My new plan for an indoor cooktop

I prefer not to cook inside a van and therefore am putting the galley in the back like a teardrop camper. However, in the mornings, we like our tea, and what if it's cold or inclement or we're in a city situation and don't want to open up the back doors to boil some water?

I had thought of having a fold-down shelf with an induction cooktop, right by the bed so we would hardly have to bestir ourselves to get the water going. But then yesterday I had a brilliant idea: instead of a fold-down shelf, I'll imbed the cooktop in the middle of our dinette table! Like at a teppanyaki restaurant or a Korean place.  No extra space! Always at the ready when a cuppa is required! Co-pilot Can make tea even while on the road (making sure the kettle can't go flying if the driver has to brake.) I love this idea!

What kind of power do you have?

1500 watt induction plate @ 115 volts AC = 125 amps @ 12 volts DC

We're just starting, so we don't have the power configured yet. Using an induction cooktop for the few minutes it takes to boil a kettle of water can't be anymore than using a regular plugin electric kettle, can it? It's not like you have it running all day.

Yes but any electric heat source is a huge load while it's running, need a much larger battery bank and overall electrickery system to accommodate that, compared to just using a normal gas camping stove.

Short runtimes help, but I would start with gas and travel a while in winter first, only add electric once I know I have excess DC electric capacity.

I just put up a review of a coffee maker that might work for you, but you would still need a 1000 watt inverter.

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=32075

Jeff

My Ford Windstar minivan is just like the back of a teardrop trailer except I have a MaxxAir exhaust fan.  My kitchen is in the back.  I can easily pull out the stove to use a picknick table.  I can stand under the open back door if it is a light rain or hot sun.  If the weather is bad I can just cook inside.  Coffee and breakfast on a cold morning without going outside is nice.  The exhaust fan makes it nice.  

I suggest that you do the math to derermine that you really want the induction cook top.  The batteries will take cubic feet, weigh pounds, cost dollars, and need charging by solar and/or generator.  It can be done.  Some people love the result.

Sigh. And here I thought I was so clever. ? I suppose we could get one of those butane stoves but I really hate contributing to more waste with those non-refillable cans.

Yes, Trevor, that's the way our Toyota galley is and I'm going do a 2.0 version in our Chevy Express. So much better than cooking inside a van!

ChezCheese:-) said:

 stoves but I really hate contributing to more waste with those non-refillable cans.

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Rather than butane I use non-refillable propane.  I fill them.  I only fill them when they are empty.  If they were full when I filled them then that would be refilling.  

It is possible to use a 20 pound back yard bbq propane tank direct to a camp stove using a hose.  

The one pound cans are steel.  Steel is recycled.

A 700 watt microwave uses less power than an induction stove. Hard wire an inverter to the battery and start the vehicle when using it. For the microwave you may need a pure sine wave type inverter. With a 700 Watt microwave a 1,000 watt inverter would be enough. 700 watts /12 volts would be 58 amps. You may need to run the vehicle a bit longer than your cooking time.

They do make 12 volt coffee pots and water heaters.

I will look into 12v electric kettles, but microwave water for tea?? Puh-leeze!

I actually don't own a microwave. The only thing a microwave truly does better than a stovetop or oven is re-heat rice.

The butane cans are also steel and also recycled.

ChezCheese:-) said:

I will look into 12v electric kettles, but microwave water for tea?? Puh-leeze!

I actually don't own a microwave. The only thing a microwave truly does better than a stovetop or oven is re-heat rice.

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You have never heated a cup of water in a microwave?
You asked for advice then want to discount the advice given.
They do not sell microwaves as rice heaters. If you already had the answer that you were looking for you should just do it.
Sorry I tried to help you out.

Well, I have had to heat water in a microwave and for the purposes of making a decent cup of tea, it fails. However, I am a tea snob. That is my cross to bear in America. Don't take it personally.

And of course they do sell microwave ovens to reheat food -- that is what most people use them for. I'm more of a luddite and if I owned a microwave, it would probably just collect dust or be used for food storage.

I was trying to figure out a simple, electric (non-flammable) way to heat up a kettle of water inside the van, and the induction cooktop appealed because it wouldn't remain hot when it was done, and it would be flush in the tabletop.

Steam-in-Bag frozen vegetables (and other such) are perfect cooked in my microwave.

Whether induction stove, regular hot plate, any electric kettle or coffee pot

all use a lot of power, require a much more robust electrical system if used from the battery bank.

But this is a cheap and easy workaround:

DannyB1954 said:

Hard wire an inverter to the battery and start the vehicle when using it.

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I don't usually like glass table tops, and an induction plate (or muliti- burner range?) means a lot of glass you'll be doing your daily living on unless it is somehow sunk enough that you can put a very sturdy protective lid on it.

My friend fell backwards through a coffee table she was leaning on once. Pretty terrifying.

Counter tops tend to take a lot of abuse, from temperature variation to impact to scraping to just being leaned on or having heavy things put on them. I wouldn't want to either subject a cooktop to that or, alternately, avoid ever using my main table in a normal, everyday way.

By the way, induction cooktops can retain a lot of heat for a while after they're done cooking. I scarred a wooden cutting board real well putting it on one I had used to heat a pot. And I've melted plasticware that I accidentally scooped onto the top of one.

P.S. for coffee or tea, I have been using this Epica electric kettle for about a year and like it a lot. It has a nice clean look, not too bulky, holds plenty of water, hasn't rusted inside or out, is much faster than a stovetop or even a microwave, has a warming function, and has multiple preset heating levels for people who want to finesse the temperature for their tea.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G7OL9ZW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pricey, but also useful for ramen etc., and I believe it will last me a long time.

I do get the finicky business over tea, as I have lived a long time with Asian friends to whom such things truly matter. Brits can be the same. I love team myself, but never got into the fine points of making it, and some afficionados say my tea tastes terrible because I use water that's too hot and treat every tea the same. I don't begrudge a person their small pleasures ...

I want to team up an old fashioned electric frypan with a solar setup.  I have also been told that it will require some huge amount of watts.  I have a couple wattages of frypans to experiment with: one is 300 watts and one is 1200 watts. I have never used the big one on anything more than simmer for cooking, so I think that one will also draw much less that the listed 1200 watts for the way I cook. 

It surprises me that the microwave is rated lower on watts than the induction cooktop. I have always heard that you have to run a microwave off a generator.  ~crofter

Same with any electrical appliance for producing heat.

A little camp stove and a tank of propane is much more practical.

John61CT said:

Same with any electrical appliance for producing heat.

A little camp stove and a tank of propane is much more practical.

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This may be hard to believe, but I ruin food on a propane stove, and I like the slower way of cooking in the electric fry pan. I can get meats really tender and other things -like toasted cinnamon rolls- just right. 

My coleman two burner is a good stove, but runs hot, and there is no way to simmer anything. I used to wedge a match between the knob and the stove to get the flame low enough to do passable eggs. I had to switch to boiled eggs so they were not overdone all the time. ~ crofter