Lunchbox Cooker as Oven

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by tscottme, Jan 29, 2019.

  1. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    I've been able to use my truck stop 12 volt lunch box cooker pretty effectively as an oven. I've used it to re-heat McD Quarter Pounders, fishsticks, chicken tenders, canned veggies, etc.

    Roll a couple of lengths of aluminum foil into what looks like a cigar. Make 2 "cigars". Lay them inside the bottom cooking surface of the lunchbox cooker. You want to get your food tem off of the bottom surface of the cooker, or it will just fry the bottom and leave the rest under cooked. Wrap your item in aluminum foil then lay it on top of the "cigars". Cook. For a Qtr Pounder heat for about 15-20 minutes per top and bottom. Enjoy.

    Right now McDs is selling 2 (Big Macs, Qtr Pounders, Filet o Fish, 10 McNuggets) for 5$. The other chain burger joints have something you probably like. I buy one to eat now and one to keep in the electric cooler for later.

    The Lunch Box Cooker isn's as fast or versatile as a microwave or toaster oven but it's small and available everywhere. It beats cold food or giving up the space for bigger alternatives. Check out 12vcooking's channel on YouTube for other ideas.
     
    bzinger Thanks this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

    13,238
    70,566
    Dec 9, 2011
    South west Missouri
    0
    Try the foil pans that fit on the inside of the Burton cooker. Get em from Wally world, cheaper on line.

    Can of pasta sauce
    Little sausages
    Cheese - shredded.
    Little can of beans

    Or little can of clams/oysters/salmon/chicken etc.

    About an hour and you've got a pretty decent little dish.

    Still have ours - don't need it now, but used it for years.
     
    Bean Jr., tscottme, TripleSix and 2 others Thank this.
  4. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    10,443
    44,440
    Jan 13, 2013
    SW Arkansas
    0
    I used to cook small chuck roasts, chicken breasts and a lot of other good food in my lunchbox oven.
     
    tscottme, bzinger and blairandgretchen Thank this.
  5. bzinger

    bzinger Road Train Member

    16,598
    65,776
    Dec 10, 2014
    omaha , ne
    0
    My inverter quit the other night with fridge full of food so no microwave and won't replace it till I get home .
    So I bought one those 12 volt road pro crock pots and that thing rocks !
     
  6. Numb

    Numb Crusty Curmudgeon

    3,946
    8,785
    Jan 30, 2012
    Charlotte, N.Carolina
    0
    love the lunch box cooker.

    you can cook a half a chicken in 45 minutes!!!
     
  7. Misesian

    Misesian Road Train Member

    2,078
    3,178
    May 21, 2014
    Nothwest Arkansas
    0
    I used the lunch box cooker a lot when I worked for Knight. I made whole meals in that thing. It’s very versatile. There is a guy on YouTube that made videos about all the stuff he made in his. I’d start my meal at my mid shift 30 minute break and, by the time I stopped, dinner was ready.
     
    tscottme, blairandgretchen and bzinger Thank this.
  8. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    I think the YouTube guy is 12vcooking. He cooked full meals in the cooker. Everything except eggs turned out very nicely. There are lots of YT videos using this cooker. I still would prefer my old 12 volt Oven, which looked more like a small toaster oven, instead of the lunchbox. It also had a high and low setting. It just gave a larger flat heating surface inside. I routinely cooked the TV dinners that didn't have plastic trays. But that item doesn't seem to be available anymore.
     
  9. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

    14,530
    18,015
    Nov 1, 2010
    Burnsville, MN
    0
    Actually, it is called a lunch box oven, so...

    Before I had the inverter and a toaster-oven I would even bake potatoes in my lunch box oven.
    It takes a bit longer, but turns out just as good.

    (Actually, I guess they call it a stove. I call it an oven because it is enclosed like an oven.)
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2019
  10. Espressolane

    Espressolane Road Train Member

    17,008
    102,657
    Nov 21, 2009
    Just south of the north 40
    0
    Still have one, must be 5 years old. Have the microwave as well. Found that not having things directly on the bottom of the unit cooked more even. Depending on what your cooking, adding a small amount of water in the bottom helped.
     
  11. Eddiec

    Eddiec Road Train Member

    2,193
    3,359
    Feb 2, 2015
    0
    I used rectangular aluminum roast pans as a insert for my lunch box cooker. Sprayed some Pam in it and it worked great. Made for easy clean up when done.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.