Presto Pot Alternative for UK Resident?

[Heleo]

I’m from the UK which means there are no presto pots here. I was wondering if anyone can suggest an alternative or tell me what I should be looking for. I plan to do some candle-making with my mother and since she has a new cooker and new pans she's all "not on my cooker" (not that I blame her).

I read about the presto pot here. But we don’t have them for sale in the UK. Can anyone suggest an alternative, please? Or let me know what I should be looking for in an alternative since I’ve no idea really what a presto pot is usually meant to do. Thanks.

[Georgia]

Hello! A presto pot is technically called a Presto Kitchen Kettle.

http://www.gopresto.com/products/products_search.php?search_value=10&operation=Search&search_type=category

It has a one-piece body and a dial temperature control. A deep frier or slow cooker usually only has off-low-high or something similar. I have seen people use electric turkey roasters. The main thing is to be able to regulate the temperature.

Quite a few people have them listed on e-bay if you find someone that ships international.

[sharyl55]

They may be called Dutch Ovens in the UK. Like Georgia said, what you are looking for is an electric pot with adjustable temperature control. Allows you to melt approx. 7 lbs of wax at a time. Since you are just starting an old pot you can use as a double boiler and set a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup in or a metal 1 piece pitcher in would work. The aluminum pour pots available in the USA hold 3 to 4 lbs of wax. You might want to look for an electric hot plate if you can't find a Presto or electric cooker. My stove top is always a mess. You Mom probably wouldn't want that with her new cooker.

[Terrie]

This person ships worldwide, and has 100% positive feedback:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PRESTO-POT-WAX-MELTER-FOR-CANDLES-SOAP-MAKING_W0QQitemZ8285259536QQcategoryZ3089QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[NattyCat]

I'm in the UK too and I have my own presto pot, bought on ebay and shipped over here.

Be warned - not only do you pay for the presto pot, your shipping will be around $65 dollars (£35) and then you need to get yourself a massive transformer capable of stepping down 1500 watts. This transformer will cost you £120 (for US folks reading this, that's $188).

All in all, you're looking at about £180 to get a presto pot into the UK and in working order ($340)

I made the mistake of thinking I could just use a plug voltage convertor, and I blew up my first presto pot - so now I'm onto my second. You MUST have a transformer, they are massive and weigh about 35kg - I have mine permanently sat on my kitchen counter as it's too heavy to move all the time.

It's expensive - and I wouldn't say it was worth it if you are just making candles as a hobby - the double boiling method works fine, and if you use Soy Wax, then the wax cleans up very easily - paraffin is much harder to clean up and your MIL won't like the mess it makes, not matter how much you try to avoid wax splashes!

I took a look in Argos etc to see if I could find an alternative, and perhaps a rice cooker or slow cooker would work - as long as they're non-stick and temperature controlled.

Hope this helps,

Nat

[victoriaj]

WOW, £120 pound for a transformer, NattyCat- i am so glad i read your post, as i was going to bring a presto pot back when i go on holiday to Florida in the summer. But at the price of the transformer needed i think i'll just stick to the double boiler method.

[NattyCat]

yep - you can get cheaper ones but you need one with an absolute minimum step-down outage of 1300 watts but I chose the 1500 just in case.

If you want to run TWO presto's in the uk, you need an even bigger one at 3000 watts with two plug outputs and that's about £250.

[Sharon in KY]

If you buy over there, do they just plug into your electric? Any electric pot that holds 4 quarts, and has a temp. dial that goes to at least 200* will work. My slow cooker has a high-med-low dial but not sure how hot that is. Don't you have a WalMart there yet??????

[NattyCat]

Nope, it can't be plugged right into the socket.

Firstly - you have 2 pin plugs and we have 3. We have 240 voltage also so a standard convertor doesnt work. I thought the same as you...until my original presto pot stopped working and when I found it why is was because I completely frazzled the heating element - which is NOT fixable, and even if it was, Presto don't sell or service the UK.

So i had to get a brand new one, with a huge transformer. Works great, cost a lot though.

nope - no walmart. I saw some slow cookers but for me, the temp wasn't controllable enough but for for the hobby candlemaker i'm sure it would be fine. I need to keep my wax at exact temperatures for longer periods of time so the presto pot is a godsend to me.

Nat

If you buy over there, do they just plug into your electric? Any electric pot that holds 4 quarts, and has a temp. dial that goes to at least 200* will work. My slow cooker has a high-med-low dial but not sure how hot that is. Don't you have a WalMart there yet??????

[Lucychez]

On 5/18/2006 at 3:43 PM, Sharon in KY said:

If you buy over there, do they just plug into your electric? Any electric pot that holds 4 quarts, and has a temp. dial that goes to at least 200* will work. My slow cooker has a high-med-low dial but not sure how hot that is. Don't you have a WalMart there yet??????

Hi our Walmart is called Asda but they unfortunately don’t stock all the same things as Walmart do x

[Marisa11]

I use my Instant pot in the slow cooker mode and use a slow cooker liner for easy clean up.