Plan B Forum

Preparing pasta, chili, crabs for lots of people means a big pot of boiling water, at least the way I do it. I have a 'stock pot' I use for that. My wife purchased it along time ago.

It seems to be good stainless steel with a thick bottom (probably a layer of cast iron or aluminum) with straight wall sides of thiner SS. Delaware, and the pot, get hot in the summer. The big pot in the kitchen wastes alot of heat through the sides. I used to use a high amp electric hot plate outside during the summer, but my landlord stopped that. I don't do it enough that I want to invest in a restaurant induction heater. I could probably get away with that outside.

What's wrong with wrapping a blanket of thick foam around the sides for insulation, as long as the bottom of the foam is well up from the stove burner?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I don't see anything wrong with it, but I would think you would also have to insulate the top and keep the top on. I'm not sure how much the savings would be, as the vaporization/reflux of the boiling water probably accounts for the biggest heat loss.

For very high temperature differences, chemical reactors are often jacketed and/or insulated (I think pressure cookers which heat beyond the nominal boiling point of water are also insulated), but here the temperture difference would likely be around 60 degrees c or less as the pot will not heat beyond 100 degrees C.

Back in my poverty-stricken grad student days, I often used a hay box. I'd heat a casserole dish with a stew or a curry in the morning and place it in a box of hay which was essentially a big insulator. Off to the lab, and I'd come back in the evening. It had been cooking all day in its own heat, was still warm and ready to eat.

Kind of like a do it yourself crock pot.