Advice please on Slow Cookers

[Hammie]

We have a small slow cooker in the MH but it is much smaller than the one in Aldi. I think its 1.5 litres. Use it to cook gammon joints etc .

Me too a small white crockpot rather than slo cooker got it from Ssainsburys for about £15 also use it at home to cook potatoes alongside big slo cooker entire meal cooked while out for the day yaaaay.

 

[trevtherev]

Several years ago bought a small slow cooker for the van,took it away with us and never used it so its in the kitchen now at home. Bought a small halogen cooker for the MH, think it was about 7 litre size, that now is gathering dust in the shed,,for us they were a waste of money.

 

[Minxy]

You don't need EUH for a slow cooker as they use so little energy. A cheap cigarette lighter inverter will do the job. Stick the slow cooker in the sink and dinner cooks whilst you're driving
The aromas wafting around the van at an added benefit

You still have to be careful of the wattage though - our dash socket is rated at 180w max.

 

[Puddleduck]

Love our slow-cookers so much we have two!!! The one I use most is a small one from Argos and it has high and low settings.

Once you get used to using a slow cooker you find you can do all sorts of stuff in them, not just soup and stews. I do baked potato (oil and salt the skins, wrap in foil and put in the pot, no need for liquid) and have also done cakes and steamed puddings.

If you have been out for the day you can come back to a meal that just needs to be served.

However I have never managed to do pasta or rice in the slow-cooker successfully although people say it is possible.

As @MinxyGirl says if using on an invertor check the power draw. Our small slow-cooker draws a maximum of just 90W but is usually pulling a fraction of that.

 

[Langtoftlad]

All these gadgets & gizmos are somewhat different methods of cookery.
So much in the same way as one has to learn grilling, bbq'ing, baking etc when learning to cook, its necessary to go through a learning curve with slow cookers, remoskas, halogen ovens etc.
Persevere and you add to your culinary armoury, give in too quick and you add to the cupboard dust collectors.
[I love my slow cooker(s)]

 

[Hammie]

My little one is 90w so does that mean I just put a 12v plug on it? New to all this, does the 12v draw from the 230v when on mains supply?

 

[Minxy]

My little one is 90w so does that mean I just put a 12v plug on it? New to all this, does the 12v draw from the 230v when on mains supply?

No, you'd have to plug it into an inverter and that is then plugged into your 12v socket if you want to run it from your batteries, if you want to run it from mains you'd just plug it directly into a mains socket.

 

[JockandRita]

My little one is 90w so does that mean I just put a 12v plug on it? New to all this, does the 12v draw from the 230v when on mains supply?

Hammie, regardless of the wattage, if the voltage is 230v, you will have to go through an inverter of a rating suitably high enough for the 90w consumption. The inverter converts 12v power into 230v power...............but within the limitations of your battery capacity.

HTH,

Jock.

Edit......just seen Mel's reply a couple of minutes sooner. (Y)

 

[Minxy]

Hammie, regardless of the wattage, if the voltage is 230v, you will have to go through an inverter of a rating suitably high enough for the 90w consumption. The inverter converts 12v power into 230v power...............but within the limitations of your battery capacity.

HTH,

Jock.

Edit......just seen Mel's reply a couple of minutes sooner. (Y)

Ha! Even with only one hand I can type faster than you!

 

[JockandRita]

Ha! Even with only one hand I can type faster than you!

In my defence Mel, I don't see the post until the email notification comes through, and Hammie's post notification arrived before yours.

What have you done to the other hand then?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[PeteH]

My little one is 90w so does that mean I just put a 12v plug on it? New to all this, does the 12v draw from the 230v when on mains supply?

Not unless you wish the fry the electrics!!. (actually it is Unlikely) It just would not work and may destroy some electronic components not set up for DC voltage.

Use an Inverter with an output capacity of above 1.5 times the rating. 90(Watts) @ 240(Volts) (ohms law) = 0.4(Amps) current draw at "mains" Voltage. To supply the same "Energy" 90W/12V = aprox 8Amps. Say 12amp output at 12v Nominal So an Output rating of 12(V) x12(A) = 144Watts or greater. Remember that an 8 to 12AMP draw from the battery will draw down the battery(s) quickly. Solar panels will not replace that any time soon! But it would be OK on the road with the Engine running. Supply cables from the Battery to the inverter must be sized to cope with the Current Draw. Some "Power" outlets (12v) are not capable of coping with larger loads, so check their rating.

There are always losses, and allowances to be made for Surges etc. so bigger is better. Being a heating device, it is not necessary to have a full sine wave. But MIGHT be if you where also planning to use it for (say) the t-v or dvd player etc;.

Pete

 

[Shrimp]

if you then quarter the chicken and stick it under the grill you can make it look roasted .
when i used my old vw t2 in morocco nobody could iunderstand how i could do roast chicken at christmas or roast spuds . cooked then fried .
first the chicken then veg . then as you eat the main course cook the xmas pud .
only had two burners and a grill. pressure cooker is king . ha ha .
and fish cooked in a pressure cooker mmmmmm.

With a Seal & Sear slow pot (it has a non-stick pot) you can brown the Chicken etc. on the hob befor slow cooking it!

 

[teknik155]

we don't need an invertor as i bought my wife a 12 volt slow cooker from roadpro takes 8 amps. but i agree that it gets harder to concentrate on driving as the smell wafts up the van

 

[robnchris]

Well as I already have 3 slow cookers of different sizes I thought I would have a look at John Lewis for the Morphy Richards Sear £29.99, they didn`t have any in stock so I nipped round to Currys and voila £24.00 so now I have 4 slow cookers, this one having the light weight bowl will heat up quicker when using in the motorhome.

 

[Hammie]

Thanks folks. It has a 13amp plug at the moment. I was trying to figure out if my 12v system and the 230v were linked as each 230/13amp socket has a 12v with it. I am completely confused now as it all sounds like Chinese at the mo. Not sure if my MH has a hidden converter.

 

[Hammie]

Sorry inverter

 

[Puddleduck]

Use an Inverter with an output capacity of above 1.5 times the rating. 90(Watts) @ 240(Volts) (ohms law) = 0.4(Amps) current draw at "mains" Voltage. To supply the same "Energy" 90W/12V = aprox 8Amps. Say 12amp output at 12v Nominal So an Output rating of 12(V) x12(A) = 144Watts or greater. Remember that an 8 to 12AMP draw from the battery will draw down the battery(s) quickly. Solar panels will not replace that any time soon! But it would be OK on the road with the Engine running. Supply cables from the Battery to the inverter must be sized to cope with the Current Draw. Some "Power" outlets (12v) are not capable of coping with larger loads, so check their rating.

We run ours off a small inverter bought at Lidl and it works great but I would only use the inverter when the engine is running. I also always use hot liquid when filling the slow cooker as I imagine (but have no proof) that the initial heating is what takes the umph of power.

Generally I get the cooker up to temperature on 240v EHU and then unplug it from the mains and replug it into inverter and 12v just before we set off.

Thanks folks. It has a 13amp plug at the moment. I was trying to figure out if my 12v system and the 230v were linked as each 230/13amp socket has a 12v with it. I am completely confused now as it all sounds like Chinese at the mo. Not sure if my MH has a hidden converter.

I doubt if you have a hidden inverter. Our outlets are also doubles but they are wired separately. It's cheaper and neater to have a 240v and 12v in the same outlet than have two singles.

 

[Hammie]

So both systems are separate ring mains and not connected so that Ehu supports the 12v system? I think I already know the answer to this though

 

[Minxy]

In my defence Mel, I don't see the post until the email notification comes through, and Hammie's post notification arrived before yours.

What have you done to the other hand then?

Cheers,

Jock.

Carpal tunnel op last Thursday ... ... I'm banned from playing with my tools for a while!

 

[JockandRita]

Carpal tunnel op last Thursday ... ... I'm banned from playing with my tools for a while!

I hope you are recovering well Mel...............even if it is only typing with one hand at the moment.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[gwyntaxi]

Nipping to Aldi Tomorrow (Thursday) to get a battery charger etc.

Just wondering if the slow cooker below would be a handy addition for the motorhome.

Only two of us 99% of the time so was wondering if anyone has any experience, are they useful, too bulky, too big etc.

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or is this halogen a better, more useful addition.

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Thanks in advance

hello there, one downside that immediately springs to mind is that to use it you are restricting yourself to having to use sites that have electric hook-up,fine if you don't mind using sites that provide hook-up,just not my type of camping,just a suggestion,otherwise it will end up in the cupboard full of things that "might come in handy" i think we've all got one,the cupboard that is.