Will a thermal cooker work with a teardrop trailer?

A few weeks ago I became very interested in thermal cookers as an efficient, non-electric way to cook food while camping. Video bloggers, Phil and Vanessa live full time out of their Honda Element and use their Saratoga Jacks thermal cooker to make meals on the road without having to plug anything into a socket.

The way a thermal cooker works is by using thermal mass to slowly cook food that has already been brought to a boil. A thermal cooker is essential two pots: one is a thick bottom pot that holds the food and is placed on the fuel source such as a camp stove. The food is brought to a boil and then placed into the second pot, essentially a large Thermos. The food continues to cook for a few hours, providing a hot meal without having to cook something on the spot.

Normally, when we are teardrop camping or on the road our lunches are cold. We have sandwiches, dips, crackers, tuna, etc. I thought a thermal cooker might be a great way to enjoy a warm meal while in transit or while at the campground. We could start it in the morning and within 3-4 hours we could have lunch. Or we could start a dish in the afternoon and have a quick dinner. This could be beneficial if we are camping later in the year when it gets dark earlier or we don't want to cook outside.

Last weekend, I tested a thermal cooker by Cook's Essentials. This was the smallest thermal cooker I could find and one I thought would fit in the teardrop trailer easily. I tested it in my home kitchen with a vegetable curry similar to Phil and Vanessa's road-worthy recipe. In the top pot provided with the Cook's Essentials system, I placed some rice and beans we already had on hand.

I brought the vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic), red curry paste, coconut milk and some Bragg's Liquid Aminos to a boil in the inner pot on the stove. I placed the pot into the thermal cooker and went for a three hour hike in the hills. When I got back...success! I had a tender, vegetable curry that was still hot. The top pan with the rice was less warm, but all the food was cooked and retained heat for quite a while.

I have yet to test this on the road. I would need to find a space in our trailer where the pot won't topple over and spill the liquid. While in camp, the pot will fit nicely in our galley until we return for a hot meal.

I'm now on the lookout for a few good recipes...

How do you make coffee?

Even if you don't drink coffee in your everyday life, there's just something about a fresh cup of hot Joe when you're camping. It really gets you ready for a day in the fresh air. However, without a regular drip coffee maker (or the electricity to power it) how do you make your morning coffee while teardrop camping? Believe it or not, this has been one of the main questions we get when out on the road with the teardrop. It's an important topic to some people and our choices of coffee gear are very international.

Personally, when teardrop camping we use an insulated French press that makes about three to four cups of coffee. If you have not used a French press before, Howcast has a video on how to use this elegant little coffee maker. You will need to heat up water in a saucepan or a teapot first, and we do this on our camp stove or on the fire pit. The ground coffee beans go into the bottom of the French press, and the hot water is poured over the top of the beans. The top lid of the press has a plunger that you press down into the water and bean mixture which extracts out the coffee. The type of French press we have is very easy to clean out and the coffee stays warm for about half an hour in the insulated base.

Another type of camp coffee maker is the Italian espresso maker. We've used this type of pot before while teardrop camping, and the benefit is that the espresso maker can go right on the camp stove without having to boil water in another pot. This video by Sean Michael of the Long Long Honeymoon is a humorous look at how to use a Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker.

You don't have to use espresso beans in this type of pot, but it helps if the beans are finely ground. Put the ground coffee in the little filtered insert that goes on top of the bottom compartment. Cold water is poured into the bottom compartment, the top pouring compartment is screwed on, and the entire pot is put on the stove. The water from the bottom will heat up and force its way through the beans and into the pouring compartment. The pot makes a cute bubbling sound and when the bubbling stops, your coffee is done. I actually prefer this type of coffee pot and use it at home, but we are usually camping with several friends and the French press makes more coffee than the Italian pot.

Our Stargazers teardrop friends like to use the classic camp coffee maker, the percolator. This type of coffee maker uses the same science from the Italian maker, but without the forced steam. We've used this type of pot on both the stove and on a campfire grate and it makes at least five to seven cups of coffee. The coffee grounds are put into a filtered container that fits into the top of the pot. The filter has a long tube that reaches into the water inside the pot and when the water heats up, it flows through the tube, into the filter and back into the pot. I love to watch the coffee percolate into the glass viewer on top of the pot, but I personally think the coffee is a little weaker with this type of maker. Check this percolator video from Howcast.


Photo by simplerich