cooking in a off grid place

Re: cooking in a off grid place

Here is the answer, the most energy efficient cooking I have ever experienced.

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPC-600-1000-Watt-Electric-Stainless/dp/B000MPA044/ref=pd_ybh_6?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GRZDQK219C2F8V5VC3Y

If you are tired of heating up the house boiling beans, soups and greens and you want to cook in the most energy efficient way ever known to man then you must invest in this pressure cooker. Most dishes use a half a kilowatt hour or less. In addition to the superior taste of cooking under pressure you will also avoid heating up your house due to the fact the total energy used is so small. After the cooking time is over, usually a matter of minutes, be careful to allow time for the food to cool naturally before opening the top. You can even place the unit outside to cook if you want to eliminate extra heat addition to the kitchen during times when you are running the AC. Your house will stay much cooler feeling since you won't be generating all that heat and water vapor into your living area like you do with other cooking methods.

There is no comparison of the flavor of things like potatoes cooked in the pressure cooker compared to baking or microwaving. Plus you won't break a tooth on hard spots in the food like you get with a microwave.

You will have to get used to taking a fraction of the cooking time and eating tastier food when you start using this little miracle. We have cut way down on using our other cooking appliances, and we don't have to wait all day to get the best, creamiest beans ever.

At first I was hesitant to spend this much on a cooking device, but it has already paid for itself, and the results in the cooking are the best. The unit is relatively easy to clean. There will be no more food burnt on the bottom. I hate burned, hard beans, so this unit really has been an improvement for us. Just be sure you do have sufficient moisture in the contents to let the unit work and not dry out.

When you think about it this unit is like having a tiny black hole in your kitchen to power your cooking. The temperature and pressure working together in this contained space are like nothing you have used to cook before. This is a real energy saver. We should know because we live in a net zero energy house and conserve every kilowatt hour possible. The 6 quart pot is plenty big for cooking a big meal or a large batch too.

The unit is solid, safe and has an easy, easy interface. Of course, don't let the kids play around with the pressure relief valve, and treat it with respect. You can burn yourself if you are careless just like any other cooking appliance. I strongly recommend this device if you want to simplify your cooking and use a fraction of the time and energy needed for other methods. Enjoy!

Re: cooking in a off grid place

Icarus, did you just buy a standard propane oven, stove from a local LP supplier? I would be interested in the model, etc.if you like it. I agree there seems to be no purpose in losing efficiency by burning gas or propane to make electricity to then heat something.

The pressure cooker gets around this issue because of the greater efficiency and low energy use.
We have found that the little electric pressure cooker is the most efficient cooker in terms of total energy used whether it be from propane or electric. Half a kwh for up to 6 meals is pretty low consumption. However, we do also like to bake cornbread, etc in an oven (only because we haven't figured a way in the pressure cooker yet) so I have had great success with the Camp Chef propane C-Oven. The little oven bakes well although you have to get used to the fact that it is not thermostatically controlled. Also, the cook top burners on top do fine except if you are outdoors they blow out with the slightest breeze. I can't really recommend the C-Oven if you want the cooktop to work outdoors. I just used a Blue Rhino camp stove instead of the C-Oven cooktop.

Still, I only cook with the propane stove outside. Now that I am considering going off grid I may need to go all the way to propane, but I have a problem. When we did a blower test on the net zero ICF house I built it was so tight the rater told me I would die in it from lack of oxygen if I didn't add a mechanical ventilator. Well, I suggested to him that windows have been around a while. I usually have a window open somewhere, but he does have a point especially in winter when windows are all closed. Won't I be burning up a lot of oxygen and making CO2 if I cook with my propane stove indoors in the winter? I prefer to cook outside in the summer. It is an old tradition in the South to have the kitchen outdoors to avoid burning down the house or heating up the house in the summer. So, if we go propane indoors will we need mechanical ventilation and therefore be using more gas to heat and more electricity to ventilate? Maybe I need to be a raw fooditst and quit cooking? Or just cook in my utility room on the camp stove with the window cracked in the winter?

Also, am I just nuts or wouldn't it be good to use an old camp oven that is well insulated and with a thermostat and dump excess solar from my XW6048 inverter into some type of small heating element in the oven to do resistance heating when you can? Or alternatively, what about such an oven that uses a spare PV module. Would it work? I have used a solar oven before, but they smell like plastic and are kind of flimsy. It just seems like with a tight oven you could build up the needed heat from a resistance strip with out too many kwh pretty well, especially at times when we have excess.

Anyway, I am very interested in more information on the propane appliances. Thanks.