Something for base camp admittedly, but a device to cook puddings more efficiently, the central 'flue' conducting heat to the centre of the pudding. The lid is held secure with string and the pot is put into a pan of water, raised to the boil and set to simmer. The pudding cooks in a dry, hot environment in the pot. Patented in the Edwardian era, available in the 1920's and in a range of sizes. Mine's the smallest, at 1 pint capacity. John
Pudding? What kind of pudding? You must mean like a Christmas Pudding, heavy and full of fruit or am I wrong? Ben
Ben, Christmas pudding, spotted dick, jam/syrup/treacle sponge or steak and kidney pudding ........ Take your pick. Just don't mix them up and pour custard over the steak and kidney, nor gravy over the plum duff. Cooking these would be a good test of a stove's simmer capability because they normally take hours. John's pudding basin will speed things up a bit. But it'll be useless for haircuts though! Regards John
We have had one of these since the mid 80s, ours is missing the lid, alyawse wondered what it looked like, now I know. We use ours but with foil as the lid. It makes wonderfull Christmas puddings. Cheers Rob
John, Great posts and a neat accessory! After reading, I checked the Bay and, to my surprise, was able to find one at a reasonable price. Mine must be slightly newer than yours, as the water fill line has been adjusted a bit. My wife really took to it, and she and her mother took matters in hand. A quick pastry shell, some leftover filling from last night's stuffed peppers, and we're ready to go. I fired up the '39 Speedmaster, and we're off. An hour's simmering, and the finished product was a real treat. I think next we're going to try putting blackberries in a shell... Thanks very much for your inspiring post! ....Arch
@ArchMc Well, well, what an excellent outcome! Your wife and her Mum have had more sense than I had by not coating the outside of the 'flue' with the pastry. I did and it stuck and messed up turning the pudding out a bit. Clearly not intended to be done that way. I like the fact that the pudding pastry doesn't get soggy like a steamed pudding tends to due to condensation. Yours has a larger capacity I see - 1 1/2 pints. More to go round. Great, thanks for posting. John
As an alternative, you might look into Chinese Steam Pots or Yunnan Steam Cooker. This may or may not work... http://www.ceramics-in-france.com/en/pagen3.2.html They can be found on eBay. I got mine at the local thrift store. I bought mine because it was weird and I thought it was for a different style of cooking. To work like your quick cooker, you will most likely need to make a modification or two. You would need to drill a small vent hole in the top of the lid and You probably need to make up some sort of extention for the cone inside. In my thinking a rubber hose slipped over the cone and cut to meet the vent in the lid would do it. If you look at the above webpage or do a google search you can find some recipes for this Chinese pot. These recipes may be adaptable to the Quick Cooker. I would guess to get the proper liquid from condensation, you could plug the vent hole with a toothpick. In my opinion too much steam condenses in my pot resulting in a watery broth, so maybe don't plug the vent and see what happens? Keep in mind these Chinese pots are unglazed clay, ie porous, and the absence of lead or cadmium or whatever is highly dependent on the maker's concern for food safety or where they got the clay. I have made the "chicken soup" per Chinese Recipes and in my opnion it is rather dull with "boiled" chicken and not a robust flavor. From looking for recipes for the Yunnan steamer, it appears there are only a few dishes that are appropriate. I suspect that the Yunnan cookers with a "trumpet" shaped cone inside would be more adaptable to the Quick Cooker style of cooking. Just some ideas which might be a total flop since I have never tried to use the Yunnan pot like a Quick Cooker. So, FWIW, Jim Henderson
@Jim Henderson FWIW you say. Your contribution is worth a lot, thanks Jim. Lots of interesting information you've raised there to digest (no foodie pun intended). You mention the possibility of toxins leaching from unglazed pottery but I'm aware of the scare associated with lead glazes related to older electric slow cookers. How does the Quick Cooker fare in that respect? I'll maybe test it with a lead-detecting swab, but it's in use for an hour's cooking at most and creates an occasional treat. John
@presscall, they were going to coat the flue until I showed them the photo of yours. Great forum, where we can learn from each other! My mother-in-law suggested that for a later meal we could line it with a flour tortilla in lieu of dough. That opens some interesting culinary possibilities. I'm going to have to drag her along on the next stovie camp. I'm very interested in the results of your lead-detection test. Though, as you say, I'm sure the problem is small given the usage of the Quick Cooker. I've always enjoyed your posts. ....Arch
Hi, That's a wonderful piece of functional industrial ceramics! instructions and adds glazed right onto the pot, brilliant! You might want to get your local potter to make a few instead of messing around with tin foil or whatnot... Though it looks simillar it's an entirely different principle from the Yunnan pot.
There is nothing toxic in clay itself. Some decorative low temperature glazes may sometimes contain lead or cadmium but any one working in ceramics knows that these glazes are not to be used for culinary pieces.
@larrypotter You're a wizard, Harry Larrypotter, thanks for that insight. With that username and your obvious knowledge of ceramics, I wonder if what you say about the awareness of lead or cadmium in some glazes was true in the industry at the time the Grimwades pot was made, however? John
That's an idea larrypotter, I know a potter that could make a top and possibly with the writing on it, then it would be complete. Cheers Rob
If he can put adds for his other items on the inside of the lid, I'll want too see photos ! As for toxic metals oxides in glazes on early twentieth century industrial ceramics there can be some concern as health and safty regulations were pretty much nonexistant in those days, the risk however was mainly for worker in the shops and factories. lead oxide was often used in low temperature glazes (fired around 1000°C. or 1800°F.) as a flux to lower the fusion temperature, but once the glaze has fused the lead is traped in the cristalin structure of the glaze, a type of glass. Very acidic foods could possibly leach the lead out of the glaze but only after long exposure. In any case the Grimwades piece is obviously highfire stoneware or porcelain and highfire glazes do not contain lead. Also the test swabs metioned above are most likely useless simply rubbed on the surface of a glaze! you might try testing vinegar left several days in the pot.... But for the last 50 or 60 years strict health and safety regulations in the US, Europe and many other countries forbid the use of toxic materials in culinary ceramic glazes. I think that will do for the ceramiics lecture today!
