Haybox Cooking: Retained-Heat Cooking That Saves Fuel

Fuel runs out in a long emergency. Firewood, propane and gas all have to be gathered, stored or bought, and smoke can give away your position. A fireless cooker, or haybox, stretches fuel by using the heat a pot already holds.

How it works

Bring food to a boil on any stove or fire, then shut the pot inside a well-insulated box and leave it. The insulation keeps the heat in, so the food goes on cooking for hours with no more fuel, the way a slow cooker works without electricity. Stews, beans, grains, soups and tough cuts of meat suit it best.

Early-1900s housekeepers used commercial and home-built fireless cookers widely. Margaret Mitchell’s Fireless Cook Book explains how to build one and gives cooking times for hundreds of recipes.

Build one

• A box or container: a wooden crate, a picnic cooler, a basket, or even a big cardboard box.
• Insulation all round, several inches thick: hay or straw (hence “haybox”), wool blankets, sleeping bags, crumpled newspaper, foam.
• A heavy pot with a tight lid. Heavier pots hold more heat. Fill it well, because a full pot holds heat longer than a half-empty one.
• Make a nest in the insulation that the pot fits snugly into, with a thick insulated “pillow” on top.

Use it safely

The risk is food cooling into the bacterial danger zone (40–140°F) and sitting there (see the food danger zone).

• Bring the food to a full, rolling boil before it goes in, and simmer meat and beans for several minutes first.
• Move the pot into the box immediately and don’t open it to peek.
• For very long cooks, reboil halfway.
• Serve hot. If food has cooled down, bring it back to a boil before eating.