Posts tagged: cooking

Hay boxes, Hotboxes

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By , July 4, 2010 5:10 pm

Hay box

A hay box, straw box or “fireless cooker” is a primitive  cooker that uses the heat of the food being cooked to complete the cooking process. Food items to be cooked are heated to boiling point, and then insulated. Over a period of time, the food items cook by the heat captured in the insulated container. Generally, it takes three times the normal cooking time to cook food in a hay box.

Hay boxes are so called because hay or straw were the commonly used insulators. Pots of food would be brought to the boil and then placed in a box filled with hay or straw. Additional hay or straw would be added around and on top of the pot. Campers and hikers have used variations of hay boxes for years, heating their food in the morning and then storing the heated pot in a sleeping bag  or backpack. In this way a hot meal is available for eating at the end of the day.

Hay boxes today consist of two fabric cushions stuffed with insulating material such as small polystyrene balls.

They can be bought from:

Sue Ogterop ( cost: R150)

Tel.: 021 761 8756

e-mail: ogterop@telkomsa.net

and

Kwalapa Organic Wholefood Store ( cost: R220)

Contact Emily: Tel: 021 687 9314
email: emily@kwalapa.com

31 Newlands Avenue,
Montebello Design Estate,
Newlands
Cape Town,
South Africa

For more interesting information go to http://www.mothercityliving.co.za/10-really-good-reasons-to-get-a-hay-box-or-make-your-own/

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