‘Hay box’ cooking
Hay box, hot box, thermal cooker–whatever you call it, it’s great!
I’ve been experimenting with hay box/hot box cooking for about a month now and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. When I first read about it, the idea intrigued me. Had our ancestors all over the world in cultures from Africa, India, Norway to the pioneers of the US really been using this simple and practical technique for so long?
Apples stewed in the hot box.
The idea seemed so ingeniously simple: bring your food to a boil in a large pot for a short time in the morning, then transfer everything to a box filled with hay (or other insulation) and let the warm, insulated bundle keep cooking until you’re ready to eat in the evening. It’s kind of like a crock pot except you don’t have to buy a crock pot, or have some electrical item plugged in and sucking energy while left unattended in your house all day. Instead of using cooking fuel for 3 hours to boil beans, you could just boil them for 10 minutes and then leave them all day in the hot box. We eat a lot of beans, so this seemed like a pretty good plan to us.
How to build a hay box:
I checked out MANY different websites describing how to make a haybox and how to construct one. Some involved building your own wood box and filling it with hay. Some homes had a special insulated drawer built into their kitchen cabinetry, others used foam padding as insulating material and the hot box even served as an extra stool. All of these seemed like fabulous ideas, but what I really discovered from my research was that you could build a hay box out of almost anything! So I set about gathering materials I had on hand.
My own "hay box" from reused materials.
Building your own thermal cooker out of reused materials:
*Basic* Materials: Since we’d just moved, we had a plethora of large cardboard boxes and some leftover newspaper, paper and other packing materials. I also saved up some cardboard and paper food packaging that I normally would have recycled. I shredded/chopped up smaller bits of paper and cardboard until I had quite a bit of ‘hay-like’ substance.
My idea was to capture as much air as possible, thus creating a good insulating system. I then tossed the shredded paper and cardboard into the large box, nested a much smaller box inside where I’d put my pot (to keep the paper shreds away from my pot–I thought that might get messy!). I wrapped the pot in an old sweatshirt, dropped it in the small box and nested the small box in my ‘hay’ in the large box, closed everything and ‘presto.’ The first thing I cooked was chick peas–and it worked! Since then, I’ve been experimenting.
Tweaking and improving the hot box/hay box:
Improvements in design: After a few rounds of cooking, I decided I didn’t really like sifting through ‘hay’ so much, so I decided to make ‘pillows’ out of my synthetic hay and some paper bags. I stuffed them full, stapled them together and used them to line my box on the bottom, the sides and the top. As the corners were kind of tricky to fit, I stuffed a few milk bottles (in France, they’re long and skinny 1 litter containers) into the corners because they fit better. I also stuffed some hay into some old, cardboard egg crates. My hay box looks like a box of recycling, and I don’t care. It works and it was made entirely of stuff that was destined to be thrown out/recycled. Why not? I store the box under the kitchen table whether or not it’s in use.
What to cook in a thermal cooker?
In short–anything you would normally boil and then simmer for an extended period of time. I got my cooking times for basic ingredients in this thermal cooker blog (which has lots of other interesting and useful information). I’ve made spicy Indian lentil stew, chicken soup, beef and buckwheat soup, rice, Indian lamb stew, black bean vegetarian chili, and morrocan inspired vegetable stew in the hay box. I’ve also set dough in there to rise.
lentils and sausage prepping for the hot box.
Why I love cooking with the hay box:
It’s so simple–anyone can literally build it out of the materials they have on hand. It also makes the kind of cooking I do so simple and fuel-efficient. You throw things into your pot, boil them all together and then let them slow cook all day. You don’t have to add certain items at the last minute because everything cooks so slowly that you don’t overcook or destroy your food. It’s easy. It takes out the time and work of standing over a hot stove and stirring your food so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. And I can prepare a hot meal in advance if I have to be out right before dinner or even if I’m gone all day. I can’t wait to take my hot box on a ski trip!
by Dark Days of Winter Challenge: White bean, sausage and winter veggie soup. « Simple Life in France
[...] Reduce cooking times with hot boxes/hay boxes and pressure [...]
I just came across this post through your link at your latest blog entry. I’m also very interested in this idea for the poor villagers near Kericho, Kenya. I’ve learned about fireless cookers which are the same idea as a hay box. I haven’t tried making one yet but might give it a try. These fireless cookers can be bought ready made in Kenya.
Are you still cooking with the hay box? You might be interested in making a fireless cooker this way.http://practicalaction.org/?id=fireless-cooker
It doesn’t require too many materials. I’ll check back later for your update on how your hay box cooking is progressing.
Joyful: I like it! If I ever run across a large old basket, I think I’d be interested in trying something similar–an old blanket would work really well for such a set up too. . .but since our international move, we don’t have a big stockpile of old things–which is kind of a weird feeling when you want to make something. My hot box actually ‘died’ because the cardboard became infused with some cooking juices and started to smell bad! I’m planning on making a new model out of some natural insulating material my brother in law has left on his construction site and an old moving box. I’ll protect the insulation with some kind of fabric like what the site you linked to mentions. By the way, when I was in Madagascar and cooking like the locals, I spent hours hunting for scarce wood and then 3 hours slaving over the hot fire cooking beans–this would be such an improvement and would change the lives of people cooking that way for sure!
I have about 39 huts (separate cooking huts) in the Kenyan village where I do some outreach. I am trying to gift each of the women in these huts with their own jiko ceramic stoves. http://jonahsmissions.blogspot.com/2008/11/awakened-by-jikos.html
So far I’ve been able to put such a stove (and the built up oven around) in about 11 homes and 28 to go. Due to the cost and the time delay in getting these other huts outfitted, I was searching for other alternatives, hence I came across the fireless cookers. Am still hoping to do the full blown stoves, if I can find a less expensive alternative. Am working on ideas now but if all else fails I will engage in the fireless cooker idea.
Joyful, the ceramic stoves sound interesting (and way more efficient than using a stick fire!!), but I’m unfamiliar with them. I’ll have to check them out. The hay boxes seem like a good way to make due if the stove project turns out to be a long-term one.
[...] If using a hot box: [...]