Hay Box Cooking

[NorthernWoody]

Going to have a go using my cool box stuffed with hay - those of you who have tried it, what were the results like? Any tips?

[jansman]

Cannot help you with an answer BUT I will be interested as this week I made a haybox using marine ply , hay and a polystyrene box from work. Just got to make a lid now.

[jean405]

I use a duvet, stuffed in a hollow footstool, as a haybox. It works great. You should make sure the food in the pot has a good 10 minute boil, wrap the pot in a towel, and leave it to cook in the box. Try and resist opening it all the time to see how it's cooking, 7-8 hours should be fine for most things. Works good for stews, rice pudding, porridge, where there is a high water percentage to begin with that gets absorbed into the food. I started using a haybox because I always burnt rice pudding, one day I didn't have the time or extra rice to make a mistake, so after it had been boilng for a while, I put the pudding in a cold serving dish (what did I know at the time?), put that in a plastic bag (!) and wrapped the lot in a duvet, best rice pudding ever Have fun.

Jean

p/s If anyone is going to try this using duvets, synthetic duvets are best, as they don't collapse if a lot of steam is lost from the pot

[nickdutch]

I use cheap thermal food flasks with the vacuum insulation. They work a treat and I have had some good picnics that way. make sure the food is piping hot and hot all the way through, and if using thermal food flasks, make sure that the flask is pre heated with hot water.

The results can be tasty as heck

[rik_uk3]

I'm a great fan of 'Haybox' cooking, use Thermos flasks and insulated boxes; its an old but proven method of saving fuel











A haybox and a pressure cooking are essential prep kit IMHO.

[Moony]

Made my hay box with the insulation held in place with duct tape..big mistake. The heat from the food released all the adhesive off the tape which contaminated the food which then tasted and smelt horrific. Learn from others stupid mistakes

Otherwise was a success, using a plastic box and foam covered in tinfoil for insulation, the pan itself sits in a bed of shredded paper and the insulation is also fitted to a tight lid on the box.

[NorthernWoody]

Great tips and advice - thanks

Rik - that publication looks interesting!!