Sometimes I get hare brained ideas .
Like seeing if I can make this double walled stainless steel pot , work magic on rice and turn it into fluffy rice , teochew congee .....or not !
What sets this Zebra product apart from the other products , is the very distinctive orange twist top , which takes a few rather frustrating tries to get it to sit centralised .
Notice also , the dull double waist going round the body .
Cheaper stainless steel food containers can leak and cause foods to have an awful rusty metallic taste but that is not the case when it comes to Zebra .... whatever is inside , will remain unadulterated .
That makes us willing to pay more for it and while finding fault with other brands .
Top compartment comes with a plastic lid . Most probably not gonna utilise it .....
....because I'm eager to see if the bottom compartment can have a thermal cooking effect on rice grains in particular .
The other good point is there is no hollow enclosed space , for water vapour to collect and cool into a liquid that is very difficult to get rid off from under the twist cover . Neither is there any rubber , that will encourage moulds and stinky smells to stick .
Temperature chart states that it can retain heat between 1 to 5 hours from a high of 84 ° c to a minimum of 56 ° c.
Pretty tall order as I own several sizes of their Billy pots , all purchased way before the prices of Zebra stainless steel tiffins went through the roof . From my personal experience , food won't stay hot THAT long within single walled ranges as claimed .
Seeing how , this is my first double wall Zebra pot I'm probably hoping for the impossible .
Just to be on the safe side , I'll add an extra step and provide more insulation with a foil foam sheet wrap ( bought from Daiso ) wrapped around the pot .
To be seen if this pot is indeed worth the more than 220 ringgit price tag or more suited for takeaways and nothing more .
If it doesn't work , I will go crawl into a hole and bury myself .
There will be no further updates until I get over it .
After all , the sales assistant told me it cannot be done . I just wanna go against their judgement and give it a try .
Huhuhu .
Update # 1
I took a cup ( 160 ml ) of white rice grains , doubled the amount of water and set it to boil . Transferred the rice grains to the pot , reboiled the balance of the water , poured it on top of the rice and covered the pot .
Insulated with foil foam .
One hour later , I checked .
The rice had almost completely absorbed all of the water and looked like it was fluffed up .
Was it cooked ? Nope . Just half cooked .
Thus I repeated the process . Poured all the half cooked rice into a pot , added water till submerging the top layer , brought it to boiling point , switched off the heat , transferred and sealed just like in the earlier step .
If you ask me , I think it looks rather promising . Should this work , it'll be good news for those who wanna cut down on gas and electricity consumption . Without relying on those brands with the rubber ring .
Final result , still left to be seen .
Wait for the next update . Give it a few more hours on this round .
Update # 2
I am pleased to announce that the experiment to produce teochew moey , a large grained watery congee , was a success .
After 5 hours , the pot was still warm to the touch on the outside but when I opened it up to test , the rice was fully cooked , and just slightly warm .
All you need do next is either add hot water or reboil it further , and serve . That's if you like your congee boiling hot .
Also , you might like to know that this cooking method is more suitable for fragrant rice as the aroma will still be intact and not lost through the usual boiling or steaming process .
So , the sales advisor was right in saying that this cannot act as a thermal cooker , just that I willed it to cook a small portion of teochew congee and it worked !
Water level for that one cup of 160 ml of rice , touched the bottom layer of the top compartment .
At this point I am sure I can further coax it to turn into rice but the timing and water level is more complicated . Portion is enough for 2 to 3 persons , 4 would be pushing it but that is still possible . Just eat less right ?
Quite pleased with the fact ,that I don't have to watch over any fire for too long and there is no risk of the container ever smelling as funny as all the other brands which use a rubber ring to make it airtight .
For those of you who can find a cheaper alternative , this experiment probably can be applied to all double walled stainless steel products . Just make sure you help the process with further insulation on the outside . Happy trying .
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