Mr Ds Thermal Cooker
We will be once again this weekend at The Southern Motorcaravan Show- Newbury Showground.
This is the third year we have been at the show selling Mr D’s Thermal Cookers and will have the full range of cookers and accessories on sale.
Our stand number is 79 and we will have a show deal for anyone who visits us.
The Southern Motorcaravan Show is at the Newbury Showground from Friday 17th – Sunday 19th May 2013 and is a fantastic event for motorhomers. There is four nights’ camping and four nights entertainment which includes a ‘Summer of Love Show’ from Amen Corner and performances from Mike Pender from The Searchers. Also Tracey Shields, finalist of ITV’s ‘Stars in Their Eyes’ will be performing her tribute to Celine Dion.
How Top Get There:
A34 – Travelling North (towards Oxford)
Take the exit indicated M4 / Chieveley. This will direct you off the A34 and onto the roundabout (Junction 13, M4). Keep in the left hand lane and take the 2nd exit signposted for Chieveley / Newbury Showground. This takes you along a slip road, at the end of the road turn right. Follow this road and the Exhibitors entrance is on the right hand side (signposted).
DO NOT stay on the A34 as you will travel on the underpass and miss the M4 exit.
A34 – Travelling South (towards Newbury)
Take the exit indicated M4 Chieveley. This will direct you off the A34 and onto the roundabout (Junction 13, M4). Travel around the roundabout, after the 3rd exit, keep in the left hand lane on the roundabout and take the exit signposted for Chieveley / Newbury Showground. This takes you along a slip road, at the end of the road turn right. Follow this road and the Exhibitors entrance is on the right hand side (signposted).
DO NOT stay on the A34 as you will travel on the underpass and miss the M4 exit.
M4 – Travelling East (from Bristol, towards London)
Exit M4 at the Junction 13 towards A34 Oxford. Stay in the left hand lane at the roundabout then take the 1st exit
signposted Chieveley / Newbury Showground. This takes you along a slip road, at the end of the road turn right. Follow this road and the Exhibitors entrance is on the right hand side (signposted).
DO NOT exit the M4 onto the A34.
DO NOT exit on the M4 into the A34.M4 – Travelling West (from London, towards Bristol)
Exit M4 at Junction 13 towards Newbury. After the 2nd exit keep in the left hand lane and leave the roundabout at the exit signposted for Chieveley / Newbury Showground. This takes you along a slip road, at the end of the road turn right. Follow this road and the Exhibitors entrance is on the right hand side (signposted).
Continue reading about Come and see Mr D’s Thermal Cooker at Newbury
This morning I put on a lovely piece on Wiltshire cured oak smoked ham which we will use for salads and sandwiches over the next few days.
Once the ham is brought to the boil I will skim the the surface add some bay leaves peppercorns and maybe a star anise then simmer it before placing in the thermal insulated outer container where it will cook without power for around 4 to 5 hours.
I need the inside to be 72ºC for it to be perfectly cooked.
4 Hours Later:
The gammon was 1.6kg and would have taken 2hrs in the oven at Gas Mk 5 – 375ºF … it took 20 minutes simmer and 4 hours cooking without power.
Problems with the van stops us arriving on time at the caravan and Motorhome show:
First show of the year the Southwest Caravan and Motorhome Show at the Westpoint Centre, Exeter and I have promised myself that I will be more organised this year by getting the van ready and packed with plenty of time to spare.
Well as Robert Burns’ wrote in his poem To a Mouse, “even the best laid plans of mice and men go array”. Time just gets the better of me and I end up packing everything that I can find just in case at the very last minute.
Once the van is stacked to the roof with everything including the dog I hitch on the caravan, connect the electrics and turn the key … nothing. At times like this your heart just drops. It’s 3 pm, you have a drive of at least three hours through drizzle and heavy mist, then at least 2 hours of unpacking and setting up … and you have no idea why your vehicle will not start.
“Why oh why did I not pack yesterday and leave this morning? I would at least have had time to sort out the problem.” I think as I search for a meter to check the battery. Maybe it is a fuse Jen suggests so after 10 minutes trying to find where the fuse box is and then how to open the bonnet we find these like the battery seem OK.
Time is marching on so all we can do is call the breakdown people.
“We can get someone to you in about an hour sir” the man on the other end explains “but in the meantime have you checked the battery?”
“Yes I have and it is fine but I will check again” I reply “but in the meantime please don’t cancel the call”.
By now it is around 4:30 and the chance of getting to Exeter in time to set up is now not an option so Jen decides to let the organisers know we will not be there today while I check the battery again. Much to my amazement this time the meter reads exactly zero volts which in a way is a relief as this is an easy thing to remedy although at a cost of nearly £100.00 for a replacement battery.
Friday 8th March eventually we set off to the Motorhome show.
The following morning we set of a little later than we intend (those mice and men again) but make a good journey time. By 11 o’clock we are pulling into the the Southwest Caravan and Motorhome show and by midday our stall is set up enough to start selling.
During the afternoon in-between titivating the stall we demonstrate the advantages of the Mr D’s energy saving Thermal Cooker to quite a number of potential customers.
“Thermal cooking can save up to 80% on fuel which is a real saving when a 6 kg refill of gas costs around £22.00″ I explain “for example if you take a 1.6 kg chicken, some small potatoes, carrots and stock and put them in the inner pot of the Mr D’s Thermal Cooker all you have to do is bring to the boil … then turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes before placing the inner pot into the outer energy saving insulated container where it can be left for up to 8 hours to cook without power.”
Saturday 9th March a good day selling thermal cookers.
After a good nights sleep in the caravan and a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs (from our chickens) we head over to our stall.
By 9:30 we are set up and waiting for the customers to arrive and it isn’t long before the first energy saving thermal cooker of the day is sold.
As usual there was a lot of interest also in our Indian Paramapara spice mixes which work so well in a thermal cooker. These sell steadily throughout the day but the main sales are for the Mr D’s Thermal Cooker.
By the end of the day we have had reasonable sales and go off for supper in our caravan, pleased.
Last day of the motorhome show and sales of energy saving thermal cookers are not too good:
We awake Sunday morning with the rain dripping on the caravan roof. I check my emails during breakfast to find a really nice one from someone who had bought a Mr D’s energy saving Thermal Cooker from us at the motorhome show the previous day.
“Hi there, we purchased your Thermal Cooker show offer at the Westpoint show yesterday & just wanted to say how pleased we are with our purchase. My wife, Linda, used it last night to cook our chicken curry tea in order to try it out & it worked perfectly, so many thanks.”
What a nice way to start the day I think as I walk over to the exhibition hall. Unfortunately the day starts very slowly as there are hardly any people coming through the show and by lunchtime we realised this is the way Sunday is going to be. Maybe it is not helped by being Mothers Day but who knows.
By 4 o’clock we have sold only one Mr D’s energy saving Thermal Egg cooker and one Mr D’s Thermal Cooker so we are keen to pack up and head for home.
Our next show the Bath Caravan and Motorhome Show is this coming weekend 15th, 16th and 17th at Bath Racecourse let’s hope that is better.
Chili tastes so much better if left to slowly cook in a thermal cooker so please don’t rush this recipe.
Chili con carne (chili with meat) or more commonly known as simply “chili” is a spicy stew containing chili peppers, meat, tomatoes, often beans with seasoning’s that may include garlic, onions, coriander, cumin and paprika. To get a really good tasting chili it is important not too skimp on the amounts of these spices.
My venison chili con carne recipe, cooked without power in an energy saving thermal cooker is easy and quick to prepare and can be made for supper any day of the week. The recipe can also be cooked in a slow cooker or crock pot but it with both of these methods, unlike the energy saving thermal cooker, it will need a power source for the slow cooking process.
If you don’t want to use venison you could use beef, chicken or pork. For a vegetarian version you could substitute the venison for a selection of different beans and use a vegetable stock cube or my favourite a vegetable Knorr Stock Pot. I however put venison the top of my favourite chili list and it is certainly worth trying.
You should be able to get venison mince on line or from your butcher but if you have problems you can purchase it on line. In the recipe I have used tinned kidney beans but if you would prefer to use dried remember to soak the kidney beans overnight (a minimum of 5 hours) before boiling for a minimum of 10 minutes to make sure you remove any toxins which can make you ill.
Serve the venison chili cooked in your energy saving thermal cooker, slow cooker or crock pot on a bed of rice and topped with sour cream or grated cheddar cheese and you will have the ultimate comfort food.
Happy thermal cooking,
Mr D
ingredients
- 1½ cup of rice
- 3 cups of water
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 small chili, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 200g chopped smoke bacon pieces
- 500g minced venison
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 70g tomato purée
- 200 ml water
- 1 beef stock cube
- 400g tin kidney beans, drained
- salt and pepper
method
- Heat the rapeseed oil in the inner pot over a medium-high heat and add the bacon pieces and cook until they start to crisp slightly.
- Add the onion, chili and garlic. C cook until the onion softens.
- Add the venison and cook until it colours.
- Stir in the cumin, coriander and smoked paprika and cook for a minute.
- Add the tin of tomatoes, tomato purée, water, stock cube and kidney beans.
- Bring to the boil stirring occasionally.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and place the inner pot into the vacuum-insulated outer Thermal container.
- Shut the lid and leave while you start the rice in the top pot. If not using a top pot leave to cook for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Add the rice and water to the top pot and bring to the boil, stir and turn down the heat and simmer for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat, open the vacuum-insulated outer Thermal container and place the top pot into the inner pot.
- Put the lid on the top pot and shut the lid of the outer container.
- Leave to thermal cook without power for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Serve the chili on a bed of rice with a spoonful of sour cream or grated cheddar cheese on top.
Other Venison Recipes
Continue reading about The Best Venison Chili – Cooked in Mr Ds Thermal Cooker
