Electric Pressure Cooker vs LPG Set-up

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by tyleroday

Hey all,

Do you think this pressure cooker could work on my boat electricity-wise? The specs for it say 120V~ 60Hz, 1000w. I am clueless when it comes to electrics so I thought maybe someone on here could help me out...

Have a look at thermal cookers - they are like a large Thermos flask but will cook a wide range of foods including baking bread etc with minimal energy. You will need gas to raise it to temperature but after that it will sit in a corner without using any energy.

I bought mine in UK from Mr D - mrdsthermalcooker.com but there are other brands out there.

TwT

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by tyleroday

Hey all,
I got an Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker (6Qt/1000W, Stainless Steel Cooking Pot and Exterior) as a gift. I was just about to return it and get an old fashioned non-electric one but began to wonder if this could be a good idea. It is stainless steel and generates 0 steam and is also safe. No gas leaks/explosions, mildew, mold, or rust.

I have a 34ft O'Day moored boat with absolutely no cooking instrument. I was going to buy a LPG stove top, canister, solenoid, pipes, etc. and do the whole "propane set-up", although I have to admit I am nervous of the explosion horror stories. I have 2 100w solar panels in sunny FL with a dual battery controller going to my two batteries. I only use electricity for lights and the radio at the moment. I know I will need an inverter (which I don't have yet) and maybe another battery, these two combined would be cheaper, safer, and cleaner than that the LPG set-up I was planning on.

Do you think this pressure cooker could work on my boat electricity-wise? The specs for it say 120V~ 60Hz, 1000w. I am clueless when it comes to electrics so I thought maybe someone on here could help me out...

We have propane so the choice is simple. A single tank of propane lasts 3 - 4 months and we cook every day. We also have a fissler half height pressure cooker which is better than any pressure cooker we've had in the past.

We have a 2000W inverter and 675 Ahr of house capacity. We rarely use the inverter now as everything runs directly from 12V. Our daily needs are met by solar. And we aren't camping.

I can't imagine using an electric pressure cooker.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[TrentePieds]

Originally Posted by tyleroday

I was going to buy a LPG stove top, canister, solenoid, pipes, etc. and do the whole "propane set-up", although I have to admit I am nervous of the explosion horror stories.

I have a three burner stove with oven, non gimballed, in Trente Pieds. I cook essentially as I would ashore, and apart from propane being a tad slower (lower calorific output) than "city gas" or indeed a whizz-bang 'lectic "range", there is nought I would cook ashore that I can't cook as well aboard. It's counter/prep space that's lacking - not heat :-)

Do NOT get yer skivvies in a knot about explosion danger. Of course we treat all combustibles with respect, but propane is NOT dangerous when correctly installed and correctly used. And both of those criteria are simple enuff to meet.

In these waters a "safety shut-off" on the propane supply is mandated, and therefore I have one. It consists of an electric solenoid valve immediately next to, and downstream from, the manual valve on the propane boggle. The solenoid is the "normally off" type, so you have to energize it with battery juice to open it and let the propane flow when you want to cook. Obviously it's wired via a switch right next to the stove.

But I don't need it, and I have it only cos it's mandated. I grudge even the half amp it draws from the "house battery" when it is "on". I don't need it cos I go back to to the days before the famous Danish scientist Örsted had clued in to what electro-magnetism is, and thereby made solenoid valves possible. And before desk-bound civil servants presumed to tell us how to live.

I have two propane boggles side by each in a dedicated cockpit locker vented directly overboard via scuppers at the BOTTOM on the locker but above waterline. The locker does NOT communicate in any way with the bilge or other spaces below deck. Errant gas will simply drop overboard. But there is NEVER errant gas, cos I only open the manual valve on the boggle just before I need the stove. When I finish with the stove, I do NOT "turn off the gas" on the stove. I turn off the valve on the boggle and let the gas "burn out of the line" as the pressure in the line goes to zero. THEN I turn off the stove controls.

Following that procedure there is NO reason that propane would ever get into your bilge and therefore there is NO reason to fear an explosion. It goes without saying that your safety checks (performed at frequent intervals) include a survey of the gas line running from solenoid to stove.

TrentePieds

[Ironman162]

Im of the same mindset as you and am using a microwave oven and a electric pressure cooker on my boat amoungst other luxuaries.
I have found however that I drain the batteries much quicker than I can charge them so as time went by I fallen into the habit of starting the generator around dinner time for the 20 mins it takes, use the pressure cooker or micowave as well as charges the batteties a bit.
Most people are surprisingly tolerant of the generator around dinner time for a short while but heaven help you if you started it after hours. So I still make tea on the gas burner.

Im fortunate to have bottled gas installed, 12v as well as 240v on my boat with 300w solar 400w wind and a 500A battery bank with a silenced 3kva honda generator backup.
It can work if you want it to, just play around with options and dont loose heart - its you boat and thats what makes us all unique.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Tyler-
If you have a 100AH deep cycle battery, like a single new Group 31, you've just consumed over 10% of the battery charge cooking dinner. If you want great battery life and you only cycle the battery to the 50% point...Well, you might cook dinner for four days on that one battery, if you used no other power and then promptly recharged it.
If you've got a 200AH bank, or a 400AH bank, or you have shore power every second or third night...it becomes more tolerable.

Not tolerable, but possible. With a single battery - say a group 31 - the draw of the inverter will drop the voltage quickly to a point where the inverter shuts down. I see this often. The 400 AH battery bank will sustain the inverter's large amp draw without the bank dropping to a voltage that will cause the it to shut down. An 85 amp load is almost the same as the engine's starter on continuously.

Propane makes a lot more sense. Treated properly with a good installation it is safe. I have been living aboard for more than a decade with propane and wouldn't use any other fuel for cooking.

[tyleroday]

Great, thank you all so much for all the input and help. I really appreciate it and was surprised at how much I received! I am going to return the pressure cooker and get a old fashioned non-electric one with the money and I found a solenoid on craigslist so I will begin my adventure of the LPG install.

Again thanks for everyones feedback. Very reassuring and enlightening.

[seandepagnier]

I attached a 12 volt ceramic heater to a titanium cooking pot. Then I wrapped it in cloth to insulate and when it's cooking with the lid on I wrap it in a wool blanket

It draws 11 amps at 12 volts and will boil 2 cups of water after 40 minutes. No inverter. I have 200 watts of solar panels, and my battery dropped to 13.1 volts while I was using the cooker yesterday.


I just finished building a new stove which can use any fuel. I took a stainless steel engine exhaust bit (whatever it's called) and cut the top off. Next I weld one of the pipes it had to the bottom. I wrapped it with glass mat almost 1 inch thick to insulate. I have a screen and I put a cooking pot over the fire with a pressure cooker pot upsidedown over this to insulate the pot. When I only a small handful of charcoal in to make a fire without any flame even, I had a rolling boil in 15 minutes as you can touch the outside without burning your hand all the heat is forced into the pot.

The next step is to add more insulation and to seal it so the smoke comes out through a hole cut in the bottom of the pressure cooker. It will at this point have about 3 inches of insulation around the whole things (glass mat then wool) I will let you know but I believe it will be possible to boil water with only 1 or 2 candles, but I intend also to use small sticks no bigger than fingers, probably will need very few to cook a lot of food.