cooking on the cheap

now in the old days folk would save on fuel when cooking by heating the food to be cooked till hot then putting the whole pan with the lid in a big box and pack hay all round and on top to insulate it,thus i hour of fuell could cook for many hours saving a fortune.
well i dont have a hay box so i simply heat a pan of stew then put all the coats and fleeces in the house on top.


the stew is at 80 deg C.


then covered :



and
12 hours later (over night)its still at a respectable 60 deg C and now cooked right through!!!


thanks for looking.

 

The same effect can be had using shredded paper and a basket. Excellent post Fish! Here is some information of "Hay Basket" cooking (AKA - 1800s crock pot cooking):
Haybox « The Thermal Cooker Thermal Cooking Weblog

 

That's why I use my cookstove to make our food on while heating the house. I can do everything from roasting a turkey to frying eggs and at the same time I'm keeping the house warm. Firebox has to be reloaded more often than a heat stove but it's not a big deal.

 

we have a dutch oven there isno better way of cooking stew,think i,ll go and make some right now

 

Many people I know use this method. They will take a laundry hamper basket and pack it in layers with blankets and situate the dutch over or pot in the middle. Many of my friends do this with dry beans rather than boiling or simmering for hours and hours.

 

fuel is more expensive here yet few folk know these methods.

 

great idea!

 

Another thing to note, fish, is the water level between the first picture (pre-wrapping) and the last picture (12 hours later). There is no real appreciable difference in the water level. Very little water loss = more stew to eat!

 

cheap cooking

We prepared for a days outing by heating the thermos with boiling water filling with soup or broth adding rice or noodles and letting it cook, by lunch time it was done and hot.