Boondocking with my Instant Pot?

[Roamer]

How does this have so many pages???

I couldn't read past a few answers.

Close this thread. Silly, silly topic. You don't camp like this, you need a hotel room or to learn about camping and campers.

Use propane.
Use cooking items meant for camping.

Yes, a 1500 watt inverter will run a 700 watt anything, but will run the batteries down quick. Inverters are not efficient! Use only DC appliances whenever possible. AC is not for camping unless you are plugged in to electricity.
Batteries are meant for camper friendly appliances, fans, water pump, lights, fan on your furnace etc.

When in Rome do as the Romans, or the campers do.

[alan H]

[emoji106] kinda burnt out on this thread lol ( no pun intended )

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by M Scott

I just stuff the cancooker with meat, veggies, required amt of liquid (usually cheap beer or awful wine), herbs, done in about 20 minutes...follow recipies on-line.

Or, open a can of Campbell's Chunky beef and potato soup. Heat and eat.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Or, open a can of Campbell's Chunky beef and potato soup. Heat and eat.

Yes, of course. But HOW to heat it is the question! I think we need about 20 more pages to make sure we get it right.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Roamer

You don't camp like this, you need a hotel room or to learn about camping and campers.

Use propane.
Use cooking items meant for camping.



When in Rome do as the Romans, or the campers do.

Oh no! It turn out some people have been camping incorrectly! Maybe we need camping police.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Or, open a can of Campbell's Chunky beef and potato soup. Heat and eat.

I think that overlooks the poster’s desire to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients. I’m not keen on all the salt in processed foods, among other things. We do carry a few items as emergency rations.

When camping both time and fuel tend to be limited. Cooking methods that use high temperatures and short cooking times- stir frying, grilling, steaming- work best.

Soups and stews are normally cooked low and slow for hours, which is tough on the road. One solution is to make them at home and freeze in meal-sized portions for camping. Works really well for rice, too. Good for shorter trips. For longer trips, pressure cooking is the best option.

In my opinion electric pressure cookers should be reserved for use when you have hookups (or a generator), and a stovetop unit when you don’t. Using batteries to cook from scratch... technology still isn’t there, not really and not without spending a small fortune. Propane is far and away more efficient at producing heat.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I think that overlooks the poster’s desire to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients. I’m not keen on all the salt in processed foods, among other things. We do carry a few items as emergency rations.

When camping both time and fuel tend to be limited. Cooking methods that use high temperatures and short cooking times- stir frying, grilling, steaming- work best.

Just about the only time I'm producing meals when time is limited, while camping, is if we need to get an early start and cover some serious miles. And then it's just coffee and cereal.

When settled somewhere, it's so nice to fire up the outside stove and make a nice breakfast, or Liye will make a batch of spring rolls from scratch that get shared.

One of the great features that made us go for the HQ19, was the outdoor kitchen.

I can't imagine cooking with electricity, and am also not interested in being in a hurry.

[kontiki]

Originally Posted by TracyG

Yes, I know there are lots of threads about solar power and battery banks, but they make my head spin, and I have a very specific question.

I want to run my 3 qt (700W) Instant Pot off-grid using solar panels and batteries.

I'm with Tracy on this one
I know this was talked about a lot, but I would love to just use solar while boondocking, do not want a gas generator, and there are so many rapid advances with solar I am still hoping this will be possible. I have actually heard of people using just the 3 quart size with solar, but do not remember where, or the specific requirements.

Are any of the 'all in one' solar generators powerful enough yet? With say 300 - 400 watts of solar panels?

A small instant pot for one person could pretty much be the one single cooking device needed!

[Lynn Eberhardt]

Look at the power numbers being discussed. A 700 watt cooker would need 700 watts of solar panels in full desert sun for the entire cooking time. The average fully charged trailer battery can safely supply about 100 watts an hour for five hours. Electric cooking is not yet practical.

[Jane P.]

For goodness sake, stick with a stovetop pressure cooker.

@ Tracy: What stovetop did you buy?

I have a Instant Pot, which I leave at home. I take my Magefesa Practika Plus 3.3 Qt, which I purchased on Amazon. This is a well made pressure cooker which is a true workhorse. It’s designed to be used as a regular pot and my husband uses it to mix large salads.

Several people on the forum have a Hawkins stovetops, an Indian manufacturer. Magefesa is a European manufacturer.

This purchase will not go to waste when you return home. It’s nice to have a stovetop at home in addition to my instant pot as I can make a side dish like rice while using the larger 6-8 quart instant pot for the main entree.

I boondock on dog training grounds. I get up early, air & feed my dogs, have breakfast, pack lunch and am gone till late afternoon. Even if I had an electric hookup, I would not plug in a slow cooker or instant pot and take off for the day. Frankly, I’d be worried about a fire.

So it’s hard for us to return to the trailer after training dogs & throwing marks for other dogs to make dinner. But in the era of Covid 19, we rarely eat out.

What you can do is prep for dinner in the morning or the night before. You can marinate your meat, prepare your rice or grains, cut up your veggies.That will greatly decrease your cooking time. I like soaking & making beans in my IP. But when camping, I buy canned beans.

If you need to support an instant pot, microwave & AC, you should research camp grounds that offer outdoor ambiance and electric hookups.

If you really want to boondocksL and you have a propane stovetop, bring appliances that will work on your stovetop, Portable propane BBQ’s are great for main course, breakfast, etc.

Just say’in ��

[Jon Vermilye]

I carry a 3 quart Instant Pot that I use with my inverter. While it is a 600 watt device, when used in the pressure cooking mode it only draws full power for a few minutes. Once pressure is reached, the heating element cycles, coming on for 20 - 30 seconds every couple of minutes. For example, I pressure cooked frozen chicken & potatoes for 22 minutes. Total amp hours - 7.5.

As long as you have enough battery to keep the inverter above shut down voltage, and a way to put back the amp hours used, it is practical.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I have a fairly elaborate system since I dry camp 6-8 months of the year. The amount of energy an Instant Pot uses compared to having a pair of 100 amp hour lithium batteries & 480 watts of solar is a drop in the bucket, however 7 - 10 amp hours in not much of a hit on any battery system.