What is a Haybox Cooker? It's basically an insulated box in which you place your partly cooked food. The heat energy held in the pot and the food completes the cooking process without any external heat input. This can be used for cooking stews, mixed rice or even baking bread.
During World War II, hayboxes were used as a way of conserving rationed cooking fuel and of course are extremely relevant in modern time with our cost of living crisis.
There are lots of YouTube videos online to show you how to make a haybox. They are actually really simple and to make a basic one to start you off only needs a cardboard box and some old clothes or the polystyrene packaging that many parcels come with.
Wonderbags
Below is a video showing how well using this concept can cook food. It is actually featuring a "Wonderbag" - an adaptation by a South African woman called Sarah Collins who makes hayboxes in cloth and foam. The video is four lads from SortedFood cooking channel demonstrating three recipes and how well they cook.
As you can see from the video curry, short ribs and rice pudding cook up a storm!!
The best thing about hayboxes/wonderbags is once they are made they cost NOTHING to cook your food.
Happy cooking folks!
Images from: Planet Schooling and Wonderbag World
