The Cooking Cosy provides a cooking solution for every campervan. It helps save energy, is environmentally friendly and super cute! Find out what we thought when we reviewed this item cooking in our very own campervan!
A little about the company Cooking Cosy
We came across the company cooking cosy on Instagram and it intrigued us immediately. We reached out to Geraldine there and she very kindly sent us some cooking cosies to try ourselves.
The company is based in Northern Ireland, and was partly developed by accident after abandoning some pasta whilst cooking and realising that you do not necessarily need to have a pan on the hob all the time for the food to cook. (They tell the story a lot better on their site!) This is so ideal for cooking in a campervan or any mobile home as we know gas can be a limited resource. This product is designed to reduce the amount of energy used as we will explain below….
What is a cooking cosy and how is it a campervan cooking solution?
Those with vans are well aware there can be constraints when cooking in a campervan. One of these can be a limited supply of energy when cooking. Whether you have gas or electric for cooking, a fixed hob or a camping stove, this product can help you.
The Cooking Cosy is 100% wool. It is designed to keep pans hot so that the food inside continues to cook even after being taken off the hob. This is such a great cooking solution for inside a campervan, or any other tiny kitchen in fact. After bringing the pan to the boil, simply remove from the heat, place on a heat-proof mat & cover with the cosy. The website has the recommended cooking guidelines, and the cosy comes with a set of helpful instructions and timings. Generally adding another 5-10 minutes to the cooking time gives the same results but with a lot less energy usage.
What did we like about the cooking cosy?
I (Sophie) actually adore the design of this product, I love the colour and the fact it is made from natural materials (100% wool). It is obviously lightweight which is very well suited to cooking and travelling in a campervan. Another advantage is that it can be folded flat or rolled up to store. This means it can be stored in the tiniest of spaces in your tiny kitchen. Rolled up in our kitchen drawer it even stops things moving around when we’re on the road. Win, win!
It is very versatile and can fit many different sized pans. We tend to only have 2-3 pans in our van due to storage and this works with them really well. We have tested it cooking, pasta, rice and buckwheat. The buckwheat took a bit of practice, the first time we left it a little too long and it turned into a soggy mess. We like to think we have perfected it now. We tend to steam our vegetables so are yet to try it on those yet.
We recently held an afternoon tea live in our van & we used the cosy then to keep our teapot warm. We do love a multi-use item, who doesn’t when travelling tiny!
Using these means you can leave your food cooking with confidence. There is no need to worry about wind blowing the flame out and it means you can get on with other things whilst your food is cooking away.
The main feature that we love about this product is that we can save precious gas when cooking. We cook a LOT in our van, plus I do a lot of baking, so we use a fair bit of gas. A way to save gas without sacrificing our food seems ideal to us.
Take your Cosy walking, hiking or camping!
The great thing about the cosy is that it is so lightweight it can easily be stored and carried alongside your camping stove. When camping, gas is even more precious than in your campervan. This little gadget will mean that you can save gas when on these trips.
When finished, fold it and roll it up, store it away and you won’t even know it’s there!
What didn’t we like about the cooking cosy?
We can honestly say there wasn’t anything we didn’t like about the product. It takes a while to get used to the timings as obviously these can vary slightly depending on the size of the pan and how full it is. We haven’t needed to clean ours yet, as it isn’t really likely to get dirty during use unless something has run down the side of the pan. We think they seem pretty easy to clean & would be ok to be rinsed in the sink and left to dry.
The disadvantage that we could see being an issue for some people is that the product is not advised for using with meat. This doesn’t affect us really as I’m a vegetarian and Mark doesn’t eat a large amount of meat anyway. It does however free up your hob allowing you to cook meat whilst your veg/pasta/rice is cooking on the side.
Where can you get this cooking solution for your campervan?
Here are the links to the Cooking Cosy and how you can get your hands on them. They are priced at €17.95, we are also running a giveaway for one lucky winner to get one. Head to our Instagram to find out how… @vanlife_eats
Website: www.cookingcosy.com
Instagram: @cooking_cosy
Conclusion
We really enjoy using these. They are very well suited to vanlife or any tiny kitchen. Any kitchen in fact – we have one for at home too! They are lightweight which is ideal when weight is an issue such as in a campervan or when camping. They are easy to store, they can fit into small spaces so storage isn’t an issue at all. All in all these are a fab way to save energy when cooking!
“Let your cosy do the cooking!”
Want to see more product reviews for your campervan kitchen? Click here
Here are some recipes where the cooking cosy would come in useful.
