Looking for a propane powered crock pot.

We'll, it looks like I'll give the thermal cooker a try. It won't do exactly what I want, but it's as close as I can get.

It appears what I'll have to do is put the meal together mid morning (like I'd do if using a crock pot) put it on the camp stove, bring it up to temperature and then cook it for a while on the stove. The reason I say cook it for a while before putting in the outer pot is because (according to Amazon info anyways) it will only continue to to say warm enough to help the cooking process for 6 hours - that's two hours short on an 8 hour crock pot recipe.

Also, I'll be doing this in the late fall when the temps will be around 30 - 40*F, so the pot is going to cool off quicker than it would sitting in "room" temperatures.

One thing we did on my large green Stanley thermos, was the DW make a holder for it out of 1" thick foam rubber covered with nylon. This kept the thermos a lot warmer on the back of the snowmachine. If I'm a good boy, maybe I can get her to do the same thing for the Thermal pot.

and if the food is quite done enough when I get back to camp, I can throw it on the stove to finish while I'm getting out of my dirty clothes, starting a fire, getting the lanterns going, etc.

If anyone wants to pass on a couple of recipes for the Thermal cooker, you can either PM them to me or send them to my email address.

I'd like to learn to cook in a dutch oven, but I don't think the wood coals or charcoal will stay hot enough for all day and I don't really like to leave the fire going while no one is in camp. I'll be out of camp from usually noon to 7:30 or 8:00 PM, getting back just after dark.

Thanks,
Bill
trackrig@gmail.com

Sounds like a Can Cooker, except you only cook about 45 minutes after it begins to steam.
Small Can Cooker Jr. is two gallon size.
Larger Can Cooker is 4 Gallon size.

BUT...
Like a Can Cooker some meats benefit from browning before it goes in a Can Cooker.
Like everything else, the food is as good as you make it...

4X4Dodger wrote:


The simple solution is this.

Dig a hole big enough for your cast iron dutch oven about 1 1/2 times larger. Make a vent hole into the bottom.

Fill with charcoal...light and let get to full burn

scoop out some charcoal and insert the dutch oven put the charcoal you took out around the sides and on the lid. cover with dirt.

Leave for up to 12 hours and you will have a fantastic dinner when you open it all up.

Double ditto. The dutch oven is a multi-tasking pot too. Does nice campfire recipes.

I use a Wonderbag.

You start by heating on the stove (20 minutes or so) and and then turn off the stove and move the pot to the Wonderbag and close it up. 8 hours later you open it up and you're done. No power or heat after the initial time on the stove.

What you need is a more modest heat source. Make your own setup. Experiment with a pot over a Sterno can, a pot over a Bunsen burner, or even a pot over a candle flame.

When I first read this I thought this has got to be a joke...but there was no punch line.

The simple solution is this.

Dig a hole big enough for your cast iron dutch oven about 1 1/2 times larger. Make a vent hole into the bottom.

Fill with charcoal...light and let get to full burn

scoop out some charcoal and insert the dutch oven put the charcoal you took out around the sides and on the lid. cover with dirt.

Leave for up to 12 hours and you will have a fantastic dinner when you open it all up.

Try a 12 volt crockpot. I have been using one for years and it works great. It takes about 6-7 hours to cook a meal, use it with the same recipes you use at home. Several different ways to use it. It plugs into a cigarette lighter outlet.
I have used it while driving down the road, put your meal in about 12:00 and its done around 6:00. This way is tough because after about 2 hours you are smelling your meal and getting hungry. We use this a lot when staying in State/National parks with no electric. Just cook while you are site seeing. Return to campsite, light fire, open beer and supper is ready.
I have used it in my camper, I just set in my sink so it does not spill and drive down the road. Works great on the travel days. Get to where you are going and when you are done opening up the camper, supper is ready.
I have a 120 volt to 12 volt adapter that I have used in campground where I have electric (or at home trying different recipes). Plug the crockpot in and go.
Or if you have an extra battery to set by your tent just hook it up to that. You can charge the battery off your generator. Just need to be careful of critters enjoying your supper before you.
I have tested it with a fully charged battery. Filled the crockpot with water, plugged it in and left it in the garage. After 48 hours it was still hot and battery dropped to 11.7 volts.
Really works well. There are several different types of 12 volt appliances out there, frying pans, kettles, coffee makers, lots of different things. Just check Amazon or look in large truck stops.

The thermal cookers would be OK for things that need to cook slowly at a low temperature-- dried beans would be a good way to use it. It would be OK for things where you have basically all the ingredients pre-cooked and dump them in the pot---chili, soups with pre-cooked meat, etc. I would not trust it to start with raw meat and heat it to a safe temperature. You might be able to cook something like stew meat in a skillet, then add it with other ingredients to the thermal cooker. The long heat times would tenderize the meat.

Looks to me like you have to heat all the ingredients first and then put them in the thermal cooker--it has no heat source.

You can also use your oven like a crock pot. Just set the crock in it and put it on a low temp. Again, I would not start this with a raw meat.

One thing I do while travelling is start out with a good assortment of frozen meals made at home. Even if you don't have much freezer space, put the food in the refrigerator stacked together and it will stay frozen for several days. Then all you have to do is heat it. This works great with soups, stews, spaghetti sauce, & a lot of casseroles.

When all of your pre-cooked frozen food is gone, take a day and do some cooking. Cook enough main dishes for 3-4 days. Skillet meals and casseroles work well for this.

I agree, cooking after a long day hiking or sightseeing is NOT what you want to do!

It sounds like the propane cooker might work well if you change things up a little bit. Build a insulated 'hat' for it out of something like Reflex insulation, that silver bubble wrap stuff.

Then heat the meal with the burner on warm or high, and get it up to about 210 F. Shut off the propane, cover it, and insulate it tightly. It should stay warm for many hours. Check it and re-heat after say 3-4 hours, and it will cook for say another 1/2 hour of heating, then be able to sit under the insulation for another 3-4 hours, and complete it's cooking.

Of course try this at home, and have a way to monitor the cooking temps. You do not want to eat anything that was kept below 130F for a long time, as bacteria will grow between 45 and 135F. If it turns out while 'checking it every hour or so' on a Saturday, then the same cooking procedure will work while un-attended at a campsite. If the whole cooker will fit into your camper's oven, then put it there. Set it on low heat, warm the oven, and then shut it off, and let it sit there, cooking.

IT helps to have a thermometer with a 3' long heat resistant probe, so you can insert this into the food, and let it stay in the food while it is cooking.

You might try your crock pot (from a electric cooker) in your camper's oven. Warm it to say 220F, and then as you leave the camper, shut the oven completely off. The heat will stay within the crock, and oven, cooking the food slowly.

Of course with 400 watts of solar panels, and a 600+ watt inverter, you could use a electric crock pot while camping.

Good luck,

Fred.

Charcoal slow cooker = dutch oven