Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker

Knowing that during part of our trip we will be boon docking (dry camping) I started looking for recipes for quick and easy meals that were not going to require a lot of energy to prepare. I knew I needed ideas for meals that did not require a lot of cooking because we will want to conserve as much electricity and propane as possible. I get bored with sandwiches fairly quickly.

One of the items I came across during my search was a thermal cooker. I had never heard of these but my interest was peaked because I had been looking at a solar oven. I was a little skeptical at first because I thought how can you cook a meal without a direct energy source. I thought surely the heat from the water would escape and there is nothing to keep it warm.

My Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker is the most awesome piece
of cookware I have ever owned.

Another draw back for me was that it looked too much like a crock pot. I am not a fan of crock pots, I just don't trust them. It worries me to leave something plugged in and cooking all day. I don't even leave the house if the dish washer is running. It just seems unsafe to me. I know it sounds crazy. What do you expect from someone who majored in Environmental Health and Safety? Maybe I should have been an insurance risk assessor.

I started reading a little more about the thermal cookers and how they worked. I was intrigued. This was brilliant. You put your food in the pot, bring it to a boil, then place it in the thermal cooker, apply the lid, and walk away for six to eight hours. How simple is that?

Still a little skeptical I continued researching a little more and learned that the thermal cookers are very popular in Africa, Australia, and parts of Europe. They also seem to be gaining in popularity among campers here in the US. There seem to be about seven different brands on the US market, and I settled on the Saratoga Jacks 5.5 Liter model. They have a larger model that is 7.5 Liters, but since it's just the two of us I figured the 5.5 Liter model would be just the right size.

Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker with outer lid removed.

Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker with outer and inner lids
removed.

Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker with outer and inner lids, and
small nesting pot removed.

Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker with entire assembly removed.

Saratoga Jacks is based in Saratoga Springs, Utah; but I am not sure where the thermal cooker is actually manufactured. Even if these are not manufactured in the US at least there is someone on this continent that I can contact if I have questions.

 

I decided the first meal to be cooked would be a roast with vegetables. Its not too hard to screw up a roast. It just has to stay hot enough, long enough, right?

 

Saratoga Jack's lists Five Steps to Success on their website for using the thermal cooker. I read the five steps about three times and burned them into my memory before I used the thermal cooker the first time. Even though I bought the unit I was still a little unconvinced it was going to work. I was sure it was going to loose all of the heat from the boiling water within a couple of hours and I would be left with a mess to clean up.

First dinner made in the thermal cooker: Roast
with vegetables

 

I found the instructions for the Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker slightly lacking. There is a small pamphlet that lists "Five Steps to Success".

 

1. Make sure everything is thawed.
2. Make sure everything is covered in a liquid.
3. Make sure the thermal cooker is as full as possible.
4. Check the temperature of the meal before serving. Food safety is important, and it should be taken very seriously.
5. Get started in plenty of time because the thermal cooker takes several hours to use.

I did a little more searching on line and found that for cooking large pieces of meat the thermal cookers work best if chopped into large chunks.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: All chopped up!

Next I braised the meat on the stove.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: braising meat.

I then added the vegetables and bought the mixture to boil. I added a few extra white potatoes to fill out the pot a little more. The Saratoga Jacks website says to boil for a minimum of five minutes.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: Boiling!



The next step was to place the pot in the thermal cooker, seal it up, and let it sit for about eight hours.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: Pot in thermal cooker

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: Inner lid in place.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker: Lid sealed and ready
to sit for eight hours.

I knew I could not open the thermal cooker to check on how the roast was doing, so I waited with skeptic eagerness. I had expected the thermal cooker to start loosing heat within a short time. I continued to keep an eye on the cooker and felt the exterior repeatedly.  I was amazed, the exterior stayed cool.

At the six hour mark I started to worry. The thermal cooker was not loosing heat. There is no vent or pressure release valve on the thermal cooker. Is the steam pressure building up inside? Was it going to blow up in my face as soon as I released the lid? Why had I not thought of this?

After eight hours Tracy and I gathered around the thermal cooker eager to see if we were going to get to eat a roast or sandwiches for dinner. I gingerly pressed the button on top and started twisting the lid. No burst of steam came rushing out, only the aroma of a roast.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker:
Roast and vegetables, still piping hot!

The roast did not look very appetizing at first, but it was still boiling hot.

First dinner cooked in thermal cooker:
Roast and veggies still piping hot. See
the steam rolling off? Tracy can testify to
 how hot the interior was - he burned himself.

The roast and vegetables  came out perfectly cooked. The meat was flaky and tender and the vegetables were firm. The flavor was lacking a little because I had added more water than I normally would have, but that was easily adjustable.

All in all I was quite pleased with the Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker. Since making this roast I have made a fifteen bean soup, and Carne Guisada twice. With the Carne Guisada I used a cooking/roasting bag. The first time I used the cooking bag I encountered a problem with the bag floating. The second time I ensured as much air as possible was squeezed out of the bag and weighed it down with a large chunk of potato. The results were awesome.

 

There was very little clean up after using the cooking bags and I think  using the cooking bag is definitely the way to go when using spices and trying to only cook for two.

I have found a few recipes for making biscuits and rolls using the smaller nesting pan and will update once I give them a try.

 

Here is a link to the Saratoga Jack's Thermal Cooker on Amazon. I highly recommend this product to anyone. It's easy to use and saves on energy. There are two sizes. I have included a link for each size. I have the 5.5L model.
 

 

These are the bags I use. I just cut them down to size after filling them. The Amazon link is for two, two count packs.

This is the 15 Bean Soup Mix we made in the thermal cooker. These are so good! The link is for three 20 ounce packs. I usually just make half a bag for the two of us and Tracy snacks on it for about two days.

This is the seasoning I used for the Carne Guisada. This is one of Tracy's favorite meals, so I make it often. The Amazon link is for two 5 ounce jars.