Slow Cooker

[CarinaHymer]

Hi can anyone help with 2 questions please? 1st is to recommend a good slow cooker for a Campervan, I have an inverter and don't want to run into problems with energy, I am considering a solar power bank like Jackery or Vitoman but again am unsure and don't want to waste money buying wrong products thanks in advance.
Carina

 

[Langtoftlad]

Q1 Cheap & cheerful
Q2 Slow cookers usually take less juice than a 100w light bulb so run it low of a cheap & cheerful inverter via your dash 12v, hot dinner on arrival.

Nice & simple
eg Bestek 300w about £40+

I have an Anker powerbank and it's brilliant but find out if you need to spend north of £1k for something & solar.

 

[Just smiffy]

Check out getting solar panels on the roof and maybe more batteries, this method is fit and forget, battery box’s still need charging and are very expensive for what is basically a battery in a box when you already have this on board your van, just upgrade what you already have…

 

[Arnside037]

Crockpot Slow Cooker under £15 for 1 - 2 people , 100W, might be sufficient.
Here on Amazon
So if you cook a meal for 6 hours while you are out for the day, that's 600W (assuming its on power all the time. Mine seems to. )
I have a small power bank of 720W. So use it for a day and I'm left with not much. But I have got a meal to come back to.
So you may need a bigish one. A 1000W will be over £1000
Fine in summer cos you can recharge the battery, but not really for winter. But of course its winter when you need the hot meal.
Use gas and heat the van at the same time. Use the £1000 for gas and some good wine to go with the meal.

 

[scotjimland]

To put it into prespective

our slow cooker is 200watts at 240 v = 0.8A
using it with an inverter supplied by 12v it will use = 17A (allowing a small % for inverter losses)

to cook a dinner , say 5 hours it will use 85ah ..
that is the full capacity of 2 x 85ah batteries down to 50% ..effectively flat

you can now do the sums for a smaller cooker..

how much battery power do you have ? ..

my advice, slow cookers are best used on mains .. off grid.. use gas .. unless you have very deep pockets for a sizeable battery bank and solar panels.. and bear in mind it can only be used when it's sunny .. no use in a UK winter ..

We slow cook in a casserole in a gas oven .. it uses very little gas..

when it comes to cooking.. Propane is king ..

leave the batteries for important tasks like charging the phone , water pump , lights and watching TV

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[CarinaHymer]

I do have solar panels on roof x 2 but as someone said sun in winter is rare esp in Scotland, I load my iPad with movies but im big into nature and filming the trip around Scotland in Winter is my objective, by full moon lighting, hope im not overreaching.
Carina

 

[Shrimp]

You’re going to struggle, in winter, in Scotland, relying on Solar!

 

[Landy Andy]

CarinaHymer

Have you thought about one of these

Mr Ds Cookware – The Slow Cooker that needs No Power

We have had one for years. (When they were much cheaper)

 

[Headrush]

CarinaHymer

Have you thought about one of these

Mr Ds Cookware – The Slow Cooker that needs No Power

We have had one for years. (When they were much cheaper)

My inner scientist cringes at that statement "no power".
Especially when reading how it works -

Put all the ingredients in to the inner pot and bring it to the boil. Once boiling reduce the heat to bring the contents to a simmer. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the recipe instructions). Once the simmering time is complete take the inner pot off the stove and put it into the outer pot.

 

[Just smiffy]

I do have solar panels on roof x 2 but as someone said sun in winter is rare esp in Scotland, I load my iPad with movies but im big into nature and filming the trip around Scotland in Winter is my objective, by full moon lighting, hope im not overreaching.
Carina

If this is the objective then you’ll have to stay somewhere with EHU even if you had an expensive battery box…

A pressure cooker will reduce the time on the gas cooker…

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[Guigsy]

Slow cookers don't need a lot of power (watts). But they draw that low power for a long time, so overall they need a lot of energy (amp-hours, kilowatt-hours).

Slow cookers also release a lot of moisture, wouldn't that make the van damp?

Those pressure cookers that use a reservoir of boiling water for long heating do look good though.

 

[Southpark]

We have just bought a 100W 1.5 L slow cooker from factory outlet. We are thinking of buying a 500W inverter not sure yet. We will be using it on electric hookups for now.

 

[the1andonly]

Weve used a low power slow cooker whilst on the move (150w MSW invertor plugged in 12v). When stationary we use a 3l pressure cooker on gas. The details given previously basicaly mean these batteries in a box are not realy suitible for your application , spend money on upgradi g existing , ie additional battery , Li, more solar or convert existing solar to tilting.

 

[CarinaHymer]

You’re going to struggle, in winter, in Scotland, relying on Solar!

Slow cookers don't need a lot of power (watts). But they draw that low power for a long time, so overall they need a lot of energy (amp-hours, kilowatt-hours).

Slow cookers also release a lot of moisture, wouldn't that make the van damp?

Those pressure cookers that use a reservoir of boiling water for long heating do look good though.

I am going to have to do more homework on this topic methinks, Thank you ....good answer, and lots to consider

 

[Monkfish]

Hi can anyone help with 2 questions please? 1st is to recommend a good slow cooker for a Campervan, I have an inverter and don't want to run into problems with energy, I am considering a solar power bank like Jackery or Vitoman but again am unsure and don't want to waste money buying wrong products thanks in advance.
Carin

Jacket spuds are really good in a slow cooker; clean them, pierce them, a bit of oil and salt… 4+hours on low heat wrapped in foil. Finish off in dry fryer or oven. Taste much better than microwave and great to come back to after a day out.

To reduce power consumption we put tea towels on top which dries the towels and means the slow cooker thermostat isn’t turning the power on for long.

we use this small cooker, its oval which i think is a more usable shape.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OBB8C5Y/?tag=mhf04-21

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[Bucket]

We carry a very small one bought from Sainsbury's some years ago. Sorry I can't remember how much but it was under £20. It is about the size of a medium saucepan all in. I have seen the same or similar since so they are easily found.
We only use it when hooked up though.

 

[Shrimp]

I had a ‘Mr D’ a while ago and I wouldn’t have another!
Its a good idea and sounds good, but, the base of the cooking pot os very rough, it scratched the sink and the worktops in the van!
You could always try an ordinary heavy two handled saucepan wrapped in a quilt! But the stew has to be very hot before wrapping it up and will probably need reheating again before eating!
Is it worth it?!?

 

[Landy Andy]

I had a ‘Mr D’ a while ago and I wouldn’t have another!
Its a good idea and sounds good, but, the base of the cooking pot os very rough, it scratched the sink and the worktops in the van!
You could always try an ordinary heavy two handled saucepan wrapped in a quilt! But the stew has to be very hot before wrapping it up and will probably need reheating again before eating!
Is it worth it?!?

Mine isn’t like that. Smooth and not damaging. I don’t see why they would supply it with rough base.

 

[RogerIvy]

We've used a slow cooker (small and cheap) successfully.
The trick is to make a nice "cozy" to cover it - you save a huge amount of power ... once it's heated up it barely needs to draw more off the battery.
Even a towel is better than nothing (ie better than losing heat via several thermal bridges). A double towel is better, a proper cozy even better. If you can detect the heat you're using battery.
And yes, all the comments about summer vs winter etc are correct.

 

[Monkfish]

Jacket spuds are really good in a slow cooker; clean them, pierce them, a bit of oil and salt… 4+hours on low heat wrapped in foil. Finish off in dry fryer or oven. Taste much better than microwave and great to come back to after a day out.

To reduce power consumption we put tea towels on top which dries the towels and means the slow cooker thermostat isn’t turning the power on for long.

we use this small cooker, its oval which i think is a more usable shape.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OBB8C5Y/?tag=mhf04-21

Just checked, draws 68watts from our Anker Powerstation when on low.

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[mitzimad]

We have one but only use it to cook whilst travelling or on hookup

 

[Gina M]

My inner scientist cringes at that statement "no power".
Especially when reading how it works -

I have to agree with you on this, I much prefer a slow cooker where you put everything in the pot switch on and walk away. I don't like the idea of standing over a pot for 15 minutes and then putting into a pot.

 

[Shrimp]

Mine isn’t like that. Smooth and not damaging. I don’t see why they would supply it with rough base.

It was the inner pot had a very rough base!