As I was researching Wonder Bags and Wonder Ovens over the last few weeks, I came across ways that people improvised and that I thought may be of interest. The following ideas should work for those who don’t sew, or when a true emergency occurs and you haven’t yet gotten around to sewing your own bag/oven. Working with materials already on hand, most family should be able to construct their own emergency oven.
Hay box cookers, also known as apple box ovens, were popular during World War II when energy really had to be conserved due to the war effort. These worked really well for families during that period and they’ve been popular with scout groups for ages for showing youth an alternative means of cooking food. However, not a lot of people actually have hay or straw on hand, and all the apple boxes I’ve seen in the past few years are much wider and shallower than they used to be—a very poor shape for making an oven.
The following table provides some suggestions for materials you can scavenge to build your own Wonder Bag/Oven. Not every combination will be viable, but you should get some good ideas here. As there are well over a hundred possible combinations, I have not been able to test every one. I did do a side-by-side comparison with my Wonder Oven and three or four large wool blankets. There was no difference between the two.
Create Your Own Wonder Bag/Oven Mix & Match
|
Container/shell |
Insulation |
Cookpot |
|
Cardboard box Cooler Plastic tote Fabric shell (like the wonder bag/oven) old shirts, sheets, towels |
Straw, hay Clothing, rags Wool blankets Mylar Towels Styrofoam beads Down pillows Baby crib bumpers *some of these may need to be secured with bungee cords |
Graniteware Tin cans with foil cover Dutch oven Casserole dish Pans with short handles |
Notes. As with any of
the thermal cooking options, you want the food to fill the cooking vessel as
much as possible to retain heat well. The
food in the pan must remain above 135°F while cooking. Once the temperature drops below 135°F, the
food must be consumed within 2 hours or refrigerated. The cooking vessel must not exceed 350°F or you
run the risk of melting something.
Synthetic fabrics and blends are more liable to melt at high
temperatures. The same goes for the Styrofoam
beads. Mylar must not be placed right
next to the cooking vessel or it may melt.
Instead, put a layer of fabric, towel, blanket, etc., immediately around
the pot and then put the Mylar in place. Also, you'll want to use a heavier-duty Mylar rather than one of those cheapie emergency blanket things. Those tear too easily to be used this way.
Links to related posts:
References:
ReplyDeleteso whats a wonder oven i know people talk about it and you wonder what it is
When cooking fuel is short, cook food til it's hot in your heaviest vessel and place into a container as mentioned here. Line the bottom, sides and top to keep your food hot, to continue cooking. November 9 was her article on how to sew and assemble a Wonder Bag, for those who sew. Check it out! Use the Search feature to the right, type in Wonder Bag, or look back at the dates this morning th.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the ending, it decided to auto fill... look back at dates this month.
DeleteJennifer, what's your opinion? If you have to cook something, why not learn to use a pressure c o o k e r (notice I didn't say,CANNER) If you have enough heat to raise the temperature of a pot...would a pressure cooker be faster?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great suggestion. I think when having to improvise, people will need a lot of ideas. I know I get so stuck on doing something one way that I can't think of other solutions. Yours is a good one. Thank you!
DeleteI've actually used a pressure cooker and once it reached pressure, placed it in a wonder box--it has to be done carefully but it adds further benefit all around. Less time and less fuel.
ReplyDeleteI often use my wonder box to keep foods warm--I just used it yesterday after making gravy. Once the gravy was finished, I put it in there to keep it warm (it was actually quite hot!) until we were ready to serve dinner.
I found that when I'm doing some outdoor cooking of several dishes and only have a single burner or flame, foods need to be prepared sequentially and the wonder box really helps keep the foods warm that were initially cooked so that everything is hot and ready at the same time.
Whenever I make biscuits or rolls, I wrap them in several layers of towels and they stay warm for a good while. I was thinking about possibly making some little pillows filled with the styrofoam beads to go over heated foods to keep them warm longer. I guess the trick is just recognizing what you have and how to best either keep it warm or continue cooking it.
Gwen, These are all such good suggestions. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I never would have thought of some of these.
DeleteI use an ice chest for this type of cooking. Just don’t set a pan that’s hot enough to melt it directly on plastic - put a towel down or use a metal ice chest. You can also heat a brick or stone, wrap in a towel and stick in an ice chest to heat or keep food warm that you need to transport. Corn on the cob for a cook out is easy. Put ears in ice chest, poor boiling water over, let sit a few minutes (8 is good) Then everyone just cuts the stem end off and pulls the shuck and silks off in one motion.
ReplyDelete