Location: Staying Fed

Discussion: Retained Heat CookingReported This is a featured thread

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NotAlice
NotAlice
Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 11:49 AM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 11:49 AM EDT
It's time for something near and dear to my heart - staying fed. (Well, the stomach IS nearby...) I've been poking around on the Wiki and I realized that I hadn't seen a thread on retained heat cooking. Also called "fireless" cooking, haybox cooking, or even thermal cooking. I did find a mention of thermos cooking, which is a miniature form of RHC. Come on, guys, this is a way to save that precious fuel and minimize the telltale signature of people presence. Granted, it's not as sexy as the latest firearm, but it might just be as important.

So, what is RHC(retained heat cooking)? Basically, you bring your food up to temp, then put it in very well insulated container. Where it Retains Heat and Cooks! Think non-electric crock pot.

Google: haybox, fireless cooker, thermos cooking, or ice chest cooking. This is something the off-the-grid crowd has really embraced; and postZEDday, we'll all be off the grid.

I kinda like the ice chest cooker-if only for the irony! A pot of hot food, a wool blanket wrapped around it, and an ice chest with open spaces stuffed with cloth or newspaper. Even a mall ninja can put that together! Do you find this valuable?    
Keyword tags: "ice chest" haybox RHC thermos
x-wolfhunter
x-wolfhunter
1. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 11:57 AM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 11:57 AM EDT
Sounds like a good idea, actually. But you can't do that when you're on-the-go . . . Do you find this valuable?    
John_234
John_234
2. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 12:12 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 12:12 PM EDT
"Sounds like a good idea, actually. But you can't do that when you're on-the-go . . . "
You can, actually. The thermos example, you could drop some dry chili mix into a thermos, drop in scalding hot water, cap the thermos and stick it into your bag. Pack up and keep moving, with the chili cooking on the move. Do you find this valuable?    
x-wolfhunter
x-wolfhunter
3. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 12:20 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 12:20 PM EDT
"You can, actually. The thermos example, you could drop some dry chili mix into a thermos, drop in scalding hot water, cap the thermos and stick it into your bag. Pack up and keep moving, with the chili cooking on the move."
That's true, but I meant on a large scale; you can't cook a turkey like that on-the-go. Do you find this valuable?    
John_234
John_234
4. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 12:25 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 12:25 PM EDT
"That's true, but I meant on a large scale; you can't cook a turkey like that on-the-go."
When can you cook a turkey on the go very easily to begin with? Do you find this valuable?    
brandon_a_boyer
brandon_a_boyer
5. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 12:25 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 12:25 PM EDT
This is something that is great for things like soups, but you really can't cook a big roast or a turkey this way. Even if you bring the outside up to a higher than necessary temperature, you won't have enough heat present to bring the center of the meat up to that temperature. Do you find this valuable?    
John_234
John_234
6. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 12:27 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 12:27 PM EDT
To be honest, any type of animal in large quantities is something you just need to settle down and build some basic utilities for - campfire, perhaps a natural oven or spit. But if you're hunting animals, I doubt you're focusing on covering as much ground as possible where this would be useful. Do you find this valuable?    
PedroAsani
PedroAsani
7. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 27 2011, 1:49 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 27 2011, 1:49 PM EDT
"When can you cook a turkey very easily to begin with? "
Fixed.

Turkeys f*cking suck. No matter what size you get, it's always *slightly* too big for the oven. Do you find this valuable?    
NotAlice
NotAlice
8. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 30 2011, 8:04 PM EDT | Post edited: Aug 30 2011, 8:04 PM EDT
While I was thinking mostly of using this at BOL, John234 is bang on. You don't even need a Thermos! I found a guy out online (somewhere!) who just wraps a pot in a towel, and then wraps a cheapo survival blanket around it. (Finally! A good use for those cheesy foil things.) A couple of clothespins to hold it together and away you go. This I've got to try out! I can see there may be a few glitch points for doing this on the road - size of the pot is one issue, too small won't hold enough thermal mass to cook the food, too big makes a heck of a load. Keeping the food enclosed without spilling is another issue. Hmm... Do you find this valuable?    
Redrighthand
Redrighthand
9. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Aug 31 2011, 5:19 AM EDT | Post edited: Aug 31 2011, 5:19 AM EDT
The good thing about this method of cooking is that you can put your fire out in the morning, and yet still have your dinner cooking back at camp while you forage. It means the campfire only has to be going for a short time, which means less likely tell tale smoke. Obviously it works better for slow cooking foods - but then I eat mostly slow foods anyway. Curries, stews, chilly, soups all do well with this. Hayboxes are easy to do. Dig a hole in the ground big enough for your pot and about a foot all around it - including vertically. Line the hole with hay - or if none available, old newspapers, leaves, blankets, any insulating material will do. Place your heated pot in there, cover it with more insulation, then cover the hole with some soil. Pop back at lunch time and hey presto! Hot lunch without any more effort. As for container size - I've done it with a big dixie, and I've done it with relatively small (I guess about 3 litre) billies as well. Do you find this valuable?    
NotAlice
NotAlice
10. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Sep 3 2011, 1:01 PM EDT | Post edited: Sep 3 2011, 1:02 PM EDT
" As for container size - I've done it with a big dixie, and I've done it with relatively small (I guess about 3 litre) billies as well."
Really?! What size of a Dixie are you talking about - most of the online references seem to make a big deal out of size. ((Does Size Matter! :) ) Or maybe they're just working within the parameters of their particular tools. More experimenting seems called for. I need to fit in some RHC pretty soon. I know a 4 qt pot works well with my Wonderbox - how small can I get it? Thanks for the poke in the butt - sometimes I need a shove to get moving. :) Do you find this valuable?    
Redrighthand
Redrighthand
11. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Sep 3 2011, 9:23 PM EDT | Post edited: Sep 3 2011, 9:23 PM EDT
Gosh, it was a long time ago - back when I was in Scouts, and I'm 41 now! Well, I think the Dixie was about 8 litres. Had enough stew in it for 7 or 8 hungry Scouts, at any rate Do you find this valuable?    
NotAlice
NotAlice
12. RE: Retained Heat Cooking
Sep 9 2011, 6:38 PM EDT | Post edited: Sep 9 2011, 6:38 PM EDT
Oh my! I was thinking you were referring to a Dixie CUP. OOps! Rather a bit of difference between that and an 8 liter pot! :) Do you find this valuable?