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ECO OVEN

Thermal Cooking Bag

Solving the The 5 E’s Cooking Problem

How to cook a hearty meal economically, saving fuel resources, water, time, labour and energy, without the aid of electricity, whilst reducing COâ‚‚ emissions in an environmentally conscious manner?

 

Our solution: Non-Electric ECO OVEN Thermal Slow Cooker

"Thermal cooking" simply means "cooking with heat." ECO OVEN Thermal cookers are cooking aids that cook by retaining heat slowly without the aid of electricity. Our ECO OVEN Cooker is a "portable crockpot" thermal cooker made of a lined waterproof outer fabric drawstring bag and tree insulating pillows.

It works like a slow cooker or crockpot, cooking food slowly over time, producing steam from the boiling food to complete the cooking process.

The first step in retained heat cooking is to bring a pot of food to a boil for only 3 to 4 minutes on the open fire or stove. The pot of boiling food is then placed inside the insulated ECO OVEN. The food will continue to cook without the aid of additional fuel or heat source, reducing the amount of wood, charcoal, paraffin and other dirty-burning fuels used in the home by at least 70%. Thermal cooking in our ECO OVEN saves hours of time and labour and improves the air quality in the home by reducing COâ‚‚ emissions, toxic fumes, which means fewer respiratory problems and other diseases, particularly in children and older members of your family.

The result, when done correctly, is food that will maintain safe-serving temperatures for eight hours or longer.

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Benefits of Non-Electric ECO OVEN Thermal Slow Cooker /Cooler

  • Can retain both heat and cold

  • Safe: It is not a pressure cooker; there are no power cords, no switches or electrical hazards to worry about.

  • Energy Saving: After the food has been boiled for a short time, the cooker needs no external energy while thermal cooking. Food stays warm automatically after it’s ready. Long, slow, electricity-free cooking means more tender meat and allows cooking of beans, lentils, soya and brown rice.

  • Convenience: The thermal cooking process requires no further supervision or monitoring.

  • Economical: Decreases fuel costs, economise time and energy, Saves water, less evaporation

  • Healthy: Entraps flavour, minerals and vitamins; generate less odour, grease and smoke in the kitchen.  Reduces COâ‚‚ emissions. Reduces toxic fumes, which means less respiratory problems and other diseases, particularly in children.

  • User Friendly:  Light, functional and portable, simple to use and prevents burning of food. Can take travelling or to picnics. Food can be cooked while you are travelling. You can cook with the pot anywhere, anytime and it’s safe to use indoors or out.

 

Your time, fuel and energy saver

Once you have an ECO OVEN eco-friendly thermal cooker you will find that you use it every day for it can cook samp, beans, soups, main meals, puddings, cakes and bread.

With just 10 minutes spent in the morning, our ECO OVEN thermal cooker can produce a hot meal. Mothers, campers and hikers can bring the food up to a boil and then store the heated pot in the ECO OVEN.

In this way, a hot meal is available for eating at the end of the day when you get home and it won’t be burnt even if you are a little late. 

You can save up to 70% on cooking costs and is ideal for the roadside restaurant, home, or just a day out picnicking with friends.

ECO OVEN Alaskan Snow

What are the 4 different parts of the ECO OVEN Cooker?

  1. Lined waterproof outer fabric drawstring bag.

  2. Bottom insulating pillow.

  3. An insulating collar that goes around the pot

  4. Top insulating pillow to enhance insulation.

How does it work?

Our eco-friendly, wonder box, thermal cooker ECO OVEN has its roots in the hay box from the end of the 19th century.

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It works like a slow cooker or crockpot, cooking food slowly over time, producing steam from the boiling food to complete the cooking process.

  1. The first step in retained heat cooking is to bring a pot of food to a boil for only 3 to 4 minutes on the open fire or stove. 

  2. The pot of boiling food is then placed inside the insulated ECO OVEN.

  3. The food will continue to cook without the aid of additional fuel or heat source, reducing the amount of wood, charcoal, paraffin and other dirty-burning fuels used in the home by at least 70%.

  4. Thermal cooking in our ECO OVEN saves hours of time and labour and improves the air quality in the home by reducing COâ‚‚ emissions, toxic fumes, which means fewer respiratory problems and other diseases, particularly in children and older members of your family.

 

The result, when done correctly, is food that will maintain safe-serving temperatures for eight hours or longer.

 

Choosing a pot to use in the ECO OVEN
Thermal Cooker

 

3 Models to choose from:

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  1. Six-pack ECO OVEN- for school children and office workers to keep food warm 

  2. Large ECO OVEN- Day to day use for medium to large pots. Can also fit 2 small pots placed on top of each other.

  3. Extra-large ECO OVEN- For outsize pots for large gatherings

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The Portable thermal bag ECO OVEN is designed to hold a variety of sizes of pots. You need to choose the size of the pot to best fit the amount of food usually being prepared.

 

ECO OVEN Performance Tips

  • Carefully set pot of boiling food into the centre tube pillow.

  • Slightly pull sides away from the pot.

  • Press slowly down from the top using oven gloves.

  • Make sure pot is touching the bottom round pillow.

  • Place the top round pillow to insulate.

  • Pull drawstring and pull until snug.

  • Check from the outside making sure everything is packed tightly.

  • Press down around top round pillow and tighten farther with the drawstring.

  • Be careful not to spill contents into ECO OVEN.

  • ECO OVEN pillows can be put in the laundry.

  • Dry completely before using.

  • The ECO OVEN straps offer security when transporting. Always use caution as contents are very hot.

  • Keep ECO OVEN upright when using.

  • Do not check food too early to see if it is ready, it will lose the essential heat needed to keep your food hot.

 

ECO OVEN Alaskan snow

What potential customers will find value in using our ECO OVEN

  • Mothers as a time-saving electricity-free slow cooker

  • Vegetarians as a perfect portable soup warming oven

  • Campers as a travelling camping oven

  • Hikers as a portable oven

  • Boaters as a portable cooler

  • School children as a travelling warm lunchbox

  • Feeding scheme soup kitchens

  • Catering kitchens as a portable warming drawer

  • Shack dwellers as an electricity-saving oven or chiller

  • Preppers

  • Holidaymakers as an electricity-free travel pot

  • Picnickers as a portable travelling oven

Recipes

Traditional foods that are best cooked in our portable multi-purpose thermal cooker ECO OVEN

  • Soup

  • Samp and beans

  • Soya mince

  • Rice/grains

  • Mealie meal/ pap

  • Stews

  • Beans

  • Curries

Chicken Meal in a Bag 500g Alaskan Snow.
Chilli beef label

Using the ECO OVEN to cook our 

Alaskan Snow Manufacturing

MEAL in a BAG

 

Place 250 g of our Meal in a Bag soya mince dry mix into a pot with 3 cups of water, and heat to boiling point.

Cook for 3 minutes. Secure the pot lid on and then place the pot in the insulated crockpot like

ECO OVEN.

Over a period of 30 to 40 minutes, your nutritious and hearty Meal in A Bag is cooked by the heat and steam captured inside the pot.

 

Your meal will stay warm for 8 hours until you are ready to eat.

Rice

2 ½ cups white rice

4 cups of water

Pinch of sea salt

Rinse rice and put into the pot. Add water and salt.

Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.

Do not stir after water comes to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, cover.

Place into the ECO OVEN Cooker. Leave for a minimum of 2 hours.

Because of the volume of this recipe, it will not stay hot for 8 hours.

If this recipe is doubled or tripled it will stay hot in the ECO OVEN for 8+ hours.

Beans

Beans love the ECO OVEN thermal cooker. What a great way to save money now and valuable fuel in times of emergency or during economic hardships. Cooking soaked beans will decrease your fuel consumption by hours.

Another important benefit to using the thermal cooker is nutrition retention. High temperatures destroy nutrition. With thermal cooking, the temperature never goes higher than boiling point like a pressure cooking and does not boil for hours like traditional bean cooking. In both situations, this can decrease the loss of nutrition.

Prepare and cook beans:

Begin with 4 cups of dry beans. This amount usually makes extra beans which can be used for freezing or dehydrating.

Soaking: Rinse beans and place into a bowl, add 12 cups of water and 1 Tbsp of sea salt. After 6 - 12 hours, rinse the beans and put them into the pot being used with the ECO OVEN

Cooking: To soaked beans add 1 tsp sea salt. Fill the pot with water 75% full. Bring water, salt and beans to a boil. After 10 minutes of boiling, put into the ECO OVEN Cooker for at least 5 hours.

Adaptions will need to be made if using old dry beans. After 5+ hours open and rinse; use, dehydrate or freeze.

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Umnqgusho - Samp & Beans | South African Comfort Food

Enjoy this traditional South African classic with a side of chakalaka or by itself. For best results ensure you soak beans overnight.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups samp and beans washed and soaked overnight in your ECO OVEN

  • 15 ml cooking oil

  • 1 onion chopped

  • 1 garlic

  • 1 green pepper chopped

  • 1 tbsp Mild & Spicy curry powder

  • 1 tbsp Steak & Chops Spice

  • 1 x 250g  Meal in a Bag Beef/Beef Chilli or Chakalaka 

  • 1 x Stock cube

Directions

  1. Drain the samp and bean mix (after soaking overnight in your ECO OVEN) and place it in a large pot covered with clean water.

  2. Add 1 or 2 x 250g  dry Meal in a Bag (Beef/Beef Chilli or Chakalaka flavour) that contains rice, lentils, barley, peas and soya mince.

  3. Bring the pot to the boil for 3-5 minutes and place covered pot in your ECO OVEN

  4. Allow to steam in the ECO OVEN until soft.

  5. Checking it after 40-60 mins. 

  6. In a pan, fry the onion, garlic and green pepper in oil until soft.

  7. Add the Mild & Spicy Curry Powder and Steak & Chop Spice, fry it for 1 minute.

  8. Stir continuously.

  9. Add fried mix to the pot of cooked samp and beans and Meal in a Bag. 

  10. Serve with bread, pap, chakalaka or on its own.

Thermal ECO OVEN Camping Recipes

Making Bread

It is possible to make bread using the wonderful ECO OVEN cooker. Thermal cooked bread is different from bread purchased from the store or homemade in a conventional oven.

Bread made in our portable crockpot ECO OVEN cooker is denser, and a bit moister.

 

Use your favourite bread recipe. Whether you knead by hand or machine, knead white bread for at least 5 minutes, whole grain bread for 12-15 minutes, and natural yeast bread for 20 minutes. When looking for a bread container, make sure the container can be covered, that it will not rust and that it will fit inside of the pot you will be using in the ECO OVEN cooker. If your container does not have a lid, use tinfoil to cover and elastic to secure the foil. Mason jars work well and their lids keep water out.

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Make a dough ball that fills the container ½ full.

Place the dough inside of the container and securing the top.

Place the filled container into the pot set on a trivet. This places the container higher in the pot allowing more water to be in the pot, thereby increasing the efficiency.

Fill the pot with water outside of the container of bread dough until the container starts to float. Turn off the water, place on the stove, and bring water to a boil.

There is no need to let the dough rise when using instant yeast recipes, it rises on its own.

Boil for 15 minutes then place into the thermal ECO OVEN.

Leave for at least 2 hours. When using natural yeast increase the amount of dough.

Be very patient to let it rise before cooking.

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ECO OVEN Campfire Chicken

An easy one-pot meal ideal for our ECO OVEN? A simple Campfire Chicken for a delicious family dinner.

Servings: 4 -8

Ingredients

  • 1 x 500g Meal in a bag  Chicken flavour

  • 1 Kg boneless skinless chicken 

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  • 6 fresh mushrooms sliced

  • 2 cups cabbage chopped

  • 1 cup zucchini cut into large pieces

  • 1/2 cup butter sliced

  •  Salt to taste

  • Pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Fry onion and garlic in butter or oil in a 10-litre pot.

  • Add chicken and fry until browned. 

  • Season with seasoned salt and pepper.

  • Add cabbage, then mushrooms and then zucchini and season.

  • Add 6 litres of water and bring to the boil. 

  • Add the 1 x 500g Meal in a Bag and stir into the mix to hydrate.

  • Bring the pot to a boil for at least 5 minutes. Stir gently.

  • Add butter to the top of the mix. Place lid on the pot.

  • Check after 3 hours, ensuring it is kept warm, with minimal loss os steam and heat.

  • Place in the ECO OVEN for at least 3-4 hours.

Notes

  • All slow cookers cook differently, so cooking times are always a basic guideline and should always be tested first in your own slow cooker ECO OVEN and time adjusted as needed.

Safety

Personal Safety Tips

When dealing with food, safety is paramount. Pots and their contents get hot when they are heated. Please use common sense when handling hot pans with hot food in-side. Steam coming off of boiling food will burn, so pay attention. Always use oven gloves when placing a pot inside of the ECO OVEN slowly work the pot down into the centre.

Be cautious that food does not spill. Keep the lid straight so that hot steam does not escape and cause injury.

Bringing the food in the ECO OVEN cooking pot to a boil guarantees a safe level of heat to deactivate and kill dangerous germs which can make you sick.

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Food safety

An ECO OVEN cooker is designed to keep the contents of the cooker hot, but it decreases in temperature over time. If the food remains in the insulator long enough that the temperature of the food goes under 60°C, dangerous bacteria can start to grow.

When the temperature of the food drops below 60°C, there are 3 options for success.

  1. Eat the food,

  2. raise the internal temperature of the food back up boiling within two hours or

  3. Get it into the refrigerator.

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Food Safety Temperatures

 

Microorganisms grow best within certain temperature ranges. Bacteria are classified into three groups, depending on the temperature at which the bacteria grows best.

Psychrophilic (cold-liking) bacteria (responsible for food spoilage in refrigerators, grow rapidly at room temp.)
- Growth range 0-25°c
- Optimum temperature 20-25°c

Mesophilic (middle-liking) bacteria
- Growth range 20-43°c
- Optimum temperature 30-45°c

Thermophilic (heat-liking) bacteria
- Growth range 45-70°c
- Optimum temperature 50-55°c

 

Knowledge is power.

Know the temperature of food going into the ECO OVEN cooker and at serving time

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