Quote:
Originally Posted by Tillsbury
It’s your terminology that’s worrying. You don’t “plug into” an inverter. It’s wired into the boat, and it will be the thing powering the cooktop. That’s what you have when you’re not plugged into shore power.
In order to get closer, you need a big source of power. On a boat, that’s called a generator.
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I don’t know, you have to plug into the inverter on my boat, it’s not set up for hard
wiring.
So the question arises, what kind of cooking do you do?
Gourmet or basic cooking?
With gourmet cooking you are going to have long cooking times on various things and electricity won’t
work without a big investment.
Basic cooking is a possibility with some investment. For that you need at least 2 “burners” and some sort of oven.
Currently the most efficient way of cooking with skillets and such is induction.
You can get a 2 pad plug-in induction stovetop for about $200 delivering at most 1800w or it wouldn’t be plug-in.
To cook on an induction stove you need induction cookware. Some of what you already have will work, but anything
aluminum won’t. An induction cookware set is about $100.
I assume you will want to bake things. Your best bet for that would be a convection microwave. $190, 1000w, 1.2cf. Convection ovens cooks things faster than regular oven and the high airflow over the
food changes how things need to be potted for desired surface texture.
OK so we know the watts needed. How about time?
Cooking time for breakfast in the morning will depend on what you have to eat. Let’s say
Bacon and eggs of pancakes/French toast and bacon. From frozen I cook 6 pieces of bacon in 10-12min on
med or medium low. Let’s say that’s 600w for 12min, that’s about 10a-hr out of the battery.
I cook French toast the same time or a bit shorter but at a higher heat. Let’s say 700w for 12m which is about 12a-hr.
So breakfast is 22a-hr. I will be getting an induction cooktop for my boat and will update with real numbers eventually if I remember to.
What about dinner? What are you cooking? Let’s say steaks, veggies and potatoes.
I like ribeye which is 7 min per side on a
grill. We’re pan frying here so let’s say 8min med-high or 800w. That’s 18a-hr.
Veggies need to be sautéed. 15min on medium so 600w. That’s 12a-hr.
Mashed potatoes for 2. Potatoes are diced up, put in a microwaveable dish, covered with just enough
water then microwaved on high until boiling, 7min, 700w, —>7a-hr. The pot the goes into a pot cozy and steeps until done. Make your own or buy a Wonderbag for $35. Pasta or rice is the same as potatoes.
Dinner is 37a-hr. I doubt most dinners will use that much energy.
Pasta and red sauce will be on the order of 20a-hr.
Cup of coffee: 2amp-hr.
Let’s say on overage you need 50a-hr per day for cooking and your highest electricity demand will be 1800 watts continuous.
That means you need 100a-hr battery and 200w of
solar panels budgeted for cooking.
Renogy has a 2000w continuous pure sine wave inverter for $300.
For that you will need a 200-250amp circuit breaker on its own line from the batteries. Figure $80 plus another $160 for
cables and lugs.
If you want GoSun has solar
cookers in the $325-350 range depending on how big a system you want. These would be good for boiling water or slow cooking meats or veggies.
As long as you aren’t going into locations with short days or little sun you can make solar-electric cooking work at a not unreasonable cost, but you won’t be able to do it without changing some of you cooking habits.