Customer Reviews

Tiger NFA-B450 4.5 Liter Thermal Magic Cooker

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been six years since I bought my cooker, and it has turned out to be a real dependable workhorse in my kitchen. Three words: economical, ecological, and durable. At least once a week I use either this 4.5-liter cooker or the 8-liter one, both of which I bought after seeing that my mother had happily used her Tiger Thermal Magic Cooker (the 4.5-liter size) for several years. I was finding myself using it whenever I visited her house, so I finally caved and bought two: the 8-liter and the 4.5-liter. I am very pleased with these. I make everything from chilis, goulash, and other stews and braises to simple chicken soup, baked beans, and even rice pudding, to name just a few. I just bring the foods in the covered inner pot to a boil on the stovetop, place the pot in the outer container, close the lid, and leave it. It cooks solely with the heat in the pot, so there's no other energy-use -- very economical and ecological. I can leave the house, even, and safely be cooking; I love the freedom. Unlike a slowcooker, there's no heating element to burn the bottom of the pot, to draw electricity, to worry about. And I can't believe how long foods stay safely warm in these cookers; it's still warm the next day! Clean-up is simple, too. The initial cost is not low, but you'll easily recoup the cost in energy-savings.

works as advertised

recipes in booklet are wild--don't know i'll ever do the carp dish but you never know

works great for oat groats

only drawback is lid doesn't snap or lock shut like Thermos brand (which you can't buy in US anyway and it's $250 too)

We had a zojirushi thermal cooker before this and loved it. It's great for cooking stew, soup etc which requires long cooking time. You just boil the ingredients together and then place the pot into the vacuum container. A few hours later, it's ready to be eaten. Save on gas & power bill and no worries about watching over the stove. Highly recommended!

I've been doing some extensive experiments with the Tiger thermal cooker over the last month or so, and it is quite good at some things and not at all good at other things. The short version is that the pot must be at least half full to retain enough heat to cook properly. So, soups, curries, potatoes, and beans cook quite well if the pot is half full. Rice and split pea soup do not cook well at all, because even a family-sized recipe only fills the pot 1/4 to 1/3 full. I had really hoped to be able to cook rice in this pot, but after five different tries, I still can't get it to work. So, I take one star off for that.

I also take one star off for price. This is a pricey gizmo. I do like it, and appreciate that it uses no fuel once you bring the contents to a boil (which I can do on my fireplaces "warming shelf"). However, $170 is a lot of money. For a cheaper, lower-energy cooking method, try a pressure cooker.

For soups and stews, though, the Tiger does a very nice job. Carrots retain a nice crisp edge even when fully cooked, and except for rice, food tends to stay warm but not overcook. So you decide; if you've got the money and you mostly want to make stew, this is a 5-star item. Full details of my tests are available at [...]

We got this magic pot a couple of months ago and love it
it does everything a crock pot can do but without electricty
we especially love it for camping as we will have gourmet meals on the campground

I think the design of this thermal cooker is flawed, the lid area and the handle part leak heat. I tried to use this thermal cooker to cook some beef stew. After 6 hours when I opened it, even though it was still warm the beef stew was not ready. I had to cook the beef stew on stove for another hour.

So it is probably good if you are looking for a thermal warmer but not for a thermal cooker.

The shipment is in time, and the product is as per described.
This is the product I like. If I need similar products in the future, I will consider buy from amazon again.