This model Thermal, Vacuum or Slow Cooker (as they are sometimes called) has a 4.5L capacity with one 4.5L inner stainless steel saucepan & comes with a Glass lid.

Not quite as good quality as the Thermos products eg best heat retention is achieved when the inner sauce pan is totaly enclosed in the outer heat retention module, when the handles protrude, then you have a not so perfect seal. However having said that it does have a sealed vacuum in the outer module like the Thermos products, which is much better then the cheaper foam models.

Why buy another cooking appliance?

1-     You are the cook, and you want to spend less time cooking and more time with your family. 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. The best way to cook root vegetables, is to quickly blanch ie boil briefly, this blanching or sautéing 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 outer vacuum insulated container, both manufactured for maximum heat retention.

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, 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.

Recipes

A recipe book is included specifically designed for cooking with this vacuum cooker, 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:-

Simple Beef Curry.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrDsKitchen

Basic idea of cooking times

Colour - Brushed Stainless