# Cooking Without Heat - Cool or Crock? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307 "2006-01-17T02:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/21 "2006-01-17T20:53:18Z")
Remember Father Guido Sarducci advertising Mr. Tea on SNL? ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/22 "2006-01-17T21:11:53Z")
Hmmm, I think you’re all wrong. It looks like a cold fusion device to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/23 "2006-01-17T21:18:00Z")
I wonder if it works with chicken? I’ll get one and let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/24 "2006-01-17T21:25:33Z")
Tube chicken? That’s about three inches away from _Drop that! And pull up your pants for cryin’ out loud!_ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/25 "2006-01-17T22:19:20Z")
> [@Joey P](#): > > I wonder if it works with chicken? I’ll get one and let you know. You could make up a big batch of warm ham water! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/26 "2006-01-18T02:13:20Z")
Forget the pasta cooker. Look at [this thing](http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail.asp?itemNo=18031) from the same web site! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/27 "2006-01-18T02:14:00Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > This thing cracks me up. Now, instead of heating up water and putting the pasta into that pot to cook, you can heat up the water then dirty a whole NEW thing! But you get to turn your burner off several minutes earlier than you used to! YAY! Not only that, but instead of dropping cold pasta into hot water, you get to attempt to pour scalding water onto cold pasta. Unless you’re using a teakettle or a funnel, this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, to me. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/28 "2006-01-18T02:28:40Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Forget the pasta cooker. Look at [this thing](http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail.asp?itemNo=18031) from the same web site! :eek: Arrrrrrgh! Use a “q” tip if you must but be forewarned of the hazard of damage to your ear drum(s). Only a complete idiot woud buy one of those. I’ll have to hurry before the store closes. :rolleyes: (TIC). ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/29 "2006-01-18T02:33:45Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > I wouldn’t pay $20 for all that, but when they get to Walgreens discount aisle (as all tv infomercial products eventually do) I’ll probably buy one or two. FYI they now include a shorty model for hot dogs. > [@](#): > > (Oh, and the cylindar is obviously insulated, so it’s not **just** a Pringles can. It’s, like, a Pringles can and a slightly larger Pringles can.) They don’t show the Insulating Blanket to wrap the ‘cooker’ in while it does it’s thing. It was in/on the web site. Just another piece of junk to take up space in the back of the cabinet after the NEW wears off. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/30 "2006-01-18T04:23:26Z")
> [@aktep](#): > > Not only that, but instead of dropping cold pasta into hot water, you get to attempt to pour scalding water onto cold pasta. Unless you’re using a teakettle or a funnel, this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, to me. Now that you’re five years old little Susie, let’s see if you can hold the Pasta Tube ™ REAL still while daddy pours the water in. No flinching! ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/31 "2006-02-27T13:06:01Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Remember Father Guido Sarducci advertising Mr. Tea on SNL? No. Well? ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/32 "2006-02-27T13:25:04Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > Electric kettles may be as common as toasters the rest of the world over (more so, probably), but they’re rarely seen in homes in the US. Do you have any idea why? > [@](#): > > you can boil water in it **much** faster than on a stove or in a microwave Depends on the power output of your microwave oven, of course. For the 1200W+ models that are becoming more and more common (around here, at least), I doubt that using the kettle will be considerably quicker. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/33 "2006-02-27T13:44:49Z")
Our kettle boils _much_ more quickly than a saucepan of water, so I reckon this would actually be a pretty good time saver. :: toddles off to eBay to if they see 'em in the UK :: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/34 "2006-02-27T13:45:08Z")
> [@Fish Cheer](#): > > Do you have any idea why? Partly it’s because of the higher current required, thanks to the lower mains voltage. 240v mains can supply a 3KW kettle through standard 13A circuitry, whereas this would need 28A on 110V. I suspect this is higher than normal American domestic wiring can supply. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/35 "2006-02-27T13:53:49Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Partly it’s because of the higher current required, thanks to the lower mains voltage. 240v mains can supply a 3KW kettle through standard 13A circuitry, whereas this would need 28A on 110V. I suspect this is higher than normal American domestic wiring can supply. Yes, but isn’t American household current on a three-rail system - two of them 110v AC in opposite phases? So by plugging in to those two rails they have a 220v supply? But the whole slow-cooking thing in an insulated container is ages old. Either Scouting For Boys or a similar Scouting-related handbook explained “haybox cookery” - ordinary metal dixies packed into a hay-stuffed box for insulation. Pour the scalding-hot stew in at the start of the day, cover it (with an insulated lid over the box) and you’re good to go eight hours later. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/36 "2006-02-27T13:55:52Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Partly it’s because of the higher current required, thanks to the lower mains voltage. 240v mains can supply a 3KW kettle through standard 13A circuitry, whereas this would need 28A on 110V. I suspect this is higher than normal American domestic wiring can supply. Sounds convincing. I lack the technical knowledge to consider **Malacandra** ’s objection, though. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/37 "2006-02-27T14:28:41Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > No. > Well? Father Guido Sarducci did a spoof ad for Mr. Tea, obviously taken from the Mr. Coffee ads that were everywhere at the time. Mr. Tea was basically a stand with a funnel in it. “You put your teacup underneath, and add-a your teabag. Then you take some of this-a hot, boilin’ water, and pour it in the top. Then just minutes later you have nice, fresh tea!” This pasta “cooker” is the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/38 "2006-02-27T16:07:10Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Hmmm, I think you’re all wrong. It looks like a cold fusion device to me. 🙂 But what happens when it hits 88 MPH? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/39 "2006-02-27T16:21:59Z")
> [@Fish Cheer](#): > > Do you have any idea why? Probably because our main hot drink is coffee, which we mostly make with a coffee maker. If we do want to drink tea, we all have microwaves and have no problems using them. Many Americans don’t even have a regular tea kettle. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307/40 "2006-02-27T16:22:35Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Yes, but isn’t American household current on a three-rail system - two of them 110v AC in opposite phases? So by plugging in to those two rails they have a 220v supply? Does this preclude the appliance being used in standard electric sockets? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-without-heat-cool-or-crock/340307.md?page=3)