Thinking of getting a slow cooker to compliment my PV system

tunnel

As the title states really.

I'm looking into buying a slow cooker to be used alongside my PV systems rather than use "the main oven" that eats electric like its going out of fashion. I've had a look already at some and it seems that the average power consumption is between 150-300Wh which alongside my baseload is quite achievable to maintain throughout the day(even cloudyish ones)

Has anyone got any suggestions for a particular make or model and if so why? Can you give specs for it, ie power consumption, timer..etc

better still, this being a green forum, to save me buying a book of recipes:D does anyone have any good recipes including cooking times.

Come on all you Gordon Ramsey wannabe's...help me out a bit.

tunnel

HappyMJ

tunnel wrote: »

As the title states really.

I'm looking into buying a slow cooker to be used alongside my PV systems rather than use "the main oven" that eats electric like its going out of fashion. I've had a look already at some and it seems that the average power consumption is between 150-300Wh which alongside my baseload is quite achievable to maintain throughout the day(even cloudyish ones)

Has anyone got any suggestions for a particular make or model and if so why? Can you give specs for it, ie power consumption, timer..etc

better still, this being a green forum, to save me buying a book of recipes:D does anyone have any good recipes including cooking times.

Come on all you Gordon Ramsey wannabe's...help me out a bit.

tunnel

Anything really...depends on the size of your family and what features you want. I've got a Asda cheap one at 1.5L capacity which is good but a bit small but it's nice for a side dish...and a Tesco SC356 which is a much better size for a family of 4....it's 3.5L perfect for the main course. I also have a 4.5L one that was given to me but it's just a bit too big...unless you don't mind freezing half the resulting dish.

They hardly use anything. Your solar panels will generate more than enough. 300W is the maximum setting which you don't need to use. Use the low setting for a longer period of time. The small one uses 40W on it's low setting...amazing that the power of a small light bulb cooks dinner...the bigger one about 75W.

tunnel

Thanks HMJ,

So do you think 3.5L is big enough? We're a family of 2 adults and 2 small kids(2&4). Would really like to make sure I buy the right size first time rather than have to upsize at a later date when the kids are bigger.

Are you sure its only 75W for the large one, just everyone that I've looked at that actually states the consumption show a lot higher usage than that?

tunnel

legoman62

HappyMJ wrote: »

Anything really...depends on the size of your family and what features you want. I've got a Asda cheap one at 1.5L capacity which is good but a bit small but it's nice for a side dish...and a Tesco SC356 which is a much better size for a family of 4....it's 3.5L perfect for the main course. I also have a 4.5L one that was given to me but it's just a bit too big...unless you don't mind freezing half the resulting dish.

They hardly use anything. Your solar panels will generate more than enough. 300W is the maximum setting which you don't need to use. Use the low setting for a longer period of time. The small one uses 40W on it's low setting...amazing that the power of a small light bulb cooks dinner...the bigger one about 75W.

Thanks.Think I'll have some of that too:D

silverwhistle

I think they're all much of a muchness and 300W would be a large one: can't remember offhand, but although my monitor can see me changing from low to medium to high it's not large. [Just checked 141w on high according to my Owl]. Wouldn't bother with a timer and sizing depends on family situation. I'm single and tend to find I batch cook so one portion to eat and one (or two occasionally...) for the freezer. A good way though, of using your power when it isn't belting it out. I was pottering about at home today and actually switched off the slow cooker when I made a cup of tea (kettle next to cooker) but some may find this excessive. :-) .. But I don't do all the paperwork that some do on this site!

Great for stews, ragus, soups and even rice dishes and cous-cous.

Ken68

Hi Tunnel...slow cookers always seem available on my local Freecycle/Freegle.
And in charity shops and boot sales.
Not expensive s/h a few quid.
Mine is 3.5litre 200w

Kernel_Sanders

A slow cooker simulates a pot on a hob, so if your hob knob is notched like mine, it'll give a constant 100W or 170W or 250W like mine does.
If not, I'd get one with two heat settings so you can adjust to suit the cloud.
Have you considered halogen? IDK if this uses a constant current though, which is what you want.

HappyMJ wrote: »

amazing that the power of a small light bulb cooks dinner...the bigger one about 75W.

Not really; a 60W tungsten filament bulb produces about 55W of heat. Light it and stick it in a bowl of batter for long enough and it can't help but bake it!

silverwhistle wrote: »

I'm single and tend to find I batch cook so one portion to eat and one (or two occasionally...) for the freezer. A good way though, of using your power when it isn't belting it out. I was pottering about at home today and actually switched off the slow cooker when I made a cup of tea (kettle next to cooker) but some may find this excessive. :-) .. But I don't do all the paperwork that some do on this site!

This is me to a tee. I have a plug-in meter which monitors consumption of my miniature electric oven with hob (I can also hear the contractions of the oven metal when the thermostat kicks in if the kitchen's quiet), then on goes the hob!

zeupater

Hi All

I tend to disagree that any make will do as much depends on how well the thermostat controls the temperature & the power drawn when heating. Slow cookers have been discussed before - here's one from about 3 years ago ....

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

My slow cooker, capacity 5.5l(?)/digital seems to draw a constant 181W on 'high' setting, I did measure the 'low' and 'keep warm' settings once but didn't bother noting their timings. Be wary, some slow cookers can consume two to three times this, they are either thermally inefficient (bad insulation) or rely on thermostatic control to cycle their power more often (not good in balancing a pv environment), so check the specs if they're published.

What needs to be remembered is to always boil the water before adding ...... and unless you have 20 minutes a time to pfaff about in the preparatation stage browning and caramalising in a frying pan, all the time wasting the energy you thought you were saving anyway, either forgo the flavour benefits, or get a larger capacity pot and cook in batches .....

Mmmmmmm .....

HTH
Z

... you'll also find a low power kettle to be useful - we have two on the side in the kitchen, a standard ~3kW for when it's dark, really dull or really bright (or just too thirsty to wait !) & a ~1.1kW which is just about capable of filling a teapot if you're careful.

HTH
Z

Kernel_Sanders

zeupater wrote: »

Be wary, some slow cookers .... rely on thermostatic control to cycle their power more often (not good in balancing a pv environment)

Do you know of any slow cookers that don't? This 200W one at Aldi for example also has a keep warm setting, but of course they won't tell you if any of the settings draw a constant current.

zeupater

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

Do you know of any slow cookers that don't? This 200W one at Aldi for example also has a keep warm setting, but of course they won't tell you if any of the settings draw a constant current.

Hi

What I really meant was that a slow-cooker with a higher powered element would draw more power, then cycle off, cool, then on again ... for example, on at 360W for 1 minute, then off for 2 minutes whilst a 180W version would achieve the same by being on for 2 minutes then off for 1. The result is the same energy delivered, but the power drawn is halved ... this makes a great deal of difference when you're only generating a couple of hundred watts in the winter!

As mentioned earlier, our unit draws 181W (at our supply voltage) and heatloss is minimised by having a double wall construction ... that means that you can have a larger pot capacity whilst retaining the same power requirement of smaller units ... it also has digital temperature control, which, according to the manufacturer, maintains a more constant temperature range than a normal mechanical one. The unit was pretty expensive when we bought it (~4/5years ago) and I'm not sure whether it's still readily available ..... just checked & model number is Morphy-Richards 48724 if that's of any use to look for a similar currently available unit ...

HTH
Z

zeupater

zeupater wrote: »

.... The unit was pretty expensive when we bought it (~4/5years ago) and I'm not sure whether it's still readily available ..... just checked & model number is Morphy-Richards 48724 if that's of any use to look for a similar currently available unit ...

Hi

Just to update the above ... checked online and it looks like the 48724 is still a current model in the Morphy Richards line-up .... http://www.morphyrichards.co.uk/products/cooking-and-baking/slow-cookers

Had a quick look at the specs and the nominal power is actually published as 170W ... when I placed a meter on it some years ago ours was drawing 181W, the explanation for this would be our relatively high normal voltage .... (181/170)x230 would suggest a ~245V supply when measured, which is pretty typical for us (it's 246.3V at the moment) - then there's the manufacturing performance tolerance, but this should be relatively small ... anyway, the important bit is 170W nominal power on a 5 litre double wall slow cooker ...

HTH
Z