Testimonials

Irish Times GO Magazine August 21st, 2010

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2010/0821/1224277272332.html

TOM KELLY

Thermal Chef: The Japanese have been using these forever, but they haven’t really caught on yet over here. But yet may be now. This is a thermal cooker from Thermal Chef.

It’s the perfect way to bring a piping hot meal with you while camping, fishing or just out picnicking for the day. Of course, it’ll work just as well for the family dinner at home, too.

The Thermal Chef ticks the boxes of many current preoccupations: it’s a slow cooker; it’s ultra-green; and it’ll save you money on your energy bills. Now if only it posted on Facebook too, it’d have it all!

Thermal cookers work by having a pot inside a pot. You prep your ingredients for say a casserole or a curry in just the smaller pot. Bring it to the boil on a stove for about 10 minutes, then pop this whole pot into the larger one, which has high thermal insulation. Close it all up and simply leave it for the next few hours to cook away merrily in its juices and its own retained heat.

No more energy is needed. Stick it in the back of the car or on the carrier of your bike and off you go.

The food doesn’t disintegrate because it’s getting a slow, gentle heat. And it keeps all the vitamins, goodness and colour as this is all sealed in.

Thermal Chef say the cooker will have kept your meal at up to 70 degrees after six hours. So just a few minutes gas or electricity in the morning will see you with a delicious (providing you can cook, of course) meal that evening wherever you may be. Now that is green and smart. The cooker has a 4.5l capacity and is available online at http://www.thermalchef.com.

Paolo Tullio

“The Thermal Chef arrived and I used it to cook a lamb stew over the weekend. I was more than impressed, it’s such a simple and clever idea. I’ll be enthusing about it on Moncrieff’s show.”

Ernie Whalley – Forkncork.com

http://forkncork.com/on-test-thermal-chef-low-energy-cooker/

Not often I’m impressed by a piece of cooking equipment. I’m a believer in buying the best, telling anyone who listens that “good kit doesn’t let you down”.

Hence I own sturdy, functional pots and pans, with handles that don’t wobble or fall off. Keen knives for all purposes, from filleting plaice to dissecting a deer. My espresso machine is of commercial quality. My coffee roaster, made in Korea, looks like something out of a Heath Robinson cartoon but is as dependable as the Swiss railway system. Lately I’ve bought the ice cream maker I’d always craved. Blini pans, crepe pans, woks, steamers, got the lot – in fact there’s not much I don’t have, or need. But lately a new piece of kitchen gear has insinuated itself onto my shelves.

The Thermal Chef is not a new gadget. The Japanese, who invented the concept, have been using them for years. Basically, it’s a pot inside a pot. The inner one, which you can place on the hob, has a close fitting see-through lid. The outer one is, in effect, an insulation chamber.

I’m using the Thermal Chef for stews and casseroles – like my classical boeuf a la bourguignonne in the recipe pages here or my favourite carbonnade Flamande; for making large-ish batches of things like ragu for Bolognaise or lasagna, for steak and kidney pie fillings; for slow-cooked lamb shanks or for tenderizing cheap but tasty cuts of meat like skirt or shin beef.

The basic technique is simple. You prep your raw materials, place them in the Thermal Chef with an appropriate amount of water/stock/wine to choice plus seasoning, put on the hob, bring to the boil and cook for 5-10 minutes. Then you lift the pot from the stove, place the container inside the outer pot and click down the lid, leaving the food to continue cooking for, say 5-6 hours. I actually like to sweat or brown the veggies and meat in a little olive oil before adding stock, but that’s a counsel of perfection. Recently I made four litres of stock from the shells of a batch of Lidl’s excellent Canadian frozen, cooked lobsters.

By now the advantages (considerable) should be obvious. A low energy requirement – Thermal Chef must be the ultimate ‘Green cooker’; a claim that vitamins and minerals are retained (haven’t checked it); convenience (no need to stand over the dish or even be in the house while it’s cooking; flexibility – mealtimes can be a moveable feast; portability – I’ve carted dishes to friends’ houses; flavour and succulence – the long, slow cooking gets the most out of meat. For anyone camping or caravanning or couples who are both out at work this gadget would be a boon. All the above makes the sturdy Thermal Chef well worth the €99.99 ask.

One further thing. I don’t like to waste food and am keen on making stocks from offcuts and leftovers. But after enjoying a meal who wants the whiff of boiling bones through the house? You can let stocks simmer away in the Thermal Chef and, thanks to the efficient insulation, there’s absolutely no smell.

Further details from the website: http://www.thermalchef.com where you can also buy the equipment.

Hugo Arnold –Irish Times

“I was doing a ragu for pasta but didn’t have time to let it simmer before we headed off for a weekend’s sailing so powered everything up at home and then let it carry on cooking on board. Huge success. Additionally on board you don’t want slow cooking as it uses up precious gas so your Thermal Chef is a great piece of kit to have for the outdoors as well as a brilliantly efficient green Slow cooker”

The Rest are on the offical site at the below link:

http://www.thermalchef.com/pandt.html