Thermos Cooking

[Mike in Denver]

From the last person who should ever give advice or lessons on cooking: me.

Thermos cooking.

Yesterday morning, for some reason, against all good sense, I turned the TV on. Something call the 'Pasta Express' was being demonstrated and offered for sale. It is a wide plastic tube with a lid. I don't remember how much it costs. Purportedly, you put dried pasta in it, pour boiling water over it, and some time later, out falls cooked pasta. I'm not a complete fool. Could this possibly work? And, what if it did? I like eating pasta, but I hate cooking pasta. "Boil a gigantic container of water, drop in the pasta, and stir for 10-12 minutes (for commercial dried pasta.) I hate standing and stirring.

So, I got to thinking. What is this device? Obviously, a cheap-assed thermos. I own a thermos bottle, and it will cost nothing to try.

First I did a web search on Thermos + Cooking. Surprisingly little. A link to a short article by Kurt Saxon. http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods005.htm . Very little info, plus he is using a bigger, better thermos than my little, cheap 3/4 quart one. But I didn't spend all those years in college for nothing. Off to the laboratory.

* First experiment -- Oatmeal.

This is not just any oatmeal, but the real deal, steel cut whole oats. The normal cooking instructions are, soak overnight, then cook for 30 minutes, stirring. I love to eat the stuff, but I won't cook it.

I put the oats into the thermos, poured the correct amount of boiling water over (no overnight soaking) and 1 1/2 hours later, the results: Perfect oatmeal. Not mushy, not gritty, just right. Goldilocks would love it.

* Second experiment -- Grits.

Again, Arrowhead, whole ground white corn grits. Easier to cook than oatmeal, but still, there is eight minutes of standing there stirring. Cooked in the thermos, the same way as the oatmeal, results: Perfect grits.

* Third experiment -- Rice.

This is less important. Cooking rice on the range is pretty easy, plus I have a little electric rice cooker, but just to be a complete scientist, I tried the thermos. Results: Complete failure. The rice had barely cooked at all, after 1 1/2 hours and the water had cooled enough that it would not have cooked given more time. I was surprised enough that thinking I may have had a senior moment, I repeated the experiment: Complete failure.

* Fourth experiment -- Pasta.

Commercial dried linguinni. (I doubt this would work with home made pasta)

Short answer, results: Perfect pasta. Almost al-dente, just a little past that, but still firm, not overcooked at all.

* No other experiments, yet. I may try beans, but I don't think my small, cheap thermos would hold the heat long enough. Beans would be an overnight job.

Why would I even care? Simple, I like oatmeal, grits, and pasta. I hate standing by the range for 8, 12, or 30 minutes stirring a damn pot. Now I don't have to. [I have tried cooking oatmeal, and grits in a small slow cooker. The results were ah, OK, but not as good as the thermos.]

That's all ladies,

Enkidu

[Antiochus Epiphanes]

I remember reading that as part of his series about eating on a dollar a day.

saxon, has written many interesting things. he oncet was in the ANP but then lost his nerve.

[SSanguine]

I saw an advertisement for the canister cooking thing also. I found it to be very neat but kinda useless in my eyes. Now you are saying to use a thermos, of course, it is the same damn thing except you aren't wasting your money. Most people have a thermos around the house, so they won't have to waste money or take up anymore additional space. Good idea, but as for me, I prefer to cook on the stovetop the old fashioned way. This canister is just simplifying cooking for those that screw up the easiest of dishes.

Like:

Pasta: Bring the water to a boil throw in the pasta, put a lid on it, continue heat for 5 minutes then turn off heat, keeping lid on. Just keep checking pasta until it is how you like it. The time varies but not over 30 minutes.
**Pasta continues to cook in hot-warm water even when the heat source is turned off**
**The larger pot, the more water you have, the more your pasta has to breathe and cook thoroughly and correctly**

Boiled Eggs:
Only boil your eggs for 5 minutes, then allow to sit in the hot water to cook the rest of the way through ( I have heard some say for just another 5 mintues) BUT I prefer to just take them out after the water has cooled and stored them in the fridge until ready to peel and use.

Really, cooking is not that hard, it seems like some people have a cooking phobia. It's just common sense. If you think your going to burn it, then you will. If you don't have the time to cook a certain recipe, then don't bother and do something simpler.

Take your time and it will work out much faster and taste so much better!

:cheers:

[Steve B]

Originally Posted by Enkidu

From the last person who should ever give advice or lessons on cooking: me.

Thermos cooking.

Yesterday morning, for some reason, against all good sense, I turned the TV on. Something call the 'Pasta Express' was being demonstrated and offered for sale. It is a wide plastic tube with a lid. I don't remember how much it costs. Purportedly, you put dried pasta in it, pour boiling water over it, and some time later, out falls cooked pasta. I'm not a complete fool. Could this possibly work? And, what if it did? I like eating pasta, but I hate cooking pasta. "Boil a gigantic container of water, drop in the pasta, and stir for 10-12 minutes (for commercial dried pasta.) I hate standing and stirring.

So, I got to thinking. What is this device? Obviously, a cheap-assed thermos. I own a thermos bottle, and it will cost nothing to try.

First I did a web search on Thermos + Cooking. Surprisingly little. A link to a short article by Kurt Saxon. http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods005.htm . Very little info, plus he is using a bigger, better thermos than my little, cheap 3/4 quart one. But I didn't spend all those years in college for nothing. Off to the laboratory.

* First experiment -- Oatmeal.

This is not just any oatmeal, but the real deal, steel cut whole oats. The normal cooking instructions are, soak overnight, then cook for 30 minutes, stirring. I love to eat the stuff, but I won't cook it.

I put the oats into the thermos, poured the correct amount of boiling water over (no overnight soaking) and 1 1/2 hours later, the results: Perfect oatmeal. Not mushy, not gritty, just right. Goldilocks would love it.

Enkidu,

This is a bit off topic but since you brought up oatmeal I thought I would relay a bit of interesting info.

I went to the doctor a few months back for an annual checkup. Doc said my cholesterol was too high and to cut down on the red meat and get more exercise, which I did. Went back a month later and the cholesterol was still too high and doc wanted to write me a prescription. I told him no and that I would fix it myself...he just rolled his eyes and said "I'll seeya in a couple years when you have your first heart attack".

Now for the interesting part: There is this cute young gal(25) who works at the local health food store I frequent. I always find an excuse to go in and talk to her because she's just so damn pretty and I like looking at her. But this time I had a bonafide reason for speaking to her, my high cholesterol.

I told her my problem and asked if there were anything "natural" that would help. She replied that there were many things she could sell me but that since I remind her of her father *sigh* she would tell me of a simple, cheap, sure fire way to lower cholesterol. Here it is.

Buy some oatmeal(I bought the storebrand Quaker oats)

Put about 3 or 4 inches of the oatmeal in a blender.( not much more than that or it will turn to mush and the water won't rise)

Fill the rest up with water(I used distilled but tap is fine)

Blend it up real good and set the blender in the fridge overnight.

In the morning you'll see that the water has risen to the top. Drink about 12 to 14 ounces of the oat-water. I find that a batch will last 2 or 3 days depending on the size of your blender. (You can eat the oatmeal at the bottom if you want but I don't cuz all that fiber gives me the shits)

I did this for a month before I went back to my doc to retest but I started feeling results within a week. The muscles in my arms, chest and legs started getting bigger. And I had more energy and required less sleep.

After a month of this I had my doctor retest me. He had to do the test twice because he couldn't believe his eyes. My cholesterol count had dropped like an anchor. He asked me how I had done it...I told him and he said he had never heard of such a thing. 16 years of fuckin college and he never heard of it.

Anyway, I thought I'd pass this along to some of the middle aged VNN'ers.

[odin]

Steve B:

I just put the first batch in the fridge. I wonder if drinking the stuff right as it comes out of the blender would have the same effect? I know it'd taste nasty, but I'm sure if I held my nose I could deal with 12-14 ounces a day.

Thanks for the tip. I know oatmeal is supposed to lower cholesterol, but I never before heard of the oatwater.

[Rob Roy MacGregor]

I've tried the Saxon thermos method, and the one big drawback is that narrow opening which makes it a royal pain in the arse to clean.

The TV one looks like a good alternative, but I'll wait for the price to come down a bit.

http://www.pastaexpress.tv/index.html

[Rob Roy MacGregor]

Also, I hope Kurt Saxon or another White guy patented the Thermos cooking method.

[Steve B]

Originally Posted by odin

Steve B:

I just put the first batch in the fridge. I wonder if drinking the stuff right as it comes out of the blender would have the same effect? I know it'd taste nasty, but I'm sure if I held my nose I could deal with 12-14 ounces a day.

Odin, toss a few cinnamon sticks in with the blend if the taste and smell doesn't agree with you.

I swear by the stuff....do it for a month and you will too!

[COTW]

The pasta express gadget is a scam product. If you heat up a pot of boiling water and place pasta/rice/vegetables/whatever into that pot and then turn the stovetop off it will give you the same results.

Anything sold on TV is a scam.

[Abzug Hoffman]

Originally Posted by rasputin

Anything sold on TV is a scam.

Naw, my brother has bought a lot of stuff TV. He says some of it does what it says, some of it doesn't.

[Itz_molecular]

Originally Posted by Cracker oftheWhip

The pasta express gadget is a scam product. If you heat up a pot of boiling water and place pasta/rice/vegetables/whatever into that pot and then turn the stovetop off it will give you the same results.

I just move the pot over to the counter put a lid on and wrap a kitchen towel around it for insulation. Works great for oatmeal, don't know about grits or pasta.

Actually, I don't use a pot. I use a giant pyrex measuring cup, but it works
.