Flameless Cooker (30 oz)

Works as intended

We just tried our hydroheat cooker yesterday at a trade show event and over all it worked quite well. For this test we tried to do scrambled eggs. We took six eggs and put it in our cooler before we left. I cooked onions and bell peppers the night before and put them in a container and put them in a cooler the next morning before we left. Later in the morning when all the set up was done and we were ready to cook I poured in about 4 of the six eggs that were beaten and vegetables in the container. I put in the prescribed amount of water and one pad and it started steaming up almost immediately. The cooker ran its course in about 15 minutes maybe 20 and the fuel was used up. The best cooking occurred around the edges of the container more than in the center. I believe this is due to water displacement as the fuel pad expands and pushes the water to the outer edges of the pan. Those of you prior military folks remember the MRE heaters that would do about the same but always gave off a smell and a white crusty residue in the heater bag. These pads cook clean and leave no residue. The pan is clean after it cooks. After 15 minutes this fist pad was used up but still keeping things warm. The eggs were not quite done and in the center were still raw so I stirred in the rest of the egg mixture and added some seasoning and and one "Baby Bell" 2% cheese ball and then used a second pad. Another 15 minutes and the cooking was complete or to my preference that is. The contents of the container or all the eggs were completely cooked and not over done or dry. The cheese was melted into the eggs. It was some of the best eggs I had cooked in a while due to the non flame cooking. This type of cooking is great as it was a cool morning and I was a little uncomfortable. I had a warm meal and used the container to keep me warm as well as my food. It made for a very nice experience. My food stayed warm all the way through my meal which is often problematic on outdoor events when your food gets cold fast. The cover also allows you to keep your food covered if you want to go get some more coffee and come back to find your meal is still warm just like you left it. With this system you cook and enjoy a hot meal all the way through. With all advantages there are also a few disadvantages. With this system I'm afraid you may have a challenge with real dense food like pasta. I suggest your precook your pasta and place it in a container with olive oil or butter to keep it from sticking and place it in a container or vacuum pack it. This system I don't think is designed for raw meat that takes more substantial cooking. I suggest you cook your meet such as bacon, ground beef or ground sausage and also store it for later use. This system does cook but not like conventional stoves or stoves. Also clean up is a real challenge. These are NOT non stick containers. You need to make sure you have some scrub pads. If you let your food dry before you clean it you will have to really scrub and scrub to clean. Dried eggs are a major challenge. When we got home that night I had to really scrub the pan hard to clean it!!!! I suggest you spray your container with your favorite cooking spray before you start cooking. This system worked so well that I am purchasing all the other accessories to include the mug and the larger cooking container. I am a Ham Radio operator and do a lot of outside events and with all the set up I have to do with my communications gear its nice to have a system this self contained that I can make a fast meal with very little prep time. I am adding this system to my A Bag as we call it for quick deployments. Its also a very good system for all families to have for emergency preparedness.

So, a little background and then onto the review. I work overnight security at a construction site and have for two months without the option of a hot meal. Bologna sandwiches on last so long before you begin to crave something hot, especially on cold days so that got me looking for something like this. I will say it is worth it. It came in the mail earlier than expected, even though it was delayed by inclement weather. The design was neat and about the size I had invisioned for a meal. I got out on site and proceeded to pour a can of premade speghetti in and wasn't immediately impressed when the packet didn't start to swell right away with the addition of water, like I'm used to with MREs I've had in the past. After five minutes, my meal still appeared cool but I figured I'd give it more time. Another five minutes and I could barely eat the food because of how hot it had become. Due to the way it functions, I recommend canned food items as I described above or cooking a meal first and keep it something you can easily stir. It does not seem to be designed to cook a steak, though maybe you could if you had all day. This thing heated my food and I was able to eat it with time to spare for a 30 minute lunch period. Would highly recommend if you are like me and without a microwave for that warm fix of a meal. The only cons with this, other than the above described foods I recommend for it, is the cleaning. Carry a sponge to help scrape out the food residue unless you're ok with cleaning it thoroughly when you get home. I wish the packs were cheaper but it comes with one free one inside the bowl. I will definitely be using this product regularly until a microwave is installed on the job site.

I'm in my car most of the day. I have tried electric heaters and they die quickly. I want to pack my lunch and this product lets me eat leftovers nice and warm! I've used it many times now, and overall I'm satisfied with this purchase and I will be buying more heaters. Pros: Heats up anything, simple to use, easy to clean, great for leftovers Cons: cost of heaters, top cover is very finicky about staying closed I normally have my food in a lunchbox, but I may put small cooler packs in the bottom pan to keep things cool before eating.

Don’t be fooled, this won’t COOK food, it will only heat food. As a heater, it’s great. The heating aspect only lasts about 30-40 minutes which should be enough time to heat your food.

It works