal fire was lit (her kitchen really was extremely cold that winter).

This isn't a particularly new gadget cashing in on the cost of living crisis - it won awards in 2012. It is new to me, though. You can even bake cake (Simnel cake recipe here https://mrdscookware.com/recipe/easter-simnel-cake) and bread in it