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Post by Valerie on Apr 26, 2011 7:43:37 GMT -5
That does seem like a sign, doesn't it? I had a time finding a bowl combination that would fit, so I could cook in something besides a jar. I finally found an 8" cast iron skillet that fits almost perfectly inside my glass mixing bowl. One of my lids fits it too. I'm thinking I'll just make a type of gasket out of loosely rolled foil to fit between the edge of the pan and the bowl to hold the heat in.
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 26, 2011 12:58:12 GMT -5
I have a pan that will fit perfectly inside a glass mixing bowl. It has a domed lid with a vent. It's aluminum, and I've never used it, so I wouldn't mind painting it black. I only bought it because of the shape - with the lid on, it's almost a ball.
Using foil as a gasket is a great idea! I was thinking of tying a cooking bag over the top, but I couldn't figure out how to inflate it.
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Post by Valerie on Apr 27, 2011 14:20:58 GMT -5
When you put the jar in the cooking bag, you just blow a bit of air into it by mouth. I guess you could do the same thing with a bowl/pan. It would have to be one of the big ham/turkey sized bags.
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Post by Granny Smith on Apr 30, 2011 13:37:32 GMT -5
This is getting ridiculous! I finally had a sunny day where I could finish gluing the foil on the cone thing. I got that done, then the cone, jar, and bag wouldn't fit in the box I had for it. I tried putting them in a big flower pot and tore the foil, so now I have to fix that. At that point, I lost my temper and broke my New Year's resolution.
Helpful hint: don't glue the foil on the cone thing in the sun. It rendered me blind for about 15 minutes. All I could see was a big green blob. I'm ok now.
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Post by Valerie on May 1, 2011 12:58:59 GMT -5
yeah, my box was too small too, so I just kind of propped it up between two laid over lawn chairs. I glued the foil on before I made it into a cone, and did it on the kitchen floor. But I was painting on watered down craft glue, not spraying.
Another helpful hint: When you finally get to the point of cooking in it, wear sunglasses when you go to check the stuff or get it out. You can seriously damage your eyes looking into that thing.
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Post by Granny Smith on May 1, 2011 22:55:26 GMT -5
I give up trying to do this thing right. I've decided, the next sunny day, I'm just going to put the jar in the cone and let 'er rip - no bag, no box, just the jar and cone. I'll let you know what happens.
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Post by Valerie on May 2, 2011 6:12:44 GMT -5
I don't think the box is important. Just a way to keep the wind from blowing it over. The bag does seem to be necessary, though, to keep the heat in around the jar so it gets hot enough to cook. Otherwise, it's just going to rise up into the atmosphere and your jar will be hot but not as hot as you need it to be. And the little block of wood is just to keep the bottom of the jar from melting out the bottom of the bag. I'm hoping my bowl will fit in my cone, if I set it on the little block of wood. I don't want to have to make a separate cone for the bowl, which is a bit bigger around than the jar. It's only about 3 inches bigger, though, so I'm hoping that sitting it on the chunk of wood will give it enough clearance. It not, maybe I'll just cut another chunk of wood! Don't worry, Gayle! I don't think there's a right or wrong way! It's just something some kids and their teacher came up with that worked for them, but you know all good ideas need tweaking a bit!
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Post by Granny Smith on May 2, 2011 8:04:04 GMT -5
The reason I was thinking I could cook without the bag is because of the season. They added the bag because they were trying to cook with solar in the winter. I'm not sure it would be necessary in the summer. Of course, I could be wrong.
I was thinking that the block of wood was to raise the jar so the whole thing was inside the cone, so the sun could hit the whole thing, rather than as insulation for the bag. Can't you just put food in those bags and cook it? Once the food gets hot, it doesn't melt the bag, does it? Also, don't you put the bag directly in the baking pan? (I've never used them, so I really don't know)
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Post by Granny Smith on May 2, 2011 8:06:59 GMT -5
Another thought - why couldn't you line a tomato cage with foil (or one of those things you put in the windshield to keep the car cool in the summer), or just shove the cone inside of it, and set the pan/jar inside it? You could push the legs of the cage into the ground to keep it steady.
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Post by Valerie on May 2, 2011 9:20:33 GMT -5
Oooh, try it! Maybe they've never seen a tomato cage and hadn't thought of it. I think they were just copying the sheet metal cone cookers, that will burn the skin off your hand if you touch them.
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Post by Granny Smith on May 2, 2011 9:23:06 GMT -5
I think I will try it. I have a bunch of cages in the barn. I'll probably have to put the jar on a big hunk of wood to raise it off the ground, but that's no problem. I have 3 hunks that Dan cut of some 4"x4"s in the shed. Don't know why I saved them (packrat), but it looks like they might come in handy.
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Post by Valerie on May 2, 2011 9:55:38 GMT -5
I have a coffee cake baking in mine right now, in the bowl/pan. This is the first time I've done it that way. I lifted the lid a few minutes ago, and it's baking. It has risen up and is sticking to the lid (even though I greased it). Still has a ways to go, though.
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Post by Granny Smith on May 2, 2011 10:00:55 GMT -5
You need a pan like mine, with a high-domed lid.
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Post by Valerie on May 2, 2011 13:10:21 GMT -5
I do. I searched everywhere for a suitable pan that didn't cost much. The dollar stores here didn't even have anything but skillets, and no glass bowls (they used to always carry glass bowls!). Walmart was way too expensive, but that is where I got the cast iron skillet. They didn't even have anything like what I was looking for. I would have even paid too much if I could've found anything that would have worked! We need some thrift stores or goodwill or something around here, but there are none.
I'm wondering if a dutch oven could sit on top of the glass bowl, though, as long as it sealed in all the heat. I'm gonna try that next. This dern cake still isn't done! (But we do keep having the sun play peep-eye in the clouds.)
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Post by Granny Smith on May 2, 2011 14:17:34 GMT -5
I have another idea that might work for you, but I don't know how you'd fix a bowl around it - maybe just set the pot in one and seal around the top of the bowl, above the cake line, with foil. It's a set of thin stainless stockpots with lids. They're tall, but not wide, so they'd be good for baking cakes, with plenty of space for them to rise. This is like the set I have, but there are smaller, cheaper sets available~ www.amazon.com/Heuck-36003-Piece-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000QRCM8A
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