Thermal cookery.........

In my last post I discussed cast iron pots - and most specifically the dutch oven.  This time I want to discuss thermal cookery.  It doesn't really cook in and of itself - BUT when  you bring food to a boil, if that food is in an insulated pot or situation - it will continue cooking - WITHOUT additional heat being applied.

Cast iron pots - and most specifically the Dutch oven - is great for this - particularly if you dig a hole in the ground, build a fire in it and let it go to coals, then place the pot in on top of it and cover with coals and dirt.  The fire goes out (oxygen is prevented from reaching the fire) and what you are left with is an insulated place where the contents of the Dutch oven, having been brought to a boil earlier - can continue cooking!

Another method - actually there are 2 that I'm thinking of - what Rodale Press's book Build It Better Yourself (1977) calls a hot box.  Basically this is a wood box - with lid - that has styrofoam that serves as insulation.  A hole is cut in the styrofoam - to fit snugly around the Dutch oven and aluminum foil covers all surfaces.  The pot is brought to a boil, then placed in the snug hot box, covered up and left there for about 4-5 hours.  Temperature of the food inside the pot will drop to about 160 F.

Another method - which is essentially the same and a variation uses urethane insulation.

My BIGGEST problem with the last two has to do with the words STYROFOAM and URETHANE both of which will create highly toxic gases when heated which may be able to happen with the hot pots.

The issue of thermal cooking however is NOT new - and there are other things that have been used - such as burying the pot in sawdust - and, yes, I've also heard of bread being baked in a covered pot that was brought to boil then sealed up - top and sides with clay - which hardened and made a kind of insulated covering.  With the latter - when it was time to eat, the clay was busted and the pot removed from the shards, wiped off and food was served up - nice and piping hot!

However - I don't have clay here - here it is sand with a bit of loam added.  A LOT of sand! - which of course I COULD do a nice bury the pot in the garden which would be fine - as long as I don't get distracted and forget about it!