COOKING APPLIANCES

I think we can all agree cooking is as much art as it is a science. Cooking appliances are simply tools but it’s pretty hard to be artistic when given the wrong tools.

There will always be a lot of debate when discussing the merits of some specific item. Some people swear by ‘Dutch ovens’ claiming they are the best without really knowing why or how these are best.

For off-grid people the amount of energy that is used is the most important consideration. Cooking is the process of applying heat to food stuff in such a manner as to render the food edible and palatable. A conventional kitchen stove with 3 – 4 burners and an oven is not always the most efficient way to cook food. Counter top appliances are specialized tools intended to do the job in the most efficient way.

Examples of this are slow cookers or Crock Pots. These often only use 100-watt elements to slowly simmer stews and sauces over a longer period of time. This can be very effective when used in conjunction with solar panels that produce a modest amount of power over the span of the day.  The crock pot is often a double layered container with a lid that keeps the heat inside.  In other words very little heat escapes and is wasted.  The better models even have a temp sensor to cut off the power if it gets too warm.

Rice cookers are similar but use more power and are optimized to gently steam rice to perfection.  Compared to a conventional stove with a pot on top this also serves to optimize energy use because it eliminates operator error in guessing how much energy to use. In addition it eliminates the mismatch of pot and burner dimension that allows wasted heat to escape up around the sides of the pot.

The conventional stove with the spiral rings that become glowing red-hot is not particularly efficient in transferring heat into the food using the minimum amount of time and energy to get the job done.

Type of food and style of cooking plays an important part. Consider a wok and a slow cooker. The wok needs very high temperatures to lightly sear the food outer surface while leaving the insides moist and tender. If the wok is held at a much lower temperature   the results are disappointing and sometimes unpalatable. A slow cooker is the opposite. It gently warms a mixture of ingredients and allows the flavor to suffuse the entire mix over many hours. 

Several styles of ‘toaster ovens’ exist; each with its own specific advantages. At its most basic, they are just the same as a toaster laid on its side with some kind of glass door in front like an oven.  They are constructed with a single layer of metal where the outside surface gets almost as hot as the interior. This represents escaping and thus wasted heat. Better models have a double layer construction possibly even some insulation in   between and better fitting doors. There may also be a heat control knob that allows the user to control partial heat settings for less energy consumption.

Some of these ovens use a calrod heater element while others employ a quartz glass tube. Although both glow red when in use the quartz tube emits longer wavelength infra red heat that penetrates deeper. The resistive wire or calrod tends to char or brown the surface of the food like a slice of toast being browned. The quartz tube ovens are better for dishes like pies and deeper dishes because   they heat the entire portion without burning the surface layer as quickly.

Convection ovens heat foods by circulating heated air instead of direct heating by radiant means.  The manufacturers claim this will allow you to bake a cake; something not so easily done in a toaster oven.

Some  convection oven combine a rotisserie  function with the hot air flow for more even cooking  of the  surface of a bird or roast.

Several countertop grilles are now available with the George Forman grill possibly being the best known, thanks to widespread advertising and marketing in big box stores. 

Because these countertop appliances deliver exactly the right amount of heat into the food in the shortest possible time the end result is lower energy use.

These grilles have several advantages. Their design brings heat to both sides of a piece of food simultaneously. When cooking fatty meats the sloped design drains the fats away from the meat. Nutritionists regard this as a preferable method of cooking fatty meats.  This design lends itself to quick food preparation because you can take a frozen meat patty or steak place it on the grill and be done in 4 minutes or less.

The ribbed design leaves air pockets in between the browning strips that give that pleasing striped char texture.  It also makes great grilled cheese sandwiches.

The  small  one  patty size  only uses a 600 watt element  while the  large 4 patty  grill uses a 1100 watt element. The amount of heat wasted is minimal because the grill closes like a clam shell to keep the heat inside. 

Another countertop device is the roaster pan with lid.  Hamilton Beach makes a pan that can accommodate a 20 pound turkey with trimmings.  According to my   cook expert this appliance takes about half the time to cook a bird compared to a conventional kitchen stove.  One reason may well be that the lid fits snugly over the top thus keeping in all the heat.  A normal kitchen oven has a 1” diameter chimney that continuously vents hot air into the kitchen space.

The volume inside the roasting pan is more like an enclosed Dutch oven than the larger volume contained inside a regular kitchen oven.  With a temperature regulating control less energy is required to maintain the heat for cooking inside the smaller volume.

A normal kitchen oven is supplied with 240 Volt to a 3000 watt element whereas the countertop appliance is powered by a 120V fed from a 1500 watt outlet. The rating plate says the pan element is 1100 watts.

From the above it is evident all of these countertop cooking appliances can be powered from a 2500 watt inverter and a suitably sized battery bank. If charging from wind, water, or solar takes place at the same time so much the better.

This is not to suggest  off-grid cooking  can  be done electrically as if  you are still connected to  the grid but it does highlight  that some  careful use  can be made  of  a few  select electric appliances. Unlike  wood stoves or even most  gas fired appliances,  electric appliances can be set to start with a timer  on the  occasions  when everybody has to be away from home  and are not available to  cook  the meal during the  day.

Sometimes this can be a real advantage.  When everyone is away all day, loading a truck with firewood it’s nice to come home to hot chili stew and fresh baked bread. Timers can be used to sequence the bread maker and the crock pot making the stew.