For hot ice and many other uses.

Sodium Acetate Trihydrate GR/A.C.S. grade 99.5+% CH3COONa·3H2O CAS No. 6131-90-4
Sodium Acetate Anhydrous GR/A.C.S. grade 99.0+% CH3COONa CAS No. 127-09-3
(Lab grade sodium acetate anhydrous 95+% in stock right now: please click here, only $8.95 per 200 g with shipping included and quantity discounts for more.)

Please select the one that you need. High quality A.C.S. grade/GR grade reagent. 250g, or 500g size sold as two 250g bottles. For scientific and industrial uses only, not for food or drug use. Safety Data Sheet (SDS) included with package.
 
Below are some common usage examples.
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Quick procedures for making hot ice:
In a small beaker, (every) 10 g of water was added to (every) 13 g of sodium acetate anhydrous and the mixture was heated to near boiling on a hot-water bath, with the beaker gently covered with a watch glass. If any solid still remained undissolved after 15 minutes of reaching near boiling point, the solid was filtered out with a filter paper and the liquid was collected, while still hot. If everything had dissolved, which in most cases it should, the filtering step was skipped.
Allow the liquid to gradually cool to room temperature. The solution has then become supersaturated, and any condensation core (e.g. a speck of sodium acetate anhydrous) will trigger crystallization and release of heat.To see the hot ice form, a small bit a sodium acetate anhydrous was added to the solution, and instantly the solution solidified.

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For making methane:
CH₃COONa + NaOH + CaO(as cat.) + heat → CH₄ + Na₂CO₃

As setup in the diagram in product photos, 7.5 g of sodium acetate anhydrous, 2.0 g of calcium oxide and 2.0 g of sodium hydroxide is mixed in a large test tube, sealed with a cork that has a passage tube in it. The test tube is then secured to an iron stand, and the solid mixture heated with an alcohol lamp. The generated gas (excluding the beginning volume which is air) is collected in a glass jar (or test tube) with the downward displacement of water method.
To test the purity of the methane being generated (to see whether all air has been displaced), collect a single test tube of it and ignited it on the alcohol lamp. If the sound of ignition is dull, then the methane is pure. If the sound of ignition is high-pitched, then it is still mixed with air.