Haybox Cookery at Frome Potato Day

Tim Manning made an excellent hay box, which was much admired at Potato Day. Brenda, Julian and Diane ran the stall. People who visited our stall put their hands into the hay nest and were surprised at how well it kept the jacket potatoes hot. Then whilst they ate pieces of potato dipped in herb butter (with herbs from Brenda and Julian’s garden) we explained the principles of the hay box. It can be used either to cook casseroles or to keep food hot such as the potatoes. See below for details.

There was a lot interest. A few had used a haybox them selves, some others knew the principles but had never seen one in use, and some had never seen/heard of such a thing! Several people said it inspired them to use this method of cooking. A young woman who visited the stall said, “I have recently started a woodwork course. I need a project, and making a hay box would be a good one.” A young man left the stall considering a hay box business. Two women began to imagine wonderful winter picnics on their allotment with pots of hot vegetables.

A haybox is just what it says - a box of hay. As a means of cooking it works by insulation. In Mrs Beeton’s “All About Cookery” a section is devoted to Hay-Box or Fuelless  Cookery. There is also Rohde’s book quoted below.  Haybox cookery is a way of reducing your fuel bills and a method that is safe to leave for hours. Besides cooking casseroles you can use it to keep things hot such as baked potatoes. For cooking casseroles it will take about 4 times as long as the usual method but only one quarter of that time requires a stove (hence fuel). For a dish that usually needs 2 hours to cook allow 8 hours, but simmer on the stove/in the over for just half an hour, than whilst the casserole is still simmering place it in the haybox, and leave there for a further 7½ hours or more. It will not come to any harm and will not burn. You can leave it for the whole day or overnight. Some heat will be lost.  Re heat before serving. A full casserole works best.

Making a haybox

You will need a wooden box that can be padded inside with hay filled cushions to make a nest for a casserole dish or linen bag of hot foods such as jacket potatoes.

In her book “Haybox Cookery” (1939) Eleanour Sinclair Rohde suggests using a “Tate sugar-box” costing about 9d (about 4 p)! This measured 18 by 21 by 15 inches and was ½ inch thick. You might start with your casserole that has a tight fitting lid and then procure or make the box large enough to house it with 4- 6 inches of cushions filled with hay all around – preferably 6 inches above and below and at least 4 inches on each side. Rohde suggests that the empty box is first lined with several layers of newspaper folded and cut to fit each side. This should then be covered with cotton material eg calico, which is tacked (with tin tacks or drawing pins) in place. Six cushions or old pillowcases are then packed with hay (not chopped hay). A cushion 6 inches deep is placed in the bottom, cushions of 4 inches are fitted to each of the 4 sides and once the casserole has been placed within this “nest” the final 6 inch cushion is placed on top. The box lid needs to fit on top and a weight on top of the lid will help it to stay down. I have used an old tin trunk lined with paper and hay filled cushions. Tin is not nearly as good as wood for insulation, but it was good enough when packed with potatoes around midday for consumption between 1 and 2 pm.