The Wonderbag

[Freckles]

I read about this today and I was wondering what you guys thought about it.  It's being touted as conserving resources for people in third world countries, but, hey, shouldn't we all be conserving resources?

http://nb-wonderbag.com/

[uspsfanalan]

Looks pretty cool but I know I wouldn't use it much. If you were big on slow cooking or needed to bring a hot meal to a gathering every month I could see the attraction. Energy is cheap enough here and cooking is such a small part of it, that I tend not to worry about it.

[Freckles]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking.  I have a slow cooker that I rarely use just because we don't really tend to like the style of food that comes out of it.  I've tried, because I love the idea, but then when my family won't eat the food it kind of defeats the purpose.

I wonder if it really will help third-world families, where the cost of cooking is actually a concern?

[LalsConstant]

I do the slowcooker thing all the time, being a tremendously lazy cook.

The idea of this is simple enough, it's like freezer bag cooking on steroids.  I can see how this would be useful for someone who has limited access to electricity or energy in general.  It should work.

I'm not sure what I'd do with it, I already have a thermal bag if I need to transport a hot dish for some reason, and I can't imagine why I'd use this.

[MrsPete]

So you pour in boiling water and allow the food to sit and finish cooking. 
It's a thermos. 

[Ian]

I used to work in development, so I'd be interested in seeing if there's an independent study evaluating costs and savings of this. However, my gut level feeling is that it would probably not be worth the hidden costs. For individuals here, it saves only marginal amounts and uses up more space, and as a development tactic, it likely wouldn't make up for the costs of education and encouraging usage rates.

[MrNYBudget]

For MY personal use, I would be wary of this product.

For me, when it is time to cook, it's time to cook and I get it completely done and cleaned up. Let's say I set something up at 7pm to cook (a good time for me). That means I have to wake up by 7am at the latest and deal with it? I usually don't have time in the morning and sure, I could make time, but I wouldn't want to change the schedule that works for me in order to deal with meal prep.

Maybe this would work out for big batch food prep on the weekends, but I am just a little leery.

[wtjbatman]

For MY personal use, I would be wary of this product.

For me, when it is time to cook, it's time to cook and I get it completely done and cleaned up. Let's say I set something up at 7pm to cook (a good time for me). That means I have to wake up by 7am at the latest and deal with it? I usually don't have time in the morning and sure, I could make time, but I wouldn't want to change the schedule that works for me in order to deal with meal prep.

Maybe this would work out for big batch food prep on the weekends, but I am just a little leery.

So... I guess you're not a fan of slow cookers, then?

[MrNYBudget]

So... I guess you're not a fan of slow cookers, then?

Ha - correct. Should have specified all slow cookers in general. Just screws up my timing.

[wtjbatman]

So... I guess you're not a fan of slow cookers, then?

Ha - correct. Should have specified all slow cookers in general. Just screws up my timing.

I can understand, it's definitely the type of cooking where you have to plan ahead. Which I'm good at some of the time, and other times not so much.

[dragoncar]

So... I guess you're not a fan of slow cookers, then?

Ha - correct. Should have specified all slow cookers in general. Just screws up my timing.

I can understand, it's definitely the type of cooking where you have to plan ahead. Which I'm good at some of the time, and other times not so much.

That reminds me of those fancy programmable ovens that would keep your food cold and then wake up and heat them so it was ready when you got home... do those still exist?

[AJDZee]

Their promo website is meant to inspire customers to save tons of CO2 with this wonder bag.
I like the idea, but my bullshitmeter is going off - to me it comes off like someone is using 'green' to make money.

When they calculate how much CO2 is saved I wonder if they take into consideration the carbon footprint to manufacture and transport yet another doodad to people's homes.

[LalsConstant]

I am very surprised anyone thinks of the slowcooker as something that requires planning.  Nothing requires less planning or thought.

[meadow lark]

This is an old concept, called "Hay box cooking."  The old, and almost free version is to make an insulated box by stuffing a large cooler or cardboard or wood box with straw then placing the pot inside and covering the top with straw. Lots of DIY instructions on the web.  Alternately, wrap your dish in a quilt.
Not a new product, and whether that technology is helpful in other countries, I don't know, but if it is worth anything it's worth is in the easily duplicated  technology - not the product.

[ZiziPB]

Alternately, wrap your dish in a quilt.

Yes, this is definitely not a new idea. I don't use this method myself but my grandmother used it all the time for cooking buckwheat, barley, rice, etc.  My dad likes to use it still for same purposes.  He calls it cooking "under the pillow".

[wtjbatman]

I am very surprised anyone thinks of the slowcooker as something that requires planning.  Nothing requires less planning or thought.

I would disagree. Nothing requires more planning. There is nothing last minute about something that is literally called a "slow cooker". You need to plan ahead with both buying ingredients and then getting the slow cooker going before you leave for work/start your day/whatever.

Now, thought while it cooks? Total effort? Minimal for sure.

[theSchmett]

Saw this a long time ago and wondering to myself if there wasn't a more homegrown way of insulating a pot of hot water.