Diesel or Induction or propane cook top

aernan

Observer
I need some advice from people who have cooked on one or more of these solutions.

Diesel:
For my build I will have diesel on hand and I know that diesel cooktops exist. Can anyone who as actually cooked on one share their experience with them?
I am concerned that the start/stop times might be high. Also I have only seen single burner with a "warm area".

Induction:
Induction cook tops are also available but if they are anything like my home electric stove I know I don't want it.

Propane.
Propane looks like it would be ideal but then I need to find a place to locate the bottle. Has anyone looked into how to vent the area with the propane plumbing to avoid gas buildup?

In addition how many burners would ideally have? Is 2 enough?
 

Badmiker

Member
I have not used a diesel cook top but I have used an Aga. They kinda work the same way, you get one hot burner, and several of lower temperature. It works well but you learn to match your cooking style to the machine. I prefer gas stoves but won't have one in my build. The added humidity, fuel complexity, and volitility of the system is not something I am comfortable with in a mobile platform. That being said... I lived for months in a class A with a propane cook-top. I am planning my build to be a global machine so reducing fuel types is .... mildly advantageous in my circumstance.
 

aernan

Observer
I like cooking on propane/natural gas because I am comfortable with it. I could have a single basic propane bottle just for the cooktop/hob but I am concerned about propane leakage and filling the bottle in other nations. To make leakage less of a concern I would locate the bottle outside. Then the only big concern is the hob. I have been told if you have a floor drain (propane is heavier then air) it will naturally drain out. I would like to avoid putting holes in my floor and letting hot air escape as well as getting bugs up in the drains.

From what have read if you don't mind replacing the bottle adapting the output lines (post regulator) can be easy enough in most places as opposed to building in a large tank and getting it filled. Apparently every nation has unique threads/couplers for filling propane tanks.

Ideally I would cook on diesel because I intend on it being my single fuel source but the only systems I have seen that prevent you getting exposed to the diesel fumes involve a burner and fan system. Webasto Diesel Cooker X100 is one of them. I have not found any proper 2 burner units. But I'm not certain how many burners I will actually use at the same time. I think I read somewhere that some of these cooktops are multi fuel. Does that mean gas + diesel or does that include LP and other fuels?

I was able to locates a very impressive microwave that is also an oven and broiler https://www.caso-germany.com/en/products/microwaves/microwave-1-in-1/details/mcdg-25-master/ so if my main hob stops working (out of fuel or broken) I can still cook things.

I have not looked into electric induction cook tops yet.

Verkstad: when it comes to making hot water I have been told an electric kettle is the most efficient way of doing that. I may go that route.
 

adam88

Explorer
Induction is the wave of the future. I would guess 10 years from now you won't be able to buy an RV or camper anywhere that has a propane stove. Maybe 15 years. Battery density will rise and prices will drop. If you don't already have propane on board, then I wouldn't go that route. So limit it to diesel and induction.
 

DiploStrat

Expedition Leader
I need some advice from people who have cooked on one or more of these solutions.

Had all but built in propane. I do carry a Solarire propane grille, but that is because of all of the fire bans west of the Mississippi.

I tend to agree with David13, above. The only time the diesel stove is good is when it is very cold and you have things that you want to simmer. Other than that, too slow to heat/too slow to cool/too slow to adjust - makes it near useless for, say, heating soup at lunch. Adjusting temperature by sliding the pan up and down the strip is kind of neat.


... but if they are anything like my home electric stove I know I don't want it.

They aren't. More like a microwave - super fast to heat, but does not simmer that well as it has to pulse to get the temperature low enough.
We had a countertop unit, now a built in, both functionally the same.

The biggest drawback of propane is finding adapters for US fittings overseas. You ain't going overseas, then not a problem.

The biggest drawback of induction and microwave is amp draw. We calculate 15 wall clock minutes of induction and 15 minutes for the microwave, per meal. That works out to about 75Ah. As a practical matter, have never used that much, but you are talking about a healthier electrical system than found on most vehicles.


In addition how many burners would ideally have? Is 2 enough?

We have found that one and a hot pad is enough. As with anything of this nature, everyone has slightly different priorities.
 

aernan

Observer
This is all excellent advise. Does anyone have a favorite make/model of induction cook top?

I believe I can buy them as table top units. Should I opt for integrated into counter or stow when not in use?
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
We carried a cheap stand alone single induction hob in our RV for when we were on shore power - think it was about 60 bucks from Target. Very fast, very light, would have one again. We liked that we could carry it outside and cook outdoors when doing something smelly like fish, or sitting out there making breakfast pancakes that we would eat each one as it was ready...

However, when boondocking we still used the propane inside as I didn't want to run the generator and make noise and fumes just for cooking breakfast. And even though we had big batteries and inverter i would not have wanted to draw that much power from them except for a very short time

Also think about pan choice - you need steel or iron, not just aluminium. More choices are coming on the market by we did struggle to buy a nice non-stick fry pan at the time - we ended up with Ikea stainless 365 pans. Also found that heavy cast iron, especially ridged skillets, don't work well at high powers and often caused an overheat error - but it was just a cheap unit, and medium or low powers were sometimes still not low enough to simmer long term

Bottom line - i'd have another stand alone one as part of my configuration, but I still prefer propane for infinite control, any pan and silence whilst off-grid.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Tiny amount of time? Not me. I make stews, soups, chili, steamed whole chicken, pot roasts, pork roasts...I do a lot of one pot slow cooking.

Propane, on low, for hours. 5 gallons of the stuff is enough for my style of cooking for months.

I do have a Coleman 533 dual-fuel for a backup or to use outside.

What I've read of the double burner diesels basically goes like, "put one on high and one on low and slide the pan back and forth for temp control". That wouldn't work for me unless I could get the low simmer "just right" like I can with propane or liquid fuel.

And running electric cooking for hours is not going to work - even with the 400ah of battery in my camper.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
The unit in that vid cyles back and forth from 3a - 12a...at 120v. That'd be 30a - 120a at 12v.
 

Coachgeo

Explorer
The unit in that vid cyles back and forth from 3a - 12a...at 120v. That'd be 30a - 120a at 12v.
yes understand...... and apologize for off top of my head I do not know if this is same better or worse power draw to other cooking device using different heating method such as induction or microwave.
 

DiploStrat

Expedition Leader
I have not used a diesel cook top but I have used an Aga. They kinda work the same way, you get one hot burner, and several of lower temperature. It works well but you learn to match your cooking style to the machine.

OK, that is not a quote you get everyday. (Me sister in law in UK has an Aga.)

FWIW: If you watch "Midsomer Murders" you will note that as soon as you see an Aga in the house, someone is about to get swacked!

And, for those who are wondering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGA_cooker
 

Badmiker

Member
Yeah, I lived in the UK for 13 years. Now I live in Shanghai. Pretty good for a foster kid from Hawaii...

Sent from my MI 6 using Tapatalk
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
If you don't have enough battery for the tiny amount of time it takes to cook on an induction stovetop.. you simply don't have enough battery at all...

Well you could fry an egg on battery/inverter. but who eats just an egg? First you have to fry the bacon. And the sausages and black pudding. And the mushrooms and tomatoes. And the fried bread. And boil the kettle to make the tea......us Brits may not have given the world a great deal of culinary delights, but a decent breakfast is worth doing properly.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top