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Originally Posted by Jane P.
Great thread!
I bought a 6 Qt Instant Pot (IP) 7-in-1 duo from Amazon about 18 months ago. I LOVE IT! Best yogurt ever. Great for stock, soup, stews, a multitude of grains and ...  risotto!  It's simply indispensable for vegetarian dishes which tend to be labor & time intensive. Plus, YOU CAN LEAVE THE HOUSE WHILE YOUR IP IS CHUGGING AWAY. Can't say I use it daily, but I do fire it up on weekends for veggie & chicken stock which forms the basis for most of my recipes.
But ... it's a large appliance which devours counter space. Hard to store in our Bigfoot 19' trailer. In fact, as a boon-docker, I consider it to be impractical.
Full disclosure: I am not a full timer, but I do go on long (1-6 week) dog training & competition trips. I usually camp on dog training grounds with no hookups. I'm out in the field from early morning to after dark, at which time I must first feed & take care of the dogs. So, my dinner needs to be quick, fulfilling & easy clean up.
Accordingly, we're getting ready for cold weather dog training trip. I'm using my IP to make soup & stews which I am freezing in 1 Qt containers. I have a microwave which I use while the generator is recharging the batteries. While the main course is defrosting I can make a salad & side dish.
This should work well for us at the end of a hard day of training.
I recently purchased a 3.2 Liter Magefesa Perfecto Stovetop Pressure Cooker, which is a perfect size for my husband & me. The new stovetop PC will augment my microwave, and allow me to prepare risotto or rice. I also suspect the frozen food will defrost much faster in the stovetop PC. I'll let you know how this works.
The advantage of this stovetop PC is it doesn't require electricity, requires little fuel and easily stores in the galley. The drawback to the stovetop PCs is that they require babysitting: You need to be present to turn the heat down when the pot comes up to pressure. You need to take it off the heat after required time at pressure is finished. It also takes a bit of experience to recognize the proper flame height needed to maintain pressure. But, then again, the Instant Pot isn't an intuitive gadget, and has a rather steep learning curve.
For all the hookup campers, I'd recommend a 3Qt IP. It has a smaller footprint than the 6 Qt. A stovetop pressure cooker may be a great alternative for frequent boon-dockers.
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FIELD UPDATE:
Well, we did go camping & I brought my Magefesa Perfecto Stovetop PC. First of all, it was very easy to transport. I store my pots & pans in a large cabinet above the
refrigerator. And, the Magefesa paired perfectly with my
propane stove. I did the 5 minute water test & lost no water.
We brought a package of chicken thighs which we braised along with veggies & chicken stock. I would have also added rice in a Pyrex bowl, but didn't have a stand tall enough to clear the chicken & veggies. So we cooked the rice in another pot. The dinner was easily put together, very tasty. We used the PC again for a black bean & chicken chili which was super tasty.
I also brought along frozen soups & stews made in my Instant Pot. We used the Megafesa as a regular pot to defrost & cook those dishes.
So, I was very pleased with the stovetop pressure cooker in the trailer. It was versatile and big enough for the two of us. The chicken dish we made basically substituted for the oven.
One nice thing about a stovetop is it comes to pressure much faster than an electric PC, and requires less time at pressure. It also takes less time to naturally release. So you could save 8 to 15 minutes of cooking time.
The disadvantage over an instant pot is that you need to monitor when the PC comes to pressure, turn down the flame, and keep track of time at pressure. It is dangerous to leave the trailer when the stovetop PC is under pressure. But considering we were in a small cabin & steps away from the galley, monitoring the stovetop PC was no problem at all.