Dream Pot

[baldybantam]

http://www.dream-pot.co.uk but you see more on dream pot Australia.


The Dream Pot was shown as a Caravan Club Offer in their magazine a month or so ago. Typically we ordered just before the closing date as we had lost the magazine - found it in the bottom of our paper recycling bin!

Due to weather etc. we only got this last week. Wonderful invention, we have used it every day since getting it. - We got the 6 litre one with 2 pots.
I made soup in it the first time, I usually make soup and freeze surplus in 500g marg tubs. With the large pot about 80% full, got 8 tubs full which I thought wasn't bad. 10 minutes cooking time on the gas and the remainder of cooking time (about 5 hours) was in the dream pot.

We've used it every day since then, our potatoes and veg are cooked in it, 5 minutes on the gas then pop them into the dream pot. Have cooked stew in the top pot, again successfully. Great. Went to the dentist on Friday, were able to get our lunch sharp when we got back rather than having to start cooking.

We did wonder if this was going to be an expensive daft buy! Far from it. Only thing is that we have to plan a bit better. Could see cooking lunch then having soup ready for the afternoon cooking. You can also make cakes in it, haven't tried that yet, I can't see us carrying cake making ingredients on holiday with us...

This should save the gas when on holiday and can see us carrying our meal with us and it being ready to serve when we get on site.

Margaret

[wendy]

Thanks for that, Margaret. I've read about these so it is interesting to hear from someone who has actually used one. They do seem very expensive and even the small one will take up quite a bit of space, which is at a premium in a small 'van.

I'm hoping that they might be at the NEC show in Feb, so that I can have a good look and if they have any good offers I might be tempted to part with my money.

[baldybantam]

Dream Pot

Hi Wendy,

If considering one, please consider one with the 2 layers, not the smallest one. You can only cook one thing at a time in it. Today I have just put on potatoes with carrots in the large pot, in the top pot have a chicken drumstick casserole, you can't do that in one pot. I suppose if you see them at the show, you can examine them, the 5 litre one would be smaller.

The pot would easily transport above the porta potti in the toilet option, wouldn't do that if it was full, if "cooking" in it whilst travelling, would probably keep it on the floor, otherwise it would just sit on top of the cooker when parked.

Our reason for buying one, apart from saving on fuel energy, we don't like steam in the house so always open a window in our kitchen when cooking. This is also saving the heat in the house. We have extractor fans but they don't seem to work like an open window does!

We paid £95.50 for the 6 litre through the caravan club offer, reckon eventually we will get that back with gas savings.

Regards,
Margaret

[pendel]

How much was it Wendy? It sounds just like the double skillet that I have seen .

[pendel]

Sorry just read ur post again so now I know the price :( The double skillet is a lot cheaper I think and does the same I believe. Lunny has one and convinced me that it was a great buy.

[wendy]

Thanks, Margaret, that is useful info to think about when/if I get to see one.

Pendel: The double skillet is not the same - I have one and it is brilliant.

The Dreampot is like a slow cooker, but doesn't use any power after the initial heating up.

A modern day 'hay box cooker' is the nearest thing see here or here

[JimD]

Reviving an old thread...

The latest incarnation of the haybox seems to be the 'Wonderbag' see pages 12 & 13 of todays on-line Metro here. Cheap to make, in fact they've been giving them away in Africa, the company is going to try selling them here. I reckon they're bulky, but can be used as a cushion when not actually cooking.

When they're available, maybe the first that spots them could let us know? Or maybe there's a pattern for a d-i-y version around?

PS: If you don't want to go to the Metro site there's a wonderbag blog here

[JimD]

Alternative from Lakeland

Lakeland have just discontinued their "Stay Hot Pot" which means there are discounted ones around if you have a shop locally. It's a 4-litre stainless pot in a insulated wrapper. I just got one for £29.99, a fraction of their usual (over)price. Lakeland don't say you can use it as a haybox-cooker, but the comments say you can.

According to an Australian website i found that a thermal cooker is good as long as the temperature is over 60 deg. C. I filled the pot with boiling water, and took it back to boiling on a gas ring. I used a meat thermometer and timer, and from 99deg it dropped to 90deg after 1.5hr, 80deg after 5.25hr, and was only down to 67deg after 10hr.

If you're interested, it seems a good deal.

[baldybantam]

Dream Pot

I had a look on Lakeland and couldn't find the pot mentioned in the previous post.

As the original poster about the Dream Pot, we have used this every day since purchased, sometimes twice a day if I have made soup. It is still going strong.

When using bottled gas on our previous cooker, we found that the bottle lasted 2 1/2 months longer because of the dream pot.

We are now using a natural gas cooker so can't tell savings with that.

The Lakeland one would be a bargain if you can find it.

Margaret

[JimD]

The Lakeland page is at http://www.lakeland.co.uk/15557/Stay-Hot-Pot
As I said though, it's discontinued. I found a lonely example on their shelves in Meadowhall, so I don't know how much stock there is around.

[baldybantam]

Dream Pot

Thanks for the Lakeland Link. Anyone managing to get one at that price is lucky.

It is more or less identical to our Dream Pot. We have never regretted the much higher price we paid for ours.

I'm sure folk will be grateful for the link provided.

Margaret

[BrianTheSnail]

We have a Dream Pot - or near equivalent from a seller local to us http://www.mrdscookware.co.uk/. They do work extremely well and we expected it to be the main cooking solution in our R20. But we decided it was just too bulky, especially on the longer trips where space is at a premium. On the short weekends away we often eat the a pub anyway so it hasn't had as much use as we expected.

However I do like the idea of the Wonderbags. Potentially a much better solution for the van and possibly we could make out own scaled down to fit our smaller 2 person cookware - we'd obviously buy one first, rather than just try and rip-off the idea. I notice they are on sale from http://nb-wonderbag.com/content/buy-wonderbag-online - a little expensive perhaps but definitely something we might consider. I'll post on the forum if we do decide to take the plunge.

[Vanderella]

We have a Dream Pot - or near equivalent from a seller local to us http://www.mrdscookware.co.uk/. They do work extremely well and we expected it to be the main cooking solution in our R20. But we decided it was just too bulky, especially on the longer trips where space is at a premium. On the short weekends away we often eat the a pub anyway so it hasn't had as much use as we expected.

However I do like the idea of the Wonderbags. Potentially a much better solution for the van and possibly we could make out own scaled down to fit our smaller 2 person cookware - we'd obviously buy one first, rather than just try and rip-off the idea. I notice they are on sale from http://nb-wonderbag.com/content/buy-wonderbag-online - a little expensive perhaps but definitely something we might consider. I'll post on the forum if we do decide to take the plunge.

I was visiting a couple of elderly ladies in Bath a few years back and as we sat at the table to eat lunch, they opened the window and brought in the hay box which had been perched on their windowsill. Just a cardboard box, tightly packed with hay, and nestled inside was a beef casserole, perfectly cooked.

It does not take much to reproduce - here is one made from wood (link), pillows and old jumpers. Would adapt to life on the road quite well, the box could be multi functional - table, shoebox ...... etc. and the pillows and old jumpers could be 'borrowed' for a while!

[di allen]

That looks so easy to make and, if the report is to be believed, a very economical way of cooking. I reckon most folk will have a couple of spare pillows and jumpers around and even if you had to buy the wood it's still a much cheaper version than those on the market now.

Thanks, Mary for the link, I shall get Ross on to it. Just the right size of project for him - whilst he loved taking things apart as a teenager he could never be bothered to put them back together! This he would manage without getting bored!!

Di.

[Vanderella]

That looks so easy to make and, if the report is to be believed, a very economical way of cooking. I reckon most folk will have a couple of spare pillows and jumpers around and even if you had to buy the wood it's still a much cheaper version than those on the market now.

Thanks, Mary for the link, I shall get Ross on to it. Just the right size of project for him - whilst he loved taking things apart as a teenager he could never be bothered to put them back together! This he would manage without getting bored!!

Di.

It will be fun to experiment. You can try it with pillows etc and if that does not work well enough try newspaper and hay. My friends used a cardboard box with newspaper and hay - not sure why it was on their window sill. (Talking 25 years ago) Maybe it was a sunny day and they were cashing in on the solar energy too!

(Di - I have not forgotten that I need to send you an email - it is in my diary to do on Monday)