mm. Do you think a Wonderbag might be quite a good thing to take camping?

[Slubberdegullion]

Wonderbag

Friend was telling me about them last week and I have been a-pondering about them ever since.

They are basically a slow cooker that doesn't require a power supply.

I quite like the idea of getting the evening meal all done in the morning during that pootling about but not achieving much campsite period.

What do you think?

Great idea .... Off to see if I can find a uk supplier.

Its the same as a hay box, used during the war years and probably prior to that. Great idea though.

Hands slubber an orange box and a bag of rabbit bedding.

Am currently in full experimental mode having made my own camping hay box using a fold down plastic crate, some bubble wrap, one of those windscreen foil anti-heat up your car jobbies and three fleece blankets.

Will feed back on food temp and cooked-ness this evening.

Oooow slubber, have always wanted to make a haybox oven at Guide camp. I have a lasting memory of placing a big pot of chicken casserole in a haybox, spending the day at the beach and then coming back to eat it in the evening.

Amazing, would love to know if your modern version works and would love to try it myself one day.

We are youth hostelling with Guides this year though, so will have a kitchen, not an open fire and a 2 ring camping stove. LOL.

Well Ineedalife I can tell you as I have just eaten some of the contents of my modern haybox and very nice (and warm) they were too.

I took some photos

Collapsible plastic crate lined with bubble wrap, fleece blanket in the bottom

Windscreen reflector jobby and cork pan stand thing

saucepan with food I made a sort of turkey mince risotto and got the contents bubbling furiously on the hob for a minute or so before putting it in the box. my meat thermometer (so not astonishingly accurate but better than nowt) said the temp of the food was 190 dg C.

Foil thing folded over saucepan and then two fleece blankets on the top

More bubble wrap

Stuck outside and closely observed by dog

I think made it at about 11.30 am, and we just ate it, so 5 and a half hours sat outside.

When I remeasured the temp it was just under 130 degrees, but eating it it wasn't piping hot, so I think out in the field I would probably stick it back on the gas stove for a min or so to get it back up to being really hot.

The risotto was cooked perfectly.

I am so pleased. I can make stews now on our little single gas burner stove, go out for the day and have lovely tender meat and veggies with rice or pearl barley or spuds all done when we get back.

[chuffed emoticon]

You are a goddess.

Probably a stupid question, but can you use them to keep things cold?

Thats fantabulous! :o

correction
Having studied my meat thermometer properly today those temps I gave are F not C (and therefore not v helpful unless you are my mother or American).

So the temp while I was cooking was more like 90 and on eating more like 40-50 deg.

On the Wonderbag site it talks about cooking times and certainly with meat I would probably cook it on the gas stove fiercely and for several minutes before putting in the box.

I have used a huge vacuum flask to continue 'cooking' stews and soups when we have been camping, I love your homemade haybox and can see our boys having a go with that!

these were on you and yours today on radio 4.........

Thanks for the heads up MrsMc. Just listened to the two Wonderbag sections on catch up, loved her reference to "Wonder time" . I wish her and all the Wonderbags in Africa my very best, I really do.

However for Camping, and having just seen the photos of them on the R4 website they are pretty big. There is no way I would be able to fit one into the car with all the rest of our paraphernalia, which I why I am so chuffed that I made my hay box using stuff I already take anyway. I'm going to experiment further at home with some other of my casserole recipes to see if I can get them to cook with 5-10 mins on the stove and then the rest of the day in my plastic crate with blankets.

"Wondertime" made me smile and cringe at the same time :o

Keep us updated on your recipies Slubber homemade haybox vs 30 quid is a no brainer to me :)

Blimey - just looked at the you and yours pics that things HUGE!!!! :o

I'm sure I saw a power free slow cooker demonstrated on tv once. It might have been this: www.cookequip.co.uk/shop-dream-pot.html

Some right groovy stuff here: www.mrdscookware.co.uk/

Ta for links Cavey seems that there are quite a few things on the market that will do the same job (keep heat in), but my camping hay box is free

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Free free free

That pleases me quite a lot

Today in the hay box (aka fleece-box) was rice pudding. I forgot I was somewhat distracted and therefore it only got 2.5 cooking time and it was maybe two thirds of the way there, certainly the rice was cooked but hadn't absorbed its full quota of milk. However even after 2 and a half hours sat out in the garden my cast iron pot was still too hot to lift out of the fleece-box by hand. So HOT.

I dreamt about these things last night.....tragic!!!! ;)

I was going to start a thread about these because I heard the thing on the radio but by jiminy they're huge. I do however have a fold down crate, lots of bubble wrap, fleece blankets and a windscreen thingy.

So I reckon I'm going to give that a go on our next trip. Thanks Slubber - you deserve a very special Guide badge for that one. Modern bushcraft possibly? :o

I was thinking that it would be good to make the stew thing at home and then take it with us as I'm always a bit giddy on the first evening and can't be arsed to cook