This model Thermal, Vacuum or Slow Cooker (as they are sometimes called) has a 6L capacity with one 6L & two 3L  inner multi-layered stainless steel saucepans with a carbon steel plate sandwiched into the heavy stainless steel base, making them suitable for cooking on all types of heating surfaces, including the new magnetic induction systems.

You also get the choice of either a Bain Marie insert or a Steamer insert. the main reason for including a choice of one of these inserts is using the Bain Marie for the preparation of rice to go with the main meal, i.e. you simmer the rice in the Bain Marie for a few minutes depending on whether it is white or brown, then you just sit it in the top of the 6L pot, this means that you'll have to leave a space in the top i.e. your main meal will be up to 5L and a Bain Marie 1L. However if you already have a system for cooking your Rice you may prefer the steamer option, apart from using it as a generic steamer when placed inside the 3 or 6L pot you can also use it to keep your rice warm and also infuse it with the flavours from the meal below, similar to what they do in Moroccan cooking with Couscous. The other reason is that we can include this in the package without increasing the size and hence cost of the postage.

Why buy another cooking appliance?

1-     You are the cook, and you want to spend less time cooking and more time with your family. Example:- the night before, or in the morning, you quickly prepare your casserole ingredients ie in one of the 3L stainless steel saucepans you fry up your onion and garlic, add your meat, if you are using it, then the veggies and spices, simmer for 10 minutes, place the saucepan into the vacuum container. Fill the other 3L saucepan with boiling water, place on top, close the vacuum container. When you get home from work remove saucepans from vacuum container, simmer casserole for a few minutes, return to the vacuum flask, boil some Brown rice in the second saucepan for five minutes, place on top of the first 3L saucepan inside the vacuum flask for one hour (white rice cook for one minute and leave for 30 minutes). The really important thing is that any time after this 30 minute or 60 minute period, your meal is ready to eat. Have you ever had guests or family arrive for a meal and while everybody is socialising and sharing the events of the day, the poor cook, misses out on these valuable social moments, because she has to get the meal ready. Or in a family situation someone comes home late, no problem the meal is just as delicious and just as ready to go.

2-     If you are visiting this site than I would imagine that your health and the health of your loved ones is very close to your heart, personally I love my salads, but when I cook, then it is either very quick or very slow. For the slow cooking, I got sick of using a crock pot, ie you need two pots, twice as much cleaning, timing is critical ie so easy to overcook, so I went back to my cast-iron pots, which retain their heat and therefore give you some of the slow cooked advantage. Now I only have two cooking appliances, my favourite cast-iron wok and this thermal cooker. Firstly being able to replace your Teflon coated rice cooker is a big health plus, there is much information on the Internet about the health risks of Teflon & similar coated cooking devices. The best way to cook root vegetables, is to quickly blanch ie boil briefly, this blanching or sauteing pre-cook stage will leave more vitamins intact, and the slow cooking will mean that the vegetable retain their shape, while slowly absorbing the flavours of the other ingredients. Also if you are eating meat then the slow cooking process is used to tenderize cheaper cuts, in particular, the tough connective tissues of meat are broken down without affecting the texture of the meat. And the beauty of this device is that this is all done in the same pot, and users it's own heat to do the slow cooking process, the results are extremely reliable.

Cheaper Cuts Slow cooking is not only flavoursome, it's budget-friendly. Tougher cuts of meat are ideal for slow cooking, becoming succulent and tasty over the long cooking period. Some of the best cuts are:

•        Beef - topside, blade steak, skirt steak, round steak, chuck steak

•        Veal - osso bucco (The shank is called osso buco in Italian)

•        Lamb - neck chops, boneless shoulder, shanks, boneless forequarter

•        Pork - forequarter chops, neck, diced shoulder

•        Chicken - any pieces, but those on the bone work best (drumstick, thighs)

How It Works?

The Thermal/Vacuum Cooker consists of two types of containers.

Heavy duty, stainless steel, inner saucepans for direct heating and a patented outer vacuum insulated container, both manufactured for maximum heat retention.

The inner saucepan has a multi layered stainless steel structure with a carbon steel plate sandwiched in the heavy duty base for high lateral heat conductivity, resulting in heating from all directions.

The meal is prepared in the inner saucepan and brought to the boil, then simmered until all of the meal is approximately the same temperature then this saucepan is placed inside the insulated outer container and the lid is closed.

The heat retained in the inner saucepan slowly cooks the food for hours, you do not need to keep checking it while it is cooking and it will stay above food safety standards for 8 hours plus.

This means that food preparation and safety just got a whole lot easy and safer as you can now prepare a meal in the mornings. This meal will go on slowly cooking for at least 8 hours, tenderising the meat, and yet it will not break down the colour, shape and texture of vegetables, resulting in a highly nutritious (no evaporation of nutrients) wholesome meal.

The dinner or evening meal can be enjoyed without further preparation, other than opening a bottle of wine and buttering some crusty bread.

Food prepared and cooked this way ensures that it stays well within the food safety guidelines (Hot food should be kept at 60 degrees or over), without constant energy inputs and is in fact a healthier approach to food and the conservation of energy.

This same principle applies equally to keeping foods cold as the temperature inside is unable to absorb heat from the outside through the vacuum chamber and therefore can only absorb small amounts of heat via conduction at the lip and through the foam in the lid.

Quality?

These inner saucepans are designed for high lateral heat conductivity, resulting in heating from all directions as well as maximum heat retention.

These saucepans are also suitable for cooking on Induction Elements due to the carbon steel plate in the heavy base.

The Outer Container is 26 cm wide across the handles and is 30 cm high. The inner 3 L saucepans are 19.5 cm wide and 10.5 cm high.

The bail handle will not become overly hot if it is left in the vertical position while cooking on the stove top, however if it is left in the horizontal position it will pick up residual heat that is being transferred up the sides of the pot by the primary heat source.

The outer carry container has a patented vacuum chamber between two walls of stainless steel ensuring the very best insulation available.

Unbeatable performance featuring exclusive TherMax vacuum insulation - Thermos's very best. You simply cannot buy another product of this size and type with better hot and cold keeping performances. Thermos guarantee that it will provide the Hottest Hot and the Coldest Cold for the longest period.

Due to this excellent insulation, there is only a heat loss of 3-4 degrees C per hour.

This leads to the same effect as gently and slowly cooking your food for hours, but without constant attention.

After 6 hours, the 4.5L model will still have a temperature above 71 C and the 6L model, a temperature above 74 C.

The Australian Food Standards sets a temperature of 60 degrees C or above to prevent food poisoning bacteria from growing.

Competition?

There are two types of competition,

1- there is a product from Japan that is very similar as it uses a vacuum, however the Thermos brand does have some advantages, the other product has side handles on the saucepan which protrude outside the vacuum flask, meaning that these areas cannot be sealed and therefore heat leaks out via convection and conduction, the vacuum pot also does not come with a handle, so not so easy to move around, but most importantly they do not have a double pot solution, which personally I find is the ideal solution.

2- the other products that you will find when you look around are cheaper versions because instead of using a vacuum they use foam and plastic as the insulating medium….and we all know that if you wanted to keep water hot for coffee or tea for the longest period you would chose a vacuum insulated flask and not a foam insulated model ….and obviously this is even more important with regards to keeping food hot and above food safety standards (when you look at their claims for keeping the food hot, you will see they are a lot less than what Thermos claims). Also these products do not have a multilayered, heavy duty base in the saucepan meaning that under very hot conditions they can lose their shape and their ability to spread the heat is not as effective.

These products are also only 1 or 2 year warranted (versus five years for Thermos) and the major complaint from their customers is that after a couple of years it just doesn’t keep hot anymore….this is the same problem with foam insulated flasks and Eskies in that the foam is made up of tiny air bubbles and it becomes hygroscopic when you have a HOT or COLD product inside and there is a temperature variation between the inside and the outside and so it draws in moisture into the bubbles and this reduces the capacity to insulate markedly over time. So apart from its inferior insulating properties compared to a vacuum it gets even worse over time.

Recipes

a recipe book is included (see the picture at the bottom for the contents page) specifically designed for cooking with this vacuum cooker, it contains over 60 recipes, many of which have slight variations mentioned. But really once you get the hang of the process, which is really simple, you will soon be creating your own recipes.

Cooking Rice, Barley, Lentils or any other dried Seeds or Beans.

Soaking the rice in water (with some yoghurt, keffir or whey, or lemon juice or vinegar) overnight, or for about 4 -6 hours before cooking, will break down phytates and enzyme inhibitors. Phytates in particular, will bind with minerals and thus they will not be available for you - to absorb. Soaking your grain makes more nourishment possible, and makes it easier to digest -lightening the load on your body. Simply cover your rice with water and for about 1 cup of rice, add 1 tablespoon yoghurt, whey or kefir. If using lemon juice or Vinegar, 1 teaspoon should do the trick. This will further reduce the cooking time needed in the slow cooking phase.

Other users include

Farming, Worksite or Picnicking ie when you want to take a hot meal away from your home, be it to your worksite or your picnic site the principle and convenience is the same.

Caravanning and Motor homes, Camping, 4WD adventure ie you do not need to take a lot of pots and pans,  saves space, a lot of gas (approximately 80%), and is safe and easy to clean. Start the meal and leave in the tent or van to safely continue cooking in your absence.

Boating & Fishing ie warm yourself up with a hot meal, as you drift across those icy waters in search of a beautiful panorama or meal.

Some example recipes showing the simple process:-