2 Chefs Test THE WONDERBAG: A Non-Electric Slow Cooker! | Sorted Food

Every now and then, we come across a gadget that really catches our eye. Whether it’s a stylish design, a functional purpose, amazing craftsmanship, sustainably made or has life changing benefits. And in today’s episode, we’re reviewing a gadget which ticks all of these boxes... Behold, the WONDERBAG!

This handy gadget has helped to improve the lives of many communities, particularly those in developing countries who spend endless hours collecting firewood and charcoal. We’ve decided to use our platform to raise some money so that more wonderbags can be made for those who really need it.

[SortedFood]

Update on this - in the first 18 hours since the video launched, over *1, 500 people have donated a total of more than $60, 000 (£46, 000)* !!!

You are all unbelievable, thanks so much for working with us to do this... It's amazing!!!

[kristenhohls]

As a South African from Durban who actually owns one of these, this video makes me very happy! Thanks for bringing attention to this project! 🇿🇦

[marley]

I've had a Wonderbag for years, long before those cool new handles were added. (Jealous!) I love it.

There's a lot to know about this method of cooking. Here's some of it:

The Wonderbag is a wonder, but it has very specific uses. For cooking, it's only good for wet cooking methods. Water has a much higher specific heat capacity than air, so it's best to surround the food completely with water if possible, or make an entirely wet dish (like that rice pudding).

The most important thing that I've learned is that you have to heat the pot on the hob to the point where all the food is heated well, all the way through. The Wonderbag does a great job of retaining heat, but it doesn't add heat. If you have a pot with boiling broth and a large fridge-cold pork shoulder, the temperature will stabilize in the Wonderbag and the meat won't get hot enough to cook.

For this reason I find that rice cooks perfectly in the Wonderbag if you use the absorption method. The rice stays at a temperature appropriate for cooking while it is surrounded by water, and when the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked, the temperature drops a little and the rice is held at serving temperature for a few hours. And the rice cannot possibly burn.

Power failures happen occasionally where I am, and they might last for a second or two, or for a few hours. I've thrown away dinners in a Crock Pot because power failures temporarily stopped the cooking, and it was impossible to know how cold the food got and how long it stayed at that temperature. With the Wonderbag, I open the bag and the lid and immediately check the temperature, and I know that this is the coolest the food has been since I put it in the bag.

The Wonderbag is also great for the post-hurricane power failures that can last for days or weeks here. Heat the pot of food outside on the grill long enough to get it hot, then turn off the grill and put it in the bag. A few hours later dinner is ready, and there's plenty of fuel remaining.

But that's just unpowered cooking. I also use the Wonderbag for transporting hot foods, or at least I used to, when shared meals were possible. And it's great for sous vide.

Here's how: I cook sous vide in a large pot, which I put in the Wonderbag with no lid. When the food and immersion circulator are in place, I cover the pot with plastic wrap or ping pong balls. The temperature stays quite constant, and there's very little evaporation thanks to the balls (now there's a phrase I've never written before. Thanks balls!)

And when I'm not using it, I open it up to let it dry, then close it tightly and put it on the sofa as a cushion. No storage space required.

If you don't do a lot of wet cooking or sous vide, and if you don't have power failures, it might not be an essential kitchen tool. But for over 7 years, this has been essential for me.

[Equitine]

"My produce grown from seed" I want to introduce my future kid like this.

[WeirdExplorer]

I went to Madagascar a couple years ago and was shocked with how bad the deforestation was. Huge expanses of land were completely devastated. Trees had been burned down all across the entire country to make charcoal. Most people had no electricity, so they needed charcoal to cook. Projects like this are really important, don't just help people get by with less and save time but it also can help save plants from extinction and land becoming destroyed from soil erosion.

[The_King_of_Chefs]

Actually wheezed when Ben started saying "Its not about the size, its about-" and the error screen just popped up. Also Ben bringing stuff he grew at home was such a great touch. Love it. Thats why he's my favorite. Sorry everyone else.

[JordanThatblondegirl]

I feel like everyone under reacted to Jamie saying he was also full of cast iron and beef.

[nowastedwords]

Ben was so proud of what he grew. Adorable.

[TheIsyk]

I live in South Africa and we love our wonderbag. We use it often. The sorted team should try making some more South African dishes in a future video. It will be really cool to watch them try some of our traditional foods

[tanisejones]

During WWII there was a way of cooking used in rural areas where you would cook your stew in the pot on the range/hob and once it was bubbling hot you got a box and filled it full of straw and then put the pot of stew in the box cover with more straw to insulate. You would leave it for a few hours and come back to a fully cooked meal. It helped save fuel during war time and helped women who were leaving the home to help the war effort.

[edithchepkwony]

We also have a similar item in Kenya only that ours come as an insulated basket rather than a bag but its the same concept and serves the exact same purpose and is mostly made by women for women
Thankyou for highlighting it.

[RevCondor]

Fellow South African here, thank you for shedding light into such a wonderful cause. Once this pandemic is over it would be incredible for you guys to come to South Africa and experience our culture and our food!!! Maybe even organize a meet and greet so you can see how many South African fans you have <3

[kinos]

Something about seeing Sorted grow from college meals and passing sour dough starters to international advocacies and innovative gadget reviews. Just the sort of heart warming needed in these times.

Thanks for this vid and everything, everyone!

[SparrowAva]

I was lucky enough to spend time going around South Africa and Lesotho promoting and providing Wonderbags with the charity Africa's gift. It was amazing and we saw how much of an impact this has in the lives of everyday people. Not only does it help people's health and the environment massively, but it also provides women with more opportunities to work because they don't have to be sat around a fire all day cooking. I met some women in Lesotho who started a sewing group; sewing reusable sanitary pads for local school girls. They were only able to do this because they had more time, due to the wonderbag! Thanks so much for promoting this, you have no idea how much good this will do!
P.s. Sarah Collins (the creator of the wonderbag) is such a rockstar and anyone interested should definitely look her up too. And I believe it's recycled foam inside them!

[maryjanegibson]

I once rea a story by a woman who was visiting an elderly relative in another country (not sure where, but it was a northern country) who was cooking something that would ordinarily be simmered for hours. The elderly woman did the initial preparation and had it cooking away, then said something like "Now we put it to bed." She pulled the blankets back on her bed, then put the tightly-covered hot pot on the bed, turcked the blankets around it, and left it there for the rest of the day. Apparently this was a very traditional way of cooking from the elderly woman's childhood years. I have never heard any other story like this ever since then but have never forgotten it.

[carolynrupp]

This makes me really happy to see, and now im thinking it would be super cool if you guys started a series about food activism. Something for struggling families around London, or something like that. I would love to see one of my favorite channels continuing to acknowledge and actively work on acknowledging the privilege of food.

[chasingtheclouds]

Things that never get old:
- Sorted gadget reviews
- bennuendos

[invertin]

Can someone make a gif of Jamie saying "THAT, my friend, is called privelege" that's an incredibly useful clip

[stoneagainst]

Ben: "I'm excited for this!!"
James: "So am I, but I just show it in a different way Ben."

[WantedVisual]

The first time I saw this, I remember my Norwegian host dad telling me about dynegrøt (Duvet porridge) while he was teaching me how to make rice pudding. You get your rice pudding started, bring it to a boil, lid on, wrap it in newspaper, wrap it in your duvet, and go skiing. He mentioned string being involved to secure both paper and duvet. By the time you get back from skiing a few hours later, you have rice pudding. He wanted to try it out. My host mom, who loves the man she married but also washes all duvets in the house, did not.

Also, there's a British version of this from WWII: hot pot of slow cooked food, wrapped in a cloth or newspaper, packed in a wooden box full of straw, saving you whatever rationed kind of fuel your stove runs on.