Disclosure: I received a discount on this product in exchange for an honest review.
Since my kids are young, we haven’t ventured out on camping trips beyond our own backyard. Hopefully this will change over the next few years. I recently learned of a new way to cook both outdoors and indoors with Seth McGinn’s CanCooker Jr.
The idea of the CanCooker was started in eastern Nebraska by young Seth McGinn when he took part in a cattle round-up on his grandparent’s ranch. During the round-up, all the families in the area would bring food that was added into a cream can. It was placed on a fire to cook while they worked. Then at lunch time, they would gather for a hot, hearty, homemade meal that could easily feed a large crowd.
From this experience, Seth and Sonja McGinn sought a way to decrease preparation and clean up time at a family gathering. They sought hard to find and tried a cream. When they lifted the can from the fire, the bottom fell out. 🙁 Seth worked to master his creation, the CanCooker. The CanCooker Jr. retails for approximately $60.
I was sent the CanCooker Jr. and it comes with a convenient storage bag and recipe booklet. The CanCooker Rack is sold separately, but is a great way to keep your food out of the liquids on the bottom of the CanCooker Jr.
The CanCooker Jr. weighs about 3 lb. and has a cooking capacity of 2 gallons. It has a vented lid for pressure release and premium high temperature silicone gasket. CanCooker Jr. is made of anodized FDA grade 1060 aluminum that offers heat conduction for faster cooking. It has safety clamps to hold the lid in place and the handles are riveted on securely.
The CanCooker Rack has a retail price of $13.99. It comes as two pieces so you can place in one piece and then the second beside it and cover the entire diameter of the base. This like I mentioned before, helps elevate your food above the liquid and it also helps prevent burning. It also makes clean up a bit easier. I have not tried this yet, but you can place empty beer cans under the rack to steam and cook tamales, chocolate steam cake, and more.
Here are the two sections to the rack.
The safety clamps are clamped down and you can see the vent hole on the lid.
The storage bag keeps all the pieces in one place and aids in keeping you CanCooker Jr. protected from dust and other debris.
Like with pretty much any other kitchen bakeware or device, you want to wash the CanCooker Jr. before using. It should be cleaned with soap and water before using. It is NOT dishwasher safe.
You may spray the interior of the CanCooker with non-stick cooking spray to aid in clean-up. Then load your CanCooker with vegetables on the bottom and meat on the top. The liquid is also to be added and this may be water, beer, juice, soda, wine, marinades, etc. Usually it is about 12-24 oz. of liquid. Then you can top with your choice of seasonings.
I tried the Favorite Recipe included in the recipe booklet and online, but forgot the onion. I added the items per instructions, locked the lid on with the latches, placed it on our electric range started at low to medium heat. I had to go up to medium high before it would start to steam. It should take about 15 minutes to get to this point.
Once you see steam, you would then maintain the cooking temperature. I didn’t realize at first that the temperature needed to be increased if steam wasn’t noted after 15 minutes so it took longer for me to first notice the steam – lesson learned. For this recipe, it was about 30 minutes cooking time after the steam was visualized.
Then you should remove the CanCooker from its heat source with oven mitts on because the handles will be hot. The CanCooker should sit for 5-10 minutes before removing the lid.
Here is the finished product. The vegetables and ring bologna were so tender! I would eat cabbage all the time like this. We have used the CanCooker since then just to cook vegetables because we loved how delicious and tender the veggies were.
I did use the CanCooker the other night and cranked up the heat on the range a little too high. Everything was done, but there was some burnt food on the bottom since too much moisture steamed out. I soaked the CanCooker with warm water and soap and followed with scrubbing with mild steel wool. It came off without much effort.
Along with cooking meat and potatoes, you can also make breakfast omelets and desserts with the CanCooker. The only negative I would say about the CanCooker is that the labeling on the outside of the CanCooker has come off and smeared with just the soap and water on a dishcloth for cleaning. This is just a cosmetic issue.
Otherwise, this is a neat cooking gadget. I look forward to trying the CanCooker yet on the grill and campfire. The recipe booklet mentions coating the bottom of the CanCooker with bar soap to ease in removing soot from the bottom easier.
To learn more about Seth McGinn’s CanCooker and CanCooker Jr., please visit cancooker.com. The CanCooker can also be found on Facebook. The CanCooker Jr. is priced at $59.99 with a green camouflage bag or $69.98 for the CanCooker Jr. and the rack plus the storage bag.
