I'm glad some people are recording some of these old timey skills for us! Similarly, I tried overnight Thermos cooking of bulghur and barley. One shot of boiling water poured in with the grain and wake up to hot breakfast next morning. Guess it works for any grain. Conserves both fuel and water as no water is lost to steam as would happen in a lidded pot on the stove.
P.S. I bet a set up like that is great for making yogurt, too. I used to wrap a pot in about six towels to keep it warm for yogurt until my son took pity on me and bought me an electric warmer. I'll have to try and ask my Afghani friend how she warmed yogurt, especially in winter, back in A'stan. Fuel can be very short there. I bet she did something like this....Ya got me thinkin', BA.
Ah, a version of the hay box, which is what you think it is - a wood box stuffed with hay or straw. (Stuffed is key - hay is a great insulator, you don't want a lot of air to cool down your pot)
The cushions stuffed with hay are a nice sanitary touch - the setups I've seen wrap the food/pot with a clean cloth and stick it in the dusty hay. One note about the article - hay boxes have been around way, way longer than the 1900s. Think Middle Ages and Ivan the Terrible's Russia.
If you need to find some hay, I think I can arrange that.
March 18th, 2010 at 11:52 pm 1268956324
March 19th, 2010 at 04:42 pm 1269016931
March 19th, 2010 at 04:47 pm 1269017241
March 21st, 2010 at 06:21 am 1269152462
The cushions stuffed with hay are a nice sanitary touch - the setups I've seen wrap the food/pot with a clean cloth and stick it in the dusty hay. One note about the article - hay boxes have been around way, way longer than the 1900s. Think Middle Ages and Ivan the Terrible's Russia.
If you need to find some hay, I think I can arrange that.
March 21st, 2010 at 07:09 am 1269155364