Versatile 310 watt rice cooker

[WalkaboutTed]

In keeping with the Thermos cooking thread (Hubby uses his Thermos cooker for spaghetti mostly when he's gallivanting on his own), I have been using this rice cooker for almost year.  It's only 310watts, so many lower amp hour systems can run it with no problems.
Panasonic SR-G06FGL 3-Cup, 1-Step Automatic Rice Cooker, Silver

These are some of the items I've cooked. I've forgotten some, but there are cook books devoted to cooking in ricemakers.
Rice (well, duh!)
Corn on the cob
Steamed clams
Soup
Hamburger helper
Boiled potatoes
Macaroni
Artichokes
Mashed potatoes 
Steamed spinach
Stir fry
Boiling water for coffee or tea when I didn't want open flame or ran out of propane

I like using it in the summer, especially since it doesn't heat up the trailer.  I haven't gotten around to meatloaf with it yet, but that's coming next. I like this better than the multicooker as I ddont have to wait for the pressure to drop in order to open the lid for stirring or adding stuff.
Ted

 

[capt_caveman]

Hi there
When your cooking rice whats the time from start to shut off or when it stops drawing power to steam the rice .
and whats your solar to run it.?

 

[WalkaboutTed]

You know, I've never timed it, but I will next time I cook. Gotta finish the pot roast I cooked on the grill yesterday. My van has 300ah batteries. And 280 Watts of solar on top and another 140Watts on the side (pointed towards the morning sun) . I've not gone below 12.3 volts running fridge, rice maker, fantastic fan and all my electronics. But then again, I've been only in Southern Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, so I've always had ample sun, even in the winter .

The trailer has 400ah of battery and 660w of solar.
Ted

 

[John61CT]

24A going for a long cycle is a lot for most solar setups.

While driving, or timed for "free excess" energy in the afternoon maybe.

I'll stick to propane myself.

 

[AMGS3]

^^^^^capttzuzu

Concerning rice cooking times, it varies based on the type of rice used. Brown rice will be longer than most white rice. Short and long grain rice will most likely take different cook times. The cool thing is that as long as you measure the rice and water correctly, you won't have to time it. Here's why-

Most rice cookers run on a thermostat not a timer. The water and rice is measured, added to the pot, covered and the cooker turned on. The water heats up to boiling temp (212°F or 100°C). The temp remains at boiling temp until all the water is boiled away or absorbed into the rice. When all the water is absorbed the pot temp will begin to rise. When the thermostat senses the pot temp rise above 212°F/100°C it shuts the pot off. Some rice cookers are setup to switch from 'cook' to 'warm' instead of shutting off automatically. I've owned two with this automatic warming feature.

So, as long as there is water to boil, your rice cooker will most likely try to boil it.

It means that it works well for cooking and steaming a wide variety of food, but it won't just shut off automatically. It will just keep cooking things with a lot of moisture like soups and stews. It's designed to shut off or shut down when the temp rises above boiling.

~angie

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

 

[Dingfelder]

These are very good if you can run them. I got one that looked almost identical over 30 years ago. Certainly simple and well-proven technology.

And about the laziest, most hands-off way to make food around! Washing usually demands some soak time.

I used to put a half pound of frozen mixed veggies, broken up properly, in with the rice and water and maybe a pat of butter and some spices. It wouldn't overcook the rice because the water doesn't get hot enough to cook rice until the frozen veggies have already heated up a lot. When the button popped up, texture of both rice and veggies was perfect.

Not many meals are healthier or cheaper. Or lazier!

 

[highdesertranger]

and that doesn't cover the inefficiency of the inverter, 10-30%. you would need an above average system to run that. highdesertranger

 

[Canine]

Nice recommendation! There are two sizes bigger: The 10 cup one is 450 watts and the 20 cup one is 650 watts. Then there is a smaller one at 1.5 cups at 200 watts. Having smaller wattage helps a lot with smaller battery banks not only with fewer overall amps but it minimizes the effects of Peukert's law for those using FLA types of batteries.

FYI: 8 ounces in a cup. My 600 watt hot pot will heat 18 ounces of about room temperature water to the beginning of hot not boiling in about 2 minutes.

 

[capt_caveman]

^^^^^capttzuzu

Concerning rice cooking times, it varies based on the type of rice used. Brown rice will be longer than most white rice. Short and long grain rice will most likely take different cook times. The cool thing is that as long as you measure the rice and water correctly, you won't have to time it. Here's why-

Most rice cookers run on a thermostat not a timer. The water and rice is measured, added to the pot, covered and the cooker turned on. The water heats up to boiling temp (212°F or 100°C). The temp remains at boiling temp until all the water is boiled away or absorbed into the rice. When all the water is absorbed the pot temp will begin to rise. When the thermostat senses the pot temp rise above 212°F/100°C it shuts the pot off. Some rice cookers are setup to switch from 'cook' to 'warm' instead of shutting off automatically. I've owned two with this automatic warming feature.

So, as long as there is water to boil, your rice cooker will most likely try to boil it.

It means that it works well for cooking and steaming a wide variety of food, but it won't just shut off automatically. It will just keep cooking things with a lot of moisture like soups and stews. It's designed to shut off or shut down when the temp rises above boiling.

~angie

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

thank you thats means its very versatile I like that Im planing on 600 watts and two 100 ah agm's of power so I can defiantly use some thing like this

 

[Reducto]

I used one of those for quite a while. I had a cheap one with a steamer tray that sat on top. I'd put veggies and thinly sliced fish on there, they always turned out perfect.

I stopped using it when I was living in San Francisco - too much shade and not enough driving to keep my batteries happy. If you have a little excess power it's great!

 

[tav-2020]

i have the exact same model as OP Ted. can't comment on solar drain, but for cooking its fab.

one of my fav things to make in it is red beans & rice with onions, mushrooms, peppers & corn. toss in a can of chopped tomatoes (i use basil/garlic/oregano flavored) and substitute beef or chicken broth for water (same amount as rice, usually 1 C for me) and some of your fav cajun/smoky spice...yum

 

[Dingfelder]

A tip I saw on the cooking show Simply Ming -- it's Chinese chef mixed brown and white rice and cooked them at the same time to perfect done-ness. He says he can make that work by soaking the brown rice for a while first -- an hour, I think.

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

Oatmeal can be done in a rice cooker. I used to set it up the night before using steelcut oats, and plugged it into a wall timer so that in the morning we woke up to the nice smell of hot oatmeal all ready for us.

 

[frater secessus]

I used 300w rice cookers daily in the house. I'd pick up the cookers for $2 at thrift stores and run them into the ground.

When I had to choose what went into the offgrid camper the rice cooker didn't make the cut. I went with a small saute pan, a small wok, a small saucepan and a small (4qt) pressure cooker.

I acknowledge the inability to add ingredients or stir pressure vessels, but I work around that by doing one-shot meals that don't have to be opened up. For example, I do any browning, cooking down onions, etc before sealing then turn it loose to do its thing.

The 10-12Ah of current it would take to cook rice would be 20-25% of the usable capacity of a small (100Ah) bank. Even more considering the peukert effect that comes into play when discharging lead acid at C/4. AGM would suffer less than FLA.


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[frater secessus]

Working on tapatalk and don't know how to fix that weird formatting, sorry.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[John61CT]

Avoid square brackets, means strikeout font

I used 300w rice cookers daily in the house. I'd pick up the cookers for $2 at thrift stores and run them into the ground.

When I had to choose what went into the offgrid camper the rice cooker(s) didn't make the cut. I went with a small saute pan, a small wok, a small saucepan and a small (4qt) pressure cooker.

I acknowledge the inability to add ingredients or stir pressure vessels, but I work around that by doing one-shot meals that don't have to be opened up. For example, I do any browning, cooking down onions, etc before sealing then turn it loose to do its thing.

The 10-12Ah of current it would take to cook rice would be 20-25% of the usable capacity of a small (100Ah) bank. Even more considering the peukert effect that comes into play when discharging lead acid at C/4. AGM would suffer less than FLA.


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Jack]

I can save you a lot of power when it comes to cooking rice.  Here's how I've made it for years... You don't even have to measure the amount of water or rice you use!  Also, no burning, no fuss, and it comes out perfect every single time.

• Rinse your rice until the water runs clear.  (Optional)
• Put any amount of rice in a pot and cover completely with water (by about 2 inches is good).
• Let it soak for 25 - 30 minutes.
• Bring it to a full rolling boil for 3-4 minutes.  Take off the heat.
• Strain the rice, put the rice back into the pot, and cover for 5 minutes (off the heat).
• Fluff and eat.  

 

[frater secessus]

Avoid square brackets, means strikeout font

Thanks,  John.  I was baffled.

 

[GypsyJan]

In mine (on shore power) I've cooked sausage patties and then tossed a thawed quiche on top. I've made hambugers and hot dogs. I've also done a cup of rice with fresh veggies on tip then a chicken breast on top of that and it all came out perfectly.

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

I can save you a lot of power when it comes to cooking rice.  Here's how I've made it for years... You don't even have to measure the amount of water or rice you use!  Also, no burning, no fuss, and it comes out perfect every single time.

• Rinse your rice until the water runs clear.  (Optional)
• Put any amount of rice in a pot and cover completely with water (by about 2 inches is good).
• Let it soak for 25 - 30 minutes.
• Bring it to a full rolling boil for 3-4 minutes.  Take off the heat.
• Strain the rice, put the rice back into the pot, and cover for 5 minutes (off the heat).
• Fluff and eat.  

Ok, Jack, I'm going to try this method! What kind of rice do you usually use?