What is it - It is a cooker based on the hay box principle. Once the ingredients have been brought to the boil on your stove, you place the cooking pans into the outer casing, shut the lid and it carries on cooking - WITH NO POWER SOURCE, for hours, until you are ready for your meal.

What our experts thought?
On a very wet and windy day, we started our sail and our test of Mr D's Thermal cooker. Our sail lasted approximately 3 and a half hours, it was wet, windy (approximately 35 knots) and we had very poor visibility. We had another boat accompanying us and we had invited them for dinner!

Recipe Chinese Beef and Carrots

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 slices of peeled fresh ginger root
5 spring onions, thinly sliced
750g stewing beef, cut into 1cm cubes
40ml dark soy sauce
1 beef stock pot or stock cube
1 tbsp light brown sugar
3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
450g carrots, cut into batons
water

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oil in the inner pot over a medium heat.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and cook until golden brown.
3. Add the beef and all the remaining ingredients except the water. Stir well.
4. Pour over water to cover the meat and carrots.
5. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and place the inner pot into the vacuum-insulated outer Thermal container, shut the lid. Leave while you start the rice in the top pot. If not using a top pot leave to cook for a minimum of 3 hours.

Cooking the rice in the top pot
7. Add the rice and water to the top pot and bring to the boil. Stir then turn down the heat and simmer for 1 minute.
8. Turn off the heat, open the vacuum-insulated outer Thermal container and place the top pot into the inner pot.
9. Put the lid on the top pot and shut the lid of the outer container.
Leave to thermal cook without power for a minimum of 3 hours.
Before serving
10. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed
Serve with the rice and some stir fry vegetables

After a long hard sail, this recipe went down a storm with us and our fellow crew, the meat was tender and the rice was perfect,we all hand second helpings and there was no leftovers.

BENEFITS
You only need to spend a short time preparing the food in the morning to have a hot meal later in the day. You can of course eat the meal as soon as it is cooked (normal slow cooking times apply).

SAFETY
You don't need to have the gas on cooking hot meals whilst underway.

You save up to 80% in fuel costs.

Works on gas, electric and induction hobs.

There is hardly any smell of cooking when using a thermal cooker.

The food can never be overcooked.

The vitamins, nutrients and flavours are kept in the pot.

Any slow cooker recipe can be adapted for this cooker.

You can adapt most slow cooker recipes to work with the thermal cooker.

The cooker can be taken with you and will continue cooking without power. Ideal to transport cooking food in a car, caravan, boat or motor home. You can even take it camping.

SUMMARY
Wow, what can I say, I think this is an awesome piece of kit and I am not alone, Practical Boat Owner Magazine awarded it the 2012 PBO Green Award and Sailing Today Magazine nominated it as number one live aboard item for boats at the Southampton 2011 Boat Show!

To find out more you can visit Mr D's The Thermal Cook's website, follow Mr D on Facebook
or buy one straight away through here.

If you have a gadget or product that you would like us to test and review - please contact marieparton@boatshed.com