HOW TO USE WONDER BOXES

How to cook using a Wonder Box

Bring your food to a boil.

Simmer for the time recommended in the following chart.

Quickly place the hot pot in the Wonder Box. Place the Wonder Box lid on top.

Allow to cook for the recommended time.

Helpful Tips

• Cooking containers should have tight-fitting lids, to prevent the escape of heat and moisture. Place the lid on the pot before you remove the pot from the stove so the lid can also get hot.
• Use any cooking pot, provided it does not have a long handle.  
• The larger the amount of food cooked, the more effective Wonder Box cooking is, since a full pot has more mass and therefore more heat storage capacity than a half-full pot.
• The Wonder box does not work well if there is empty space or air pockets. Use an appropriate sized pot and fill the pot as full as possible. (Don’t use a big pot for a small amount of food.) If cooking a small amount of food in a small pot, wrap the pot in pillows, blankets, towels, etc to fill up any empty space in the wonder box.  
• When cooking meats make sure the meat is covered with water.
• Cooking containers should have tight-fitting lids, to prevent the escape of heat and moisture.
• Do not leave the Wonder Box on a metal surface while it is being used. Metal is a good conductor of heat and may draw off some heat through the bottom.
• Do not peek inside the wonder box or pot while it is cooking. If this happens, heat will escape, and the food will not cook properly.
• The Wonder Box was designed for cooking meals, but it can also be used for keeping food hot, cold or frozen for 3-6 hours depending on what it is For example, frozen meat will stay frozen longer than a tub of ice cream.
• Retained-heat cooking (Wonder Boxes) has many other advantages in addition to energy and water conservation. As mentioned, it makes “timing” less critical, since it keeps meals hot until serving time. Once the initial boil-and-short-simmer stage is past, it also eliminates the danger of burning the food on the bottom of the pot.
  

Recommended Water Amounts

Since water is not lost during Wonder Box cooking the way it is during extended stovetop simmering, the amount of water used to cook grains and beans is normally reduced by one-quarter. Instead of adding 2 cups of water per cup of dry rice, try adding 1 1/2.

Retained Heat Cooking Times – Approximate

Food                                       Simmering Time          Wonder Box Time

White Rice                              5 min                           1-2 hours

Brown Rice                            10-15 min                    2 hours

Potatoes, Whole White           5-10 min                      1-2 hours

Creamed Soups                      2 min                           1 hour

Dried Beans, etc..(soaked)     10-15 min                    3-4 hours

Meat Roast                            20-30 min                    3-5 hours

Cooking times from: http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Heat-retention_cooking

All other information from http://www.ourldsfamily.com/wonderbox/ or http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Heat-retention_cooking