Ditch the slow cooker, get a vacuum pot

Category:   |  Post by: Andrea Wong
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Vacuum cooking pot :: So D'lish. New Zealand's food blog website

Now that winter has well and truly settled in (I'm sitting at my desk with the heater gently warming my feet), I'm sure that a lot of you have dusted off the slow cooker to make your soups and stews.

I've wondered about slow cookers, how much power do they use, especially considering they have to be on for at least 6 hours? I haven't done the research, but I hope that they are somewhat power-efficient.

But I'm sure that it is not as efficient as the vacuum pot! A slow cooker is on for 6-8 hours to cook a stew, for example, where as a vacuum pot is on the stove for only about 25 minutes in total.

So I've ditched the slow cooker and moved on in favour of the vacuum pot.

So what is a vacuum pot?

Also known as a thermal cooker, it is relatively common in Asia and uses the same principle as a standard Thermos flask. You have hot ingredients sealed inside a vacuum container. This keeps the heat in at higher temperatures, for longer. This means that you can assemble your meal on the stove, simmer it for a few minutes, pop it into the vacuum pot, close it up and leave it. You can go to work, go out, whatever... and not worry about it drying out or boiling over while you're away.

I can see immediate benefits for not only a busy family for cooking the evening meal while everyone's at work and school; but also for people who are camping, boating or travelling around.

This is how it works

A vacuum pot consists of two containers: the inner cooking pot and the outer vacuum pot. The inner cooking pot is used on the stove like a regular pot.

Put your dish together in this pot like normal - sautee the garlic, brown the meat etc - and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes then take it off the heat and immediately put it into the outer vacuum pot and close the lid.

The trick with using a vacuum pot is that you just need to remember that the pot will retain whatever heat is in the food. This means that food that is suitable for dishes that are high in liquid, like soups and casseroles. 

While your dish is safe and secure in the vacuum pot, it continues to cook slowly making the dish oh-so-tender. After a few hours in the vacuum pot, simply remove the inner cooking pot, pop it back on the stove and reheat for a few minutes.

When I first started using the vacuum pot, I was surprised at how much heat is retained in the pot even after 4-5 hours. This means that reheating only takes a few minutes.

I'm sold, where do I get one?

Vacuum pots may be found at your local Asian grocery store. The one that I have is made by Thermos and is called Shuttle Chef. My vacuum pot has both a earthenware and stainless steel inner cooking pot, but most come with just the stainless steel pot. This was bought overseas and cost around $300. But I've seen non-Thermos brand vacuum pots for around half that price.

Sounds great, what can I make?

The vacuum pot is perfect for dishes that need simmering for hours. I like to make:

I've read that you can also make cake and steamed puddings with it, I haven't tried it but I think it's worth a try!

You can read more about the vacuum pot on Treehugger

If you have a vacuum pot, let me know what you think, I'd love to know.

Try my favourite recipe

Here's one of my favourite dishes that I make in my vacuum pot, my chicken and shitake mushroom casserole. Try it, it's delicious made in either a regular or vacuum pot.

Have your say

 

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  • 27/07/2010 12:04 a.m.
    Cynthia

    This is a modern day version of a dutch oven that we used to make in a tea chest at Girl Guides. The tea chest was packed with straw and you pre-browned meat & onion and placed the saucepan within the straw & covered the chest with sacks and left 4-5 hours (just the same as your vacuum pot) it would come out beautifully tender, great for a stew. This process evolved during World War 11 & when electricity was in short supply.
  • 26/07/2010 2:33 p.m.
    *** Andrea Wong ***

    @Adrian - I use the earthenware pot in the exact same way as the stainless steel pot, except I don't have the stove up quite so high - a medium heat will do. I'm just afraid that it might crack. You can put the earthenware pot directly into the vacuum pot, there's no need to decant ingredients (and it means less washing up!).

    And yes, it's fine on a ceramic stove top, that's what I have.

    @Lor - I hadn't thought of making yoghurt in it! Do you have to put how water in the vacuum pot?
  • 23/07/2010 11:00 p.m.
    Adrian

    My vacuum pot is also ex-China and comes with an earthenware pot. I've only used the stainless pot and I really like how the ingredients cook without breaking apart! How do you use the earthenware pot?
    Can it be used on a ceramic cooktop? When cooking, is it put directly into the vacuum pot, or into the stainless pot then the vacuum pot? Hope this makes sense.....
  • 10/06/2010 4:29 p.m.
    Lor

    I've got one of these lovely pots, also bought overseas in Shanghai. I've also seen them in Malaysia and China. I've seen one made in China from 'Silver Bell' which is just behind Macdonalds in Mt Wellington. Doesn't look as nice as the one in the picture though. My sister bought one in Aussie and its oblongish. She does a lovely whole chicken in it. Its also great to make yoghurt in.