If you’re looking to reinvent your home cooking, let us introduce you to the latest innovation in slow-cooking—the Wonderbag. This life-changing creation, invented by South African native and social advocate Sara Collins, will easily replace your slow cooker, and best of all, it’s electric-free.
If you’re like us, scratching your head and wondering how this new gadget actually works, we’re giving you the full scoop below—courtesy of Collins herself.
PA Eats: You created a non-electric slow cooker to help revolutionize kitchen cooking and embrace the beauty that is heat retention cooking. How will the use of a Wonderbag change the face of slow cooking at home?
Sarah Collins: Powerless is powerful when it comes to the Wonderbag! Unlike conventional slow cookers that eat up energy, the Wonderbag’s revolutionary insulated technology keeps your food cooking for up to eight hours after it’s brought to a boil. Because it isn’t direct heat, it will never overcook or burn. The Wonderbag is also cord-free, so you don’t have to have the nagging feeling of leaving your slow cooker plugged in while you are away at work or at play.
Where did the idea of the Wonderbag spark from, and what is your goal for those using it?
My life prior to the Wonderbag had always been rooted in work surrounding social activism in Africa, but I was always looking for a way that I thought could really make a positive, lasting impact in the areas of gender equality, environmental sustainability and world hunger.
As luck would have it—during Johannesburg’s rolling blackouts of 2008—I had a lightbulb moment. I recalled my grandmother using blankets and cushions to create heat retention (a very ancient technique) to cook food without electricity. It was that moment when I realized that such a simple, yet revolutionary, tool could be used to ease the impact of health, social, economic and environmental problems facing Africa and developing countries.
My goal for U.S. consumers is to revolutionize the way they cook and reduce energy, while giving them an opportunity to give back to communities they never thought they could help.
A cool factor of the Wonderbag is that it is crafted from recycled products. Could you provide for us a breakdown of how they are made and how these specific products make the Wonderbag an attractive alternative to the slow cooker?
The Wonderbag is a simple fabric poly-cotton blend bag that is filled with repurposed foam chips. The colorful design is directly inspired from the customary shweshwe patterns you see all over Africa.
Not only is the Wonderbag an eco-friendly and electricity-free tool, but it also arrives on the market with a charitable angle. How will its proceeds give back to those in need?
For every Wonderbag purchased in the United States, you are purchasing one for a family in need in Africa through our Buy One, Donate One program. Your purchase enhances their quality of life in ways you’d never expect. By using the Wonderbag, these families need much less wood for cooking fires—in other words, time saved collecting wood means more time for education and entrepreneurial opportunities. And when smoke inhalation from wood-fire cooking is a leading cause of death globally, the Wonderbag is a one major step in the right direction.
I’ve read endless reviews of folks ditching their Crock-Pots for a Wonderbag. (Congrats on that!) Could you reveal one or two recipes that after one trial with them in the Wonderbag, we’ll be hooked?
My Lamb Curry is a recipe I’m particularly proud of. I developed it myself after many trips to the Indian markets in central Durban. Plus, you don’t have to be a curry connoisseur to make it, either. After 4–5 hours in the Wonderbag, the flavors in the dish meld perfectly!
To learn more about the Wonderbag, watch the video below. Visit Wonderbag’s Shop to snag yourself one of these portable slow cookers. Get cooking by exploring these great Wonderbag recipes!
