Hay Box Cooking
I finally have a good way to make rice using a Hot Box. I'd read about it, but it seemed like yet another thing I'd never get around to making. But that article said I can just wrap the pot in a sleeping bag, and so I got my oldest, least currently used one, and wrapped my le cruset 3 quart pot in a wool lap blanket & then in the sleeping bag. I figured the small wool blanket would keep the nylon bag from melting, and be easier to clean if there were any spills.
It worked really well, and this cooking technique is good for anything that comes up to a boil and then simmers for a while. It takes about the same time to cook, perhaps a little longer, but no danger of scorching. The pot was still really hot after 40 min and the brown rice was done. I've been cooking rice in the microwave, but that doesn't save any time, just keeps it from scorching. I was given an old rice cooker, but it was designed for white rice not brown and I never did get the hang of it.
Also I'm reading this book, The Fireless Cook Book, online about hay boxes. 1909 copyright.
Edited to say, the book has a recipe for mock turtle soup that starts with a calves head. And it's fabulously pedantic in a early 20th century way.
It worked really well, and this cooking technique is good for anything that comes up to a boil and then simmers for a while. It takes about the same time to cook, perhaps a little longer, but no danger of scorching. The pot was still really hot after 40 min and the brown rice was done. I've been cooking rice in the microwave, but that doesn't save any time, just keeps it from scorching. I was given an old rice cooker, but it was designed for white rice not brown and I never did get the hang of it.
Also I'm reading this book, The Fireless Cook Book, online about hay boxes. 1909 copyright.
Edited to say, the book has a recipe for mock turtle soup that starts with a calves head. And it's fabulously pedantic in a early 20th century way.