Dream Pot? or is there a more economical alternative

300 bucks like thats about 30 days fish and chips..We just use cheap pot on campfire.If gas stove we always get pot with nice chinky bottom for good heat transfer...cheers

Honestly ..... Mum got a Dream Pot for travelling, we used it a few times, followed the instructions, and found out:
1. Casseroles were generally under-cooked and luke-warm by the annoited time - just didn't retain the heat and cook enough. Maybe the movement of the vehicle caused this - don't know. Meat was chewy and vegies underdone.
2. For soft cooking (say rice dishes, light stews or soups) was OK.
Suspect you have to give the ingredients a fair going over before you put them in the EcoPot / DreamPot, which sort of negates the whole point of it........
Maybe ours was dodgy.... others might have different experiences.

We have the Aldi version - $99. It works brilliantly.

We have one of these and have found it quite satisfactory. No interest in this company, just a satisfied customer.

http://www.easycook.com.au/thermocook0153/thermocook-tm?zenid=jcd9be9pkaqhkcr1igpvhmf8l2#.VvA8VtBNuuI

BruDi

We have had an Eco pot for several years and find it excellent. (We did not pay $300 - I think they have become fancier but the principles haven't changed. Aldi currently have their model on sale and it is excellent value by all accounts.)
All brands work the same way and give very good results if used carefully. To maintain heat and food safety it is necessary to have the pot at least half full and to bring the contents to a strong boil then simmer covered for 10 to 20 minutes depending on instructions.
We use it quite a lot. We don't cook in the morning before travelling - the idea sounds exhausting! It is very useful when we are camping because, at a convenient time, we can prepare a stew or soup at leisure and leave it to cook safely unattended in the van while we go out. After a long hike or busy tourist afternoon it is great to come home to a ready dinner. There is usually enough left over for at least another meal - very handy then for a travelling day! Lynne

We just use the camp stove and allow plenty of time to cook at a leisurely pace.
One of the enjoyments of camp life.
We also own a Cobb Cooker which can cook a roast using six or seven heatbeads and including the veggies in the vegetable well.
Oh! and has anybody cooked a loaf of bread in a Dream Pot?

Gday,
Weve got a Dream Pot.......
Great for putting 1 pot dishes and rice or pasta in to take down the beach or to partys etc to keep cooked meals warm, but wouldn't bother cooking in one......theyre just a oversized thermos........nothing magic......unless of course you want a really slow cooked luke warm mushy or raw meal. LOL

It is important to get past the sales hype on these things ....... if they are to work at all well, it is very important that the contents have been thoroughly heated ..... in that the the material in the cooker has been heated all the way thru and is all up to temperature.

If the food is not thoroughy heated thru ...... temperature in the food will equalise ( the hot bits will loose heat to the cold bits) and the total temperature will drop quite rapidly.

In real culinary science and food safety ..... food is considered cooked when it has ALL reached the appropriate temperature ...in particular the interiour parts of the food have reached temperature ..... from memory 60C or there abouts.

So the notion that these devices are "cookers" is a bit misleading ..... because the food to be placed in these devices must already be by definition cooked before it is put in them ....... there may be some further "cooking" occurs while the food is in the container ....... but the all of the "necessary" cooking must be done before.

IF food is not thoroughly heated before being put into these devices there are very real food safety issues ......... as we should all be aware ..... food stored hot should remain HOT ......... if it is only warm ... this is a prime environment for food poisoning bacteriour ...... the food must be thoroughly hot enough to loose heat and still remain above the necessary food safety temperature till it is served.

This is particularly bad if parts of the food have not got hot enough to kill any bacteriour preexisting in the food.

We have one and find it unimpressive.

cheers