Using an Instant Pot in your RV - how much energy does it use.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by CharlesMoore

Nice demo - thanks. IMHO every RV'r should have a Kill-A-Watt meter in their RV. T.

This style surge protector will show your total draw, and transmit it via bluetooth to your phone. But that would not work while you're using an inverter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[al1florida]

Originally Posted by JoeC

My mid-size Instant Pot is labeled as 1,000 Watts, about 8 amps AC. That will roughly convert to 88 amps (90% efficiency) in your RV's DC electrical system. The pot will not be "on" continuously, except during the heat-up phase. So, do the math to see if your battery, inverter and wiring will: #1 handle the current draw; #2 handle the amp hour load and #3 be able to be properly charged back to full charge reasonably well. If you have lead acid batteries, double the amp hours removed for the amount you need to put back. Just a fact of life for lead acid batteries.

This is another good example for not using the "rated watts" number that is on most all electrical devices to determine your electric usage or needs when dry camping. Joe's Instant Pot is "rated" at 1000 watts, but the testing clearly shows it only uses 680 watts or about 5.5 amps of 120V AC electricity.

Another example is my 43" LED flat screen TV is "rated" at 110 watts. However it only uses about 36 watts, or 3 amps of 12V DC, and that includes the inefficiencies of the inverter.

[aspengirl]

Originally Posted by hintro

You are so right, preheating the water would really reduce the energy used. Having a very small amount of water is also the key to saving energy.. I have found that for things like eggs, potatoes and veggies half half a cup of water is way more than what is needed. I will be trying it with a quarter of a cup sometime to see if that is enough. There is a rack that keeps these items off of the bottom so you can't burn them. Anyway, thank for watching and happy cooking. Roman

I follow a couple Facebook groups on Instant Pot cooking and several times, the subject of preheating the water before adding it to the pot, has come up. People respond that additional cooking time is needed, as part of the cooking happens while the pot is coming to pressure. I don't know this first hand, as I've never heated the water .... I'm simply sharing others' findings just as a point of information.

[NormD]

In addition to Goodspike's surge suppressor you might consider the TP-Link Kasa smart plug:



https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-KIT-H...s%2C228&sr=8-6


It measures watts, total consumption (kWh), and data for the last 7 and last 30 days. It works with WiFi at home or if you have an RV WiFi capability. It works with Alexa, has On/OFF schedule, timer, and ON/OFF sun up/down timer. I use mine to remotely operate a heater in my RV in the winter and monitor the power used. Should work fine for monitoring an Insta-Pot or operating it remotely or on a timer.

[NeilV]

This would be for the 700 watt Mini Insta Pots and not the Regular Sized ones.

For heating up a can of Garbonzo Beans though most of us would be done in the time it takes to preheat them on the stove before adding them to the Insta Pot and would only have a nesting set of pots with removable handles (Fagor, StanSport, Magna, etc) to store in the corner of a kitchen drawer and just the one we used for heating up the beans before putting them in the InstaPot to clean up afterwards.

The DooDadds can be fun but most times the reality is that they really do not save that much time in the kitchen once you've mastered the art of quick prep minimal pot cooking.

My daughter gets upset when I prepare the same meal that she slaved for hours on in less than 30 minutes to plate using far less cookware in the process. Probably due to experience from having cooked in commercial kitchens in Stadiums, Convention Centers, Ball Parks, Disaster Sites, etc up and down the East Coast and parts of Canada for a number of years. When your cooking to serve meals for 1,000 to many thousands of people in less than an hours time you learn how to "Get er Done Fast" using the least amount of cookware and kitchen time. I usually leave the cookware easier to clean afterwards too.

Hows that go about Old Age and Wisdom (Treachery???) Beats out Youth and Exuberance?

Anyways, just throwing out there that we can learn to make many of the same or very similar meals in very little time using conventional cookware by modifying our methods to be more efficient without needing to carry additional electronic equipment. Even a meal with rice can be done in 30 minutes from prep to plate. Angel Hair Pasta with a Fresh Crushed Tomato and Meat Sauce in 20 minutes to plate (thats how long it took to prepare that meal tonight and I had a thin sliced pork chop along with a salad) using just a gas stove for cooking.

[Leslie Mike]

Originally Posted by aspengirl

I follow a couple Facebook groups on Instant Pot cooking and several times, the subject of preheating the water before adding it to the pot, has come up. People respond that additional cooking time is needed, as part of the cooking happens while the pot is coming to pressure. I don't know this first hand, as I've never heated the water .... I'm simply sharing others' findings just as a point of information.

I found this to be true. I used my pressure cooker (IP) to make potatoes and eggs for potato salad. After they perfectly cooked , I removed them from the pot and I decided to make more.

I thought that using the hot left over water would speed the 'heating up' time. I added another batch of quartered potatoes, and eggs. I set the PC time for my usually 5 minutes. 5 minutes natural release, 5 minutes cool down in an ice bath. PERFECT!

The second batch (that were started in hot water) did not get done! I had to reset the pressure cooker for another 3 minutes. I asked on one of the PC forums and was told what the above poster stated. Some of the cooking is done in the heating up stage.

So if you start with hot water you'll need to adjust your pressure time longer.
Oh the things we learn.
Leslie
2003 Minnie who is very lonely not out camping

[kwajkat]

Truth be told, while I have the instant pot in the rv almost all of the time I precook things like casseroles, hard boiled eggs, heat and eat stuff, etc, at home so the only I have to do is toss it in the microwave to heat up. Just find it easier, quicker less mess and clean up etc. No need to make work etc while rving right!

[Wayne M]

Neil, agree that there are many items that can be cooked faster, but there are some that will cook a lot faster. Take a 3 or 4 pound pork butt, or how about some beef stew. The prep is going to be the same time but cooking a 3 or 4 pound pork butt or piece of beef is 1 hour or less. No way you are going to cook a pork butt, other than pressure cooking, in less than an hour.


Point is, there are limits and some things can be done faster either way.