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mother of josh, richard, and mutt. lover of books, yarn, and the quiet places. spinner, knitter, kayaker, survivor, vandweller, warrior.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

thermos cozy

i recently picked up a double-walled stainless steel thermos to try out for thermos cooking. initial attempts with brown rice and steel cut oats and wheatberries brought mixed results, which i will chronicle in a later post. one thing i decided was to try to make a cozy that would increase heat retention and inprove cooking.

so i have this friend. really. and when he's not out slummin', sometimes he talks to me on the phone and we solve the worlds problems. or even my thermos cooking ones. so the other night ron starts, in the way he is so talented for doing, to throw out all these ideas on how to improve on the cozy i am dreaming up, and then to top it off, he leads me to believe that i am even thinking them up on my own! how sweet is that?

so anyhow, my Stanley Thermos Food Jar is 7" high, and 4" in diameter. i am telling you this because i don't have the can of coconut milk handy that is my universal item for size reference. eh. the jar holds 20 oz., which is a perfect size to cook a meal for me, and not have to worry about refrigerating leftovers. this jar is also unique in that it's mouth is wider than any others i've seen, making clean-up easier. i started out by cutting a sheet of reflectix 16" by 8 1/2 ". this was easy using a 16" wide roll of reflectix that tara left here last year.
i taped it around the jar securely, but not too snugly, using that silver foil tape backed with paper that laren told me was perfect for joining reflectix together. it did this very well, and quite sturdily, considering it is the flimsiest feeling stuff...like sticky tinfoil.
ask michael about the time i sent him out in the dark along a highway with just inches of shoulder to park on, to try to to tape my headlight back on with this stuff, after smacking a deer and bringing a new level of excitement to his vacation. he may have repressed the memory :-)
i cut two discs of reflectix to make a double layer base for the first cylinder
and taped them in place.
i made a second cylinder of reflectix just slightly larger than the first, and put a double thickness base on it.
the larger cylinder slides over the top of the smaller cylinder, efeectively and quickly giving you a double walled cozy surrounding the whole jar. it is light and compact and will work for keeping heat in, for cooking.....or out, for an iced drink.
the project, once ron had inspired it, was simple, and took about 15 minutes to complete. now i can begin, in earnest, my thermos cooking experiments.......

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm making one of these today! I love it! I have all the stuff to do it and I really haven't been able to keep my thermos hot enough for thermos cooking. Please let us know what you cook in it, recipes, and how it works. -Your Numees

Mar said...

Let's see all the people involved in this project: ron, laren, michael ... did you have anything to do with it LOL ... j/k!

twokniveskatie said...

numees, i have read that wide mouth thermoses especially lose heat more easily. hope this works with whatever thermos you have.

mar and bernie- of course, i do the grunt work! and the experimental cooking :-) it is actually very cool how much we draw on the knowledge and the experiences of the group as a whole. that's the real meaning of a tribe. gotta love it :-)

~~Mike~~ said...

I will confirm that my sweetheart is furiously creating our thermos cozy now as I watch. You have been inspiring her a lot lately sweet Katie! I will admit that you have inspired me a bit too :) We have a few little projects we will be doing soon that kinda fit in with the ones you have been doing lately. I shall be good for a change and blog about them so you can see!

-Mike

Suzanne said...

Excellent design! Haven't wanted to invest in a roll of reflectix for a couple of little projects, but something told me to stop in a Goodwill today. Da da - snagged one of the windshield things that is supposed to be basically the same thing, so I'm gonna try a couple of them.

Brian Many Wheels said...

Hi katie...very cool project...or...in this case maybe, very warm! Low tech and I would bet it works great. I have not used my cooker yet although I will try a batch of rice in the morning so it will be ready at lunch.
Keep us posted...

--Ron said...

I'm so glad you decided to take your idea and run with it!