7L Thermal Cooker

I've read alot about thermal cookers and have always wanted one. Sure, I could have made one out of really cheap materials found around the house. But, I wanted one that was actually designed and built for the purpose of thermal cooking. I chose the Saratoga Jack thermal cooker.The first thing I cooked in it was beef stew. I cut up the beef into cube sizes, added a little oil to the large pot, and browned the beef cubes. After they were browned I added my other ingrediants. I used canned vegetables, because that's all I had on hand, and added the water from the cans directly into the pot. After all the ingrediants were added, plus the spices, I put on the lid and brought the pot to a boil for 5 minutes. The entire "cooking" process, from start to a 5 minute boil, took 30 minutes.I then put the large pot into the thermal cooker, closed the lid, and left it alone. By supper time (about 5 hours later) I opened the thermal cooker. Very hot steam came out of it. I checked the temperature of the stew and it was 175 degrees. Too hot to just wolf down a huge spoon full. I had to let my bowl of beef stew cool a bit. And, man was it tasty! My wife and daughter loved it as well.The beef was tender, and the vegetables weren't overcooked even though they came from a can. So, fresh cut veggies would work just as well. The outside of the thermal cooker never got hot. So, it would be safe to put in a car, take on a boat, etc and not have to worry about little hands touching it and getting burned. As long as the lid stays closed the thermal cooker is doing its job.I suspect my beef stew would have been ready to eat in as little as 2 hours. If I was making chicken stew I would allow about 3 hours before eating it. But, even so, the entire meal was still hot and ready 5 hours later and after only 30 minutes of "cook" time. My next meal will be beans and possibly cornbread (made in the smaller pot at the same time).Bye bye crock pot. Hello, Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker!

This review has nothing to do with functionality or quality. I was appalled to find the exact same 7L pot **MINUS THE SMALL INNER POT** in an Asian grocery store for $59.99! Everything inside and out is the same, including the little sticker at the back of the outer pot. It is made in China. I am out $123.44 for this, including the shipping. The small inner pot can be purchased on the seller's official website. Does the smaller pot worth $60? You do the math.

It does what it's supposed to! We made stew in it. We combined all of the ingredients, brought it up to temperature, covered it & put the inner pot in the outer pot to finish the cooking. The stew came out perfectly. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was the clean up afterwards. I had to soak & scrub... & then soak & scrub again! It took a bit of elbow grease to clean the inner pot. Other than that, it's a great tool! I would definately recommend it to someone wanting a slow cooker without wasting fuel!

I bought this model (7 liters) because we wanted a larger one than what we already have (4.5 liters). After receiving it, my wife made the comment that it was not that much bigger than our old one. So I went ahead to do some careful measurements, by volume and by weight (water is 2.2 lbs per liter). The dimensions of the inner pot (that holds the food) are 21.4 cm in diameter and 17.3 cm in height. (Please also see dimensions mentioned in one of the “Answered Questions” here.) It comes out to be a litter less than 6.25 liters. I communicated such finding with the manufacturer. Surprisingly they would not let me return it (I bought it directly from them), even admitting what I had measured. (Manufacturer’s web-site does not have a return policy.) Measurement on my old unit showed that it is indeed 4.5 liters (actually slightly bigger).

I read through the instruction manual and followed the instructions, but the beans from the soup I made were not cooked through. Although I hadn't opened the top once, the soup was lukewarm after six hours in the cooker. I hadn't seen the suggestion that you fill the smaller pot with boiling water top fill the space completely. Maybe it would work then?

3/19/15: I purchased this Feb 2013 for $99.49 + 13.49 shipping. I see it is quite a bit more expensive now. I also purchased the Ikeda thermal cooker later in 2013 for $83.50. The Ikeda inner pan did not have the nice clad bottom like the Saratoga Jacks or the inner smaller pan, but it does keep food equally hot. What Ikeda has that Saratoga Jacks does not, is the option to use electric. Say after you've let your food sit in the thermal cooker for a few hours and you want to ensure the hot temp, you could plug in the Ikeda and let it reheat the pan. I use both brands of thermal cookers, primarily for "dish to pass" events and homemade soup. Keeps food very hot.Original review: This is my first thermal cooker. I've had now for 4 months. I used to make a weight watchers soup recipe (ground turkey,canned spicy diced tomatoes, various beans, carrots & broth) in my crock pot, but now I use the thermal cooker each time. I just let the soup cook in the cooker on the stove, simmering for about an hour (making sure the batch is up close to the top of the pot) before I go to bed. Then I put it in the thermal container and let it continue cooking overnight. I get up in the a.m. and its still extremely hot. I have enough soup for my husband and me for lunches for the next 10 days. I have also used this cooker for dish-to-pass events. For example, once when I had to bring mashed potatoes to a family dinner, I preheated this pot w/boiling water. After making the mashed potatoes in another pot (one that is more shallow and easier to get the mixer into), I transferred it into this and took w/me to the dinner. It stayed hot. Even after the lid was off, but the pot still in the container, for over an hour after our dinner was over, the mashed potatoes on the bottom were still hot.