Those of you with the Coleman one-burner stove...

[VanFan]

 
But without the diffuser, I get burned bottom on the lowest flame I can achieve.

That has been my experience, too.  The diffuser I ordered just arrived.  Thanks for the reminder that these exist.  We'll see how it goes.

Frankly, I'm a big chicken.  I've looked with interest at the little pressure cookers popular in India, and read lots of "how to's."  The risk of scalding still scares me.  As for hot box and similar, maintaining a safe food temperature concerns me.  (I do make yogurt in a cooler with hot water in jars, though.)  I had a successful experiment with small batch thermos cooked beans, but somehow never tried it again.

 

[B and C]

Don't say that, Q needs the gas!

 

[Qxxx]

Q, make sure you soak the beans in hot or boiling water before you put them in the pot. Pour out the soaking water, and put new water in the pot! Bon appetit!

Yes Ess, I remember that. Due to the mess Ess, I have been trying a lot of new things under the tutelage of my angel in Wisconsin (the "other" one ). She's been living in a van in the Great Northwoods for a couple of years now, hiding from the mosquitoes and the rangers. 

So I have the following, all dehydrated: eggs and cheese (Augasons), onions, milk powder, rice, split peas, black eyed peas, and now red beans. Plus I've found that Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes are a good source of dried potatoes and cheese powder. I've been laying in a 6-month food supply like a good Mormon (which I'm not). 

So, I always pre-soak the dehydrated stuff in hot/boiling water. No Worms on Q.

 

[Qxxx]

Thanks, but no got white beans (or most of the other ingredients right now). Got dried red beans and dried black eyed peas. First attempt shall be red beans and rice, and some seasonings.

Like Malamute, I love red beans and rice ... but I do greatly dislike the huge amount of salt Zatarains adds in. WTH do they do that? This one little box has 4.5 servings and a total of 4000 mg of salt. Good grief.
https://www.walmart.com/grocery/ip/Zatarain-s-Red-Beans-Rice-Rice-Dinner-Mix-8-oz/10293294

I can almost swing this recipe, with some substitutions, although it's for a slow cooker.
https://addapinch.com/slow-cooker-red-beans-rice-recipe/

 

[VanFan]

... but I do greatly dislike the huge amount of salt Zatarains adds in. WTH do they do that? This one little box has 4.5 servings and a total of 4000 mg of salt. Good grief.

It's unreal, I know.  What we do is sift about half of the seasoning out and save it in a spice bottle for use in our own recipe another time.  We do that at the same time we're dividing the box into two meals, so it's really not that much more trouble.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Any year now, I'm going to make one of these fabric "hay box" cozies. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3LQOQV/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0

I started out just wrapping my pressure cooker in a blanket.

 

[jacqueg]

That has been my experience, too.  The diffuser I ordered just arrived.  Thanks for the reminder that these exist.  We'll see how it goes.

Frankly, I'm a big chicken.  I've looked with interest at the little pressure cookers popular in India, and read lots of "how to's."  The risk of scalding still scares me.  As for hot box and similar, maintaining a safe food temperature concerns me.  (I do make yogurt in a cooler with hot water in jars, though.)  I had a successful experiment with small batch thermos cooked beans, but somehow never tried it again.

I don't know what they use in India.

I CAN tell you that I grew up using an old-fashioned Presto jiggle-top (that you can still buy) and never had a problem, although friends of my parents talked about raspberry jam all over the ceiling.

Modern pressure cookers are much more reliable than that. I found this one in a Goodwill for $10. It just needed a new gasket. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rapida-Fagor-Stainless-Steel-Pressure-Cooker/224084029768?

You might want to explore this website - https://www.hippressurecooking.com

 

[jacqueg]

Too funny!

 

[Qxxx]

Thanks for the warning, the last thing I want is food flys in my kitchen. Yikes. My pressure cooker arrived yesterday, so I will try it out soon, and then see what sort of advice has been forthcoming from this forum, lol. I'm counting on you, Sofi. The Animals ... (I'm John).

 

[Lorelei072]

There’s a camp stove windscreen available on walmart.com for $13. My only complaint is the individual panels should be 1/16” wider so the entire screen matches the stove corners and doesn’t cut itself short on the circumference. And the pins that hold the panels together slide out easily so be careful to handle it right side up.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/REDCAMP-...ightweight-Butane-Burner-Windshield/538053752

 

[bagabum]

 and cutting some kind of hole into it to accommodate the propane feed. But I don't know what would work to easily cut it.

Thanks for any ideas!

Jac,  they are very very thin, just draw a circle where you want the hole, place screen on a flat stump, use a thin nail and hammer and go around the circle you made punching holes as close as you can, now just use you small 1/4" chisel to connect the dots, smooth out with a file.

 

[highdesertranger]

Lorelei be very careful with that windscreen not to heat up the butane cylinder. highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

Regarding windscreens with pins that slide out not being long enough to fit around a stove...

. You are not thinking that one out. If your buy two sets then you can pull a pin and add more panels from one set onto the other one. That way you have the lenght you need.  If you want the pins not to come out use needle nose pliers and put a tiny bend at the end of the pin. But not so much of a bend that it can' be folded flat. Of course once you add more panels it will no longer fit back into its  strorage case. Life is full of compromises.

 

[jacqueg]

Jac,  they are very very thin, just draw a circle where you want the hole, place screen on a flat stump, use a thin nail and hammer and go around the circle you made punching holes as close as you can, now just use you small 1/4" chisel to connect the dots, smooth out with a file.

Thanks Bagabum, my shop skills are actually up to that!

Haven't been using the Coleman lately, I have shore power where I am right now, and a hot plate. But that's gonna change in another month.

 

[Qxxx]

My pressure cooker arrived yesterday, so I will try it out soon, and then see what sort of advice has been forthcoming from this forum, lol. I'm counting on you, Sofi.

Follow up to this discussion from a couple of months ago. I did buy both a stove-top pressure cooker and a small 1.5-qt 120VAC 120W crockpot slow-cooker. After using both, I greatly prefer the crock pot, as it's basically painless to use and there is very little mess to clean up.

I did the following in S&B, using the regular stove, and not in the van.

At the 120W high setting, the crockpot would take approx 10AH out of a 12V battery per hour of cook time. So for something taking 2-3 hr, that's 20-30AH, which should be easy to replace in the battery, if used during the sunny part of the day. The crockpot was only $13, and has a stoneware insert that comes out for easy cleaning.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/21554260

I've used the 2 cookers to make red beans and (brown) rice, 1/2 cup each of dry uncooked ingredients. Normally cooking in a pot on the stove takes about 45-min for rice and 1 1/2 hr for the red beans. I first boiled the beans (per Sophia's directions) for about 10-min and rinsed out the "toxins".

Pressure cooker: took about 45-min to cook the red beans and rice, and made a horrible mess, with goo shooting out the vents. Difficult as hell to clean the cooker afterwards. Possibly I had the stove too hot. So maybe cut 50% off the stovetop cooking time. Also, I'm not sure if I could adjust a 1-burner Coleman stove properly for best cooking.

Crockpot: took about 2-hr and a bit to cook the beans+rice, I added the rice about 1/2 way through. No mess, no overflows, easy cleanup of the stoneware inner pot. Yea. Wins hands down. No contest.

 

[VanFan]

Q,
Thanks for the update.  Those little crock pots are nice to have.  These days, there are a lot more recipes scaled for them, too.

The book Fix-It and Forget-It Cooking for Two has "150 small-batch slow cooker recipes."  I've also browsed Slow Cooking for Two (Mendocino Press) for ideas.  Many of these recipes work very well in solar cookers, which is my current passion.

Oh, and don't forget the bread.  It really works!

 

[Qxxx]

VF, thanks for the tip on the book, sounds good, . Regarding bread, today I cooked some cornbread in the crockpot - I'm better at stirring in a few ingredients than kneading dough. I cooked the cornbread for 2 hours, which was probably 20+ minutes long too at the high setting (120W). Burned a bit, but still good slathered with blueberry preserves. Yumm.

I've not tried it in the van, but I assume my (small) 300W inverter will run the crockpot ok on the high setting. OTOH, it draws only 65W in the low setting, so that should certainly not be a problem. I think it's a great addition to my stash of stuff.

I usually do 1-dish meals in the fry pan on the Coleman stove, but will try the usual meal in the crockpot. This usually involves some meat and a lot of veggies, plus some rice or pasta, all in the same pan. Using solar will certainly save on propane. Win-win.

 

[VanFan]

Q,
Forgive me if we've covered this ground before, but do you cook your pasta (or rice) before adding it to your pan?  I'm looking for ways to skip the boil and drain steps.

 

[Qxxx]

Hi Fan. Prior to covid, I traveled about 1/3 the time and used precooked rice and pasta for convenience. I like Minute Rice for low sodium and Barilla Ready Pasta. These form the "bulk" items in my meals. I cook them in the fry pan for a few minutes before adding the meat and veggies. My other bulk item is canned green beans. I fry them and actually the pasta to almost crispy first, before adding the other stuff. One pan meals. I'm no chef, lol.
https://minuterice.com/products/multi-grain-medley-ready-to-serve/
https://www.barilla.com/en-us/products/pasta/ready-pasta/ready-pasta-rotini

OTOH, sequestered in S&B, I've been doing more with dry rice, beans, and pasta, due to having no limitations with electricity and running water. So, I've been experimenting with the pressure cooker and crockpot to cut down on cooking time. As mentioned, I think the small AC crockpot will work fine in the van with solar power, and save on propane.

I do the 1-dish fry pan meals on the road to save on clean up. With the crock pot, I could cook the dry rice or pasta first, and then add the other ingredients, or else move them over to the fry pan. The crock pot insert is easy enough to clean after making just rice and beans.

 

[VanFan]

Q,

I had not seen the Ready Pasta before, but a sample (elbows) was included in the groceries I picked up last week, so I'll have to give them a try.

We are eating differently when traveling since COVID also.  We used to visit cafe's and make frequent grocery stops, but not now, so I am trying to use more shelf staple items.  I like one-dish options, too, but am amazed at the sodium content in something like Knorr's Alfredo Pasta with something over 1,300 grams per serving!

Today I tried a half recipe of this https://www.last-minute-adventures.com/chicken-alfredo/, adding some fresh broccoli, a dash of red pepper flakes, a little Italian seasoning, and a few spoonsful of Italian cheese.  Mine actually looked much better than pictured, and tasted pretty decent, so it gets a place in the food box.

For this chili mac, the pasta cooks in the sauce https://southernbite.com/chili-mac/.  I plan to cook some hamburger and onion, freeze it and add it to the cooler.  (Hamburger Helper makes something similar, of course, but I hope this will be a little healthier and tastier, too.)