We lost power a few weeks ago and I had the chance to try out some of my non-traditional cooking appliances.
Portable food warmers like Hot Logic heat food to about 165 degrees. It is not hot enough to bake a cake or brownies. The leavening agents used in cakes need to be heated above 122 degrees to be activated, and it takes too long to reach this uniform temperature in the food warmer. Without the lift of the baking soda the cake cannot set.
I had heard of crock pot cakes, so I felt like it was possible to make some simple baked goods in my portable food warmer. So I looked into the crock pot cake recipes.
Well, turns out, Crockpot cakes are mostly lava cakes which do not set all the way through, or cobblers which are not cakes at all. So, I decided to just try it myself and see what happened.
The power went out a few weeks ago, so we had the chance to get creative with our portable oven. We have an inexpensive car jump battery that has 12v outlets, since we use our food warmers in the car, they run on 12v power!
Perfect. Ok.
I tried a brownie baking mix in my Sabot Heat, which is another brand of portable food warmer, but it has the ability to heat up more quickly.
I divided the mix in half and mixed it up according to package directions. I put the batter in a 6 cup rectangular Pyrex, without a lid and put it in the warmer, plugged it in and waited.
You can see the process in this video, but I did not film the result!!
The result was just warm batter.
It did not cook, even a little.
The temperature of the batter did not reach the safe level of 165 degrees to make it safe to eat raw.
5 Dessert Ideas with a Portable Oven
So, cake is out, but what can you cook in your portable oven if you are looking for sweets?
Well, eggs are out. The portable food warmers just do not get hot enough. So consider some of those crock pot recipes.
Baked Apples
Core out a few apples and fill with your favorite toppings:
Chocolate Chips
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon
Raisins
Sprinkles
Nutmeg
Arrange the apples or apple slices in your portable food warmer. I would think you would want 2-3 hours to get them nice and warm and soft.
This is a great dessert for young and old.
Top with granola if you like a little crunch.
Spiced apple sauce would be a nice hot breakfast as well.
Smores Fondue
Layer chocolate chips and mini marshmallows in a 3 or 6 cup rectangular Pyrex or other glass container and put it in the warmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
Dip in graham crackers, pretzel sticks or Nilla Wafers for a very campfire-ish experience.
Peanut Clusters
These portable ovens are good for melting chocolate because they do not get too hot. Throw some peanuts and chocolate chips into the Hot Logic and after 30-45 minutes it will be melted.
Pick up big spoonfuls and put them on a plate or wax paper. They will set into sweet DIY candies.
Dump Cake
Dump cake recipes use cake mix and butter to make a crumble topping for fresh or canned fruit.
This is a really good pantry dessert, you can keep cake mix and canned fruit in the pantry and have a sweet warm dessert on a moment’s notice.
Rice Pudding
Leftover rice (the portable oven cannot cook rice from raw) mixed with sweetened milk makes a really luxurious dessert.
We have friends who love rice pudding with raisins for breakfast!
This versatile recipe would be great in a slow cooker. Just be sure to choose a recipe without eggs for food safety.
How Hot Does the Hot Logic Get?
The Hot Logic gets up to around 165 degrees. This temperature is important because it is a safe food temperature recommended by food safety organizations.
According to this really helpful chart at foodsafety.gov, 165 will keep you safe when eating most foods.
The Hot Logic is advertised to be capable of cooking meat from raw and many users can prepare meals with raw meat.
If you choose to do this, I recommend that you grab an inexpensive food thermometer (affiliate link) to check the food temperatures before you eat your food.
The biggest difference between the Hot Logic and the Sabot Heat is the controls. The Sabot Heat allows you to adjust the time it takes the oven to heat up and how long it stays on. The Hot Logic has no controls and just turns on when you plug it in and stays on until it is unplugged.
The Sabot Heat has several settings and we found it helpful when heating up leftovers on the road.
