Thread: Haybox

now this sounds interesting. How hot would it get inside? is this an issue if building the box with flammable materials?

cheers
Wendy

Ruffly,
It gets no hotter than boiling water. Used to do it all the time in Scouts.
Any old cardboard box about 600mm square will do.
Pack it full of dried grass ( hence "haybox") leaving just enough room in the centre for your billy.
Get your stew started on the fire, bring it to the boil for a minute or so then take it off the fire and put into your haybox. Pack more grass around it and over the top, seal it up and walk away for 3 or so hours.
You can put your fire out, and safely take the kids on a hike without worrying if you going to start a bushfire, and when you come back dinner is served.


Ian

Yes, essentially that's the idea. Except we want to make it a fixture in our kitchen. We'll be building it into a cabinet with a utility drawer and workbench above it. I'm also considering making 2 cavities side by side - one warm for cooking and one stable but cooler for fermenting.

We're aiming for maximum efficiency so it will be lined and insulated. Because it will be a piece of furniture we're also aiming for something aesthetically pleasing.

Because we need to have a variable space inside the chamber we'll also be using bags stuffed with insulating material in place of the hay/dry grass - you need to reduce the amount of air circulation as much as possible.

We've been wrapping the pots in towels, putting them in cooler bag, and then wrapping that in a sleeping bag. It works but...
-p

Paul,
Have you tried Google?
There's a bit of info there but it looks like most folk use some form of straw. There doesn't seem to be a commercial equivalent, but then I didn't do an exhaustive search

One thing I forgot to mention is that we used to line the box with a layer of alfoil.
I would imagine any for of insulation bat would do the job with one or two reflective layers as well.


Ian

Thanks for your reply Ian. I guess I was wondering if any folks here had any idea if certain timbers, suitable for such a construction, might have better insulating properties than others.

Certainly some insulating material in the void will be used, but I'm looking to improve the properties as much as possible. So a timber with good ins. properties would also be useful.
thx-p

Ah ha! Now it's all making much more sense, especially when you want it as a inbuilt kitchen component.

As for timber with insulating properties, wouldn't a hardwood be better than eg pine, for insulating purposes. If the haybox were lined with a alfoil, would it even matter what the outside timber was?

cheers
Wendy

Paul,
If your insulating materials is so inefficient that you are relying on your enclosure you're not doing it right.

Like Ruffly, I would have thought any timber that takes your fancy would be good enough, You could probably even use metal - stove and refrigeration manufactures do.

One more thing to remember is that your cooking container MUST be sealed. If you have steam escaping it will introduce moisture into your insulation and then it's buggered (at least until you dry it out) - no matter what you are using.

Ian