Aircore Cookware Refugees

AirCore, what is it? It is a type of cookware that was on a infomercial in the late 1990's and early 2000's. It is stainless steel and well made. It is unique in that it was called "walk-away-cookware". The reason being that after you got the pot up to a certain temperature you turned off the heat and walked away. The meal then 'self cooked'. In reality the cookware is a "thermal cooker" if you do searches for that you will find a lot of resources (I have linked to a few on the external links page). They might look different, but they work the same way.

It is also somewhat similar to the current method of "waterless cooking" however that never turns off the heat totally. This you do. It is similar to traditional slow cooking but without the pot being on constantly. Therefore it is safer in that there is never a chance of fire or burning the food (unless you had it too hot in the first place). It is also very energy efficient.

The infomercial made odd claims, such as being able to bring a pot up to the proper temperature then place in the freezer and have the food still cook. This is not possible. But it is still a good set and works well when you use it as it is designed (with the exception of sticking it in the freezer).

There is an account of a pot 'blowing up' cycling around the internet. It might be true that one pot did due to either an odd defect or more likely the person was heating it without food or liquid which WILL damage the cookware. Using the cookware normally, with care it won't melt down or blow up. But this can be said for any cookware.

While it hasn't been sold in a while (originally it was from E4L aka Everything4less) you can find sets around the internet, often on ebay for reasonable prices, also it appears to be currently available at overstock.com for 124.99. although you can usually find it cheaper on ebay but not always. The largest problem I have found is the lack of recipes. While most sets came with a cookbook/guide it was not very extensive, and over the years many sets have been seperated from the book. This site aims to help those users that would like to use their AirCore cookware and lost the book. Or to connect to others that use it. This site is a work in progress so please bear with me while I work on this. :)

Types of sets:

The main (large 20 piece) set included:

1-6 Quart Self-Cooker

1-Look'n'Cook Glass Cover For 6 Quart

1-ThermoSeal Steel Cover With AutoCook ThermoKnob For 6 Quart

1-3 Quart Self-Cooker

1-Look'n'Cook Glass Cover For 3 Quart

1ThermoSeal Steel Cover With AutoCook ThermoKnob For 3 Quart

1-3 Piece Steamer/Grater Plus System (1 Each Of Steamer/Grater, Sizing Ring, Handle)

1-10 Inch Fry Pan

1-Cake Pan Adapter Ring

1-Walk-Away In Minutes Cookbook

1-Meat Rack

1-4 Quart 4-n-1 Convertible Bowl

2-Stay-Fresh Resealable Plastic Lid For 4 Quart

1-2 Quart 4-n-1 Convertible Bowl

2-Stay-Fresh Resealable Plastic Lid For 2 Quart

1-Instructional Video VHS

The Storage/insulated storage cases never came with the new sets "in the box" instead you had to order them separately either when ordering or later on.

The other smaller (15 piece) set I know of had:

1-8 Quart Self-Cooker (this is actually larger than the 20 piece 6 quart dutch oven, which I found surprising It is 10 1/2" diameter x 6 3/4" it is 10 1/2" DIAMETER X 6 3/4", without the lid of course).

1-ThermoSeal Steel Cover With AutoCook ThermoKnob For 6 Quart

1-Steamer pot (I think this is what it is for) that sits on top of the 6 Quart

1-4 Quart 4-n-1 Convertible Bowl

1-Steamer insert (or meat rack?)

1-frying basket, although might be for something else not sure

While I do have this set, no instructions came with it so I am not certain on some of the uses with this one. I know it was offered in the later years of the infomercial.

Lunch on the go, Picnic on the go

(what was included and photos)

This set was advertised during the normal sets as something you could order separately. It was a nice set but is much harder to find as it was not as popular by the looks as I don't see it on ebay very much. It included:

THERMOS: 3" DIAMETER X 8 1/2" HIGH

WITH PUSH DOWN TOP FOR DRINKING ON THE GO

COLD DISH CONTAINER WITH 2 PLASTIC LIDS:

7" DIAMETER X 2 1/2" HIGH

AIRCORE PAN (AND LOOK-N-COOK

THERMOSEAL STEEL COVER:

PAN (1 Quart): 7" DIAMETER X 3 1/4" HIGH W/O COVER

5 1/2" HIGH WITH COVER

GLASS INNER COVER: 6" DIAMETER

CARRYING CASE THAT Holds the whole thing.

I also ran across a double boiler fry pan with the glass inner lid (look and cook). I have no idea if this was a set or sold separately. I never saw it part of a set and never knew it existed until i saw it recently on ebay:

(1) PAN: 10 1/2 " DIAMETER X 3 3/4" HIGH

CLEAR GLASS LID

(1) LOOK-N-COOK THERMOSEAL STEEL COVER

(1) INSERT PAN FOR DOUBLE BOILER USE

If anyone has recipes for this (there must have been a book given with it at some point) pass it on.

Also one other note, I recently ran across someone saying the temperature/thermoknobs unscrew. All the info I got with my sets never mention this. Did anyone else get actual instructions about removing the temperature knobs?