Mr D's thermal cooker

I was tempted by one of these when I went to Norfolk show this year and having already heard about it from a member. I honestly thought that my organisational skills would be severely tested having to think of dinner immediately after breakfast.

It really does seem a great idea but the lazy side of me also got the impression that there would be a lot of washing up at prep AND at eating times. Perhaps this isn't the case and it is great to get first hand opinions. A couple of recipe ideas might just sway me

I tried to send this some moments ago but Mr BT in his wisdom is switching the internet off and on so the post didn't go.
Thinking about recipes etc as we are preparing to go to Valkenburg in a couple of weeks time. We will use our Mr D's thermal cooker for the first meal in the Netherlands, what a Brilliant piece of kit, not cheap but well worth the money. The cooker really does do "what it say on the tin". We certainly wouldn't be without ours that's for sure. I remember thinking I hope this is worth the money as we set of for France on the cooker's first run out, Scotch Corner to Dover then ferry to Dunkerque, in to the sans billet open the lid and there we had a ready prepared meal how comforting that felt. Does anyone else use one of these, we have the 4.5litre one. I've included a link.

http://mrdscookware.com/

'a member', what a way to refer to me!!

I bought my wife a Mr D's 4 years ago at a motorhome show because she was going on and on about it.
It has never ever been used, its still in the box under the seat in the motorhome.
Apparently most of the dishes require so much prep work, you may as well just get on and cook them in one go, my her words not mine!!
However I was offered £80 for it but she wouldn't let me sell it!

You can have it when we see you next Caro, if you wanted it.

Chicken Stew with Saffron
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 walnut sized knob of butter
3 red onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 butternut squash peeled, seeded & cut into 3cm cubes depends on the mood of the day
400g tin chopped tomatoes or Passata
1 pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsp chicken stock
4 strips of lemon zest
water/red wine

Instructions:
Put the inner pot over a medium heat and add the rapeseed oil or standard vegetable oil - olive oil is too greasy.
Add the chicken in batches to brown and once browned put to one side until needed.
Reduce the heat, add the onions, a knob of butter, the minced garlic, the minced ginger and the ground cumin.
Stir and slowly cook until the onions are soft.
Once the onions are soft add the butternut squash and the chicken you browned earlier.
Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes,or passata a good pinch of saffron and the strips of lemon peel.
pour in the chicken stock and mix everything together before covering with water and red wine.
Stir, turn up the heat and put the lid on.
Bring to the boil before simmering for 5 minutes.
Put the inner pot into the outer insulated container, close the lid and leave to cook without power for a minimum of 3 hours.
Serve with potatoes and green vegetables of your choice.

Just come across this info regarding the cooker and may interest us. We were away last week in Keswick and then up to Scotland. On the way to Scotland we used our slow cooker successfully for a meat stew connected to our wired in 2k inverter. First time we had used it and will again. Kept the cooker in the sink in case of spillage but none. Anyone else used this?

I have the Mr D's receipe book too.
There are a few dishes that can basically just be put in the pot and left with no prep at all.
But my wife thought all the dishes would just be throw in and leave it, as I said before, if you need to brown meat off etc, you may aswell carry on and cook it all, is what she says.

The ribs in tomato sauce sticks in my mind particularly as an easy dish with no prep.

But as my wife wont eat curry, my daughter wont eat caseroles, that counts lots of it out.

I have kept it thinking I might use it when im sailing or kayaking on my own and sleeping in my tent. Preparing in the morning before leaving home.
But as yet I havent.

But it is a good idea for having a meal ready as and when you want it, using little power to cook it.

Tom1 your daughter should try the recipe as it's a stew not a casserole, Stew is done on top of the cooker and Casserole is done in the oven

MR2, how long have had the inverter what type of battery do you use with it, I've have I think subconsciously ignored inverters but this has just sparked my interest, I realise that they are not a panacea and there are limitations but how useful have you found having an inverter.

Didn't know if you wanted to admit to your culinary aspirations Tom

'a member', what a way to refer to me!!

I bought my wife a Mr D's 4 years ago at a motorhome show because she was going on and on about it.
It has never ever been used, its still in the box under the seat in the motorhome.
Apparently most of the dishes require so much prep work, you may as well just get on and cook them in one go, my her words not mine!!
However I was offered £80 for it but she wouldn't let me sell it!

You can have it when we see you next Caro, if you wanted it.

This sounds like my sort of food. I have to say I get a bit 'samey' in the motor home so some new ideas are always welcome - thank you! Bon proveche!

Chicken Stew with Saffron
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 walnut sized knob of butter
3 red onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 butternut squash peeled, seeded & cut into 3cm cubes depends on the mood of the day
400g tin chopped tomatoes or Passata
1 pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsp chicken stock
4 strips of lemon zest
water/red wine

Instructions:
Put the inner pot over a medium heat and add the rapeseed oil or standard vegetable oil - olive oil is too greasy.
Add the chicken in batches to brown and once browned put to one side until needed.
Reduce the heat, add the onions, a knob of butter, the minced garlic, the minced ginger and the ground cumin.
Stir and slowly cook until the onions are soft.
Once the onions are soft add the butternut squash and the chicken you browned earlier.
Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes,or passata a good pinch of saffron and the strips of lemon peel.
pour in the chicken stock and mix everything together before covering with water and red wine.
Stir, turn up the heat and put the lid on.
Bring to the boil before simmering for 5 minutes.
Put the inner pot into the outer insulated container, close the lid and leave to cook without power for a minimum of 3 hours.
Serve with potatoes and green vegetables of your choice.

Now this sounds really interesting .... and appeals to my green side, would love to try it out.
We recently got a small slow cooker for the van, just a cheap one from a supermarket. Have used it twice on the inverter, once while driving to Scotland and once while we were away from the van for the day. Worked a treat, rogan josh and coq au vin both great. I must admit though that I have never tried a 'slow cooker recipie' I have heard of some where you just put ingredients in and leave but not seen a recipie that I fancied. So for me it's simply a case of cooking any curry, stew, etc the way I normally would then transferring to slow cooker for the simmering. So yes it's an extra pot to wash but for me the advantage is being able to leave unattended for an hour or several hours, being able to have a meal ready as soon as we arrive at destination after a days travel, saving gas, and less condensation. Thermal cooker seems to be an even better option but at the price I would want to 'try before you buy' so .....
Caroline .... you can buy Tom's magic pot and road test it, when we next meet I can cook you dinner to try it out, then maybe I'll invest in one .... mind you, it looks bigger than the slow cooker and I haven't found a place to store that yet ... need a bigger van !

Tom1 your daughter should try the recipe as it's a stew not a casserole, Stew is done on top of the cooker and Casserole is done in the oven

My daughter should do alot of things Rodders.
However this is the girl who so far this week wont eat chicken, Gammon or Spag Bol for dinner because she 'doesnt like' them and at the moment will only eat carrots and cold sweetcorn for vegetables.

Dispite eating all the 'dont like' items recently before with no issue.

So she hasnt had dinner for 3 days because she refused to eat it!

You know me Caro, I will admit to anything!

Steve it fits easily stood up right in one of the 'top' cupboards easily. Its much smaller out of the box.

Mind you I do wonder if it woukd hold enough food for all 4 of us.

A good idea Kathy I am afraid my kitchen is full of white elephants. I am a creature of habit and the same old things and recipes get brought out time after time.
Must be a more adventurous cook
Must be a more adventurous cook
X50

MR2, how long have had the inverter what type of battery do you use with it, I've have I think subconsciously ignored inverters but this has just sparked my interest, I realise that they are not a panacea and there are limitations but how useful have you found having an inverter.

Have had an inverter for 8 years. It is wired in to the 240v system, so can use the sockets and it is connected to 2 x Trojan 6v batteries in series i.e. 12v giving 215Ah. Use 6v because they are smaller than 12v and I have limited space. The inverter is 2kw and care is needed not to "hammer" the batteries. We use an ordinary slow cooker about 2.5 ltr and up to 160w, twin toaster and electric kettle when off hook up.
Got the inverter in a deal including solar panel, controller and relay plus a battery master from a company now out of business. Have got so used to using it I would find difficulty managing without it. We spend a lot of time on Aires without electric so comes not its own saving gas especially with the solar panel maintaining the charge in the batteries.

Thanks for the reply MR2, I've been looking into solar panels so it would make sense to expand my thoughts into inverters also. Ido feel though that as the Hobby is fairly new with LED technology we are not as critical as with some units. I experimented last year in winter and lasted 3 days using lighting without care before I needed to run the engine, I was working away at the time so it was an time to ideal experiment, parked in the college carpark. Yes I do see the benefits so will look in greater detail at a system to suite.
As a piece of information we only came to the "dark side" 3 years ago having caravaned for more than several years, tents before that, anyone else who has changed from one discipline to the other will understand the fun in re-learning all the things we thought we were good at. to stall any other questions we really enjoy the freedom of a motorhome, we both feel that we should have changed years ago.

Thanks for the reply MR2, I've been looking into solar panels so it would make sense to expand my thoughts into inverters also. Ido feel though that as the Hobby is fairly new with LED technology we are not as critical as with some units. I experimented last year in winter and lasted 3 days using lighting without care before I needed to run the engine, I was working away at the time so it was an time to ideal experiment, parked in the college carpark. Yes I do see the benefits so will look in greater detail at a system to suite.
As a piece of information we only came to the "dark side" 3 years ago having caravaned for more than several years, tents before that, anyone else who has changed from one discipline to the other will understand the fun in re-learning all the things we thought we were good at. to stall any other questions we really enjoy the freedom of a motorhome, we both feel that we should have changed years ago.

For info I changed all lights to LED soon after acquiring the Rapido to reduce load and when evaluating solar panels consider also a Battery Master. This ensures not only does the leisure batteries receive charge but also the vehicle battery is maintained. In the 8 years of motorhoming I have only needed to switch on the charger a couple of times in deepest winter when the solar charge was very low.

Again in your debt MR2, I suppose that's the biggest advantage of LED. We seem to have digressed from Mr D's cooker

I agree the thread has digressed a bit.
But Barry has what sounds like a great set up with his battery master switch etc.
As for LED lights, mine is the standard non LED lights fitted from new, they have never caused me concern with power usage.
If I ever have 'proper' solar fitted I will look into it.