My First Time Using the Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker - Hawaiian Chicken and Rice

So, I really didn't have a recipe to go by. I watched a few videos that looked good, but they didn't give any measurements, so I just guessed what I needed to fill up the larger pot. All this to say, there is no recipe. Sorry!

There was also a dilemma concerning the rice. I saw several different videos that used more or less water in their rice. I used the recipe by a woman who lives at a higher altitude and actually wrote the book on thermal cooking. I am now watching out for a good deal on her book. 

I also used the quilt method around my cooker to maintain a higher temperature due to the low boiling point at our altitude, so we will see how things turn out.  

I sliced the celery and carrots in thin diagonal cuts for 
optimal cooking. The onions are naturally thin, so 
I didn't do anything special to them.

I was out of fresh peppers, so I used some rehydrated dehydrated peppers.

I deboned some chicken thighs. I froze the bones to make stock
out of at a later date. 

I cut the chicken into small chunks with the skin on.
I snacked on the extra carrots.

I browed the chicken in my cast iron skillet 
so, I could use the fat in chicken gravy that I
was preparing for lunch.

I sautéed the vegetables, garlic and pepper flakes
in the large pot in a little oil.

This was a lot of chicken. I saved some for my gravy. 
We had chicken gravy for lunch with homemade honey wheat bread.

I added the sauce, browned chicken and pineapple tidbits. I thickened
the sauce with a cornstarch slurry once the mixture came to a boil.

I started the rice.

I brought everything to a boil for 5 minutes. I placed both pans in the thermal 
cooker with the lid. Things got a little complicated as far as pictures go. I had 
three meals going all at once that needed to be tended to, so I failed to get
more pictures. Sorry.

After 6 hours and 40 minutes we were ready to eat dinner. It was probably
ready at the 5-hour mark but we weren't hungry. 

The top and bottom pots had the same temperature.

Everything was cooked to perfection.

This was the first time I successfully cooked rice at this altitude without a pressure cooker.
The rice was perfectly cooked. The grains were individual and not soggy and mushed together.  

The cooker holds a lot of food. It's perfect for big batch cooking.

Two things that I didn't consider was the volume of food it cooks and both pots needing to come together at the same time. Fortunately, my freezers are full. Unfortunately, it made a lot of food. I can use the smaller pan for smaller meals by using boiling water in the bigger pot for thermal mass. I had multiple meals cooking at the same time and I should have focused on the meal going into the cooker at least for the first few times until I am more familiar with this technique. 

So far, I am very pleased with the Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker. The next test will be the bean test. I have high hopes that it will cook a pot of beans. Beans, like rice are impossible to cook at this elevation without a pressure cooker. I may be asking too much from a cooker without a heat source. We will see. 

Mrs. Smith