Cooking a Beef Stew with the EcoFlow River 2 Pro

[@barbarasirignano5841]

Great vlog impressed with your culinary skills

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Hahaha 🤣. Chop. Throw in. Turn on. There's not much to it, Barbara 🤣🤣. Thanks

[@runtothesun]

Real world testing, love it! 🙂

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Well, I had to do the dinner, Reverb. So, perfect opportunity 👍👍🤣

[@Wheres_wanda_wandering]

I keep meaning to take our slow cooker with us when we go away. Take care Gill

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

It's putting it somewhere, Gill when it's not in use

[@sleepycatpictures1176]

Well done . . . . though I have to say when Mrs Moggs does a stew, the cooker is full and nearly overflows when the dumplings go in!

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Oooh I do love me some dumplings, Sleepy Cat 🤤

[@sleepycatpictures1176]

@@HermanHitstheRoad Ah, a closet dumpling man . . . !

[@ttxela]

Not a bad idea you've cooked up there. I've got no beef with it 👍

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

[groan] thanks for that, Alex. 👍👍🤣 I think the police need to arrest-ew for cooking up bad jokes

[@TheQuadman200]

If you are off grid, how long does it take to charge using solar? I am yet to be convinced that any of these expensive battery packs are a viable option for everyday use off grid.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

That really depends on the weather, the solar panel you're using, angle of panel to the sun, time of year, battery temperature and probably a few other things. The website says this: "Faster Solar Charging - 0-100% in 4.5-9 hr" Check out the website for more info, Enduro Man uk.ecoflow.com/products/river-2-pro-portable-power-station?aff=74

[@martinph9052]

If the smaller ones were your sole power then they are unlikely to do the job but in conjunction with lpg they are a useful addition. I’ve used my Jackery 1000 in conjunction with two 100w solar panels as an electrical hook up when my van had no solar panels off grid for a whole week. It’s how you manage the usage and set your priorities. If no van solar then keeping the van charged is the most important. When cooking with electricity they usually have a thermostat which means in the case of making a stew you can switch on and let it do it’s stuff. It is a big investment but does provide further flexibility.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Thanks again, Martin

[@sylviapage8572]

Well the power bank did exactly what you expected, maybe you need a recipe that takes 4 hours. I think the recommendation is, best before is fine after the date but their may be a slight deterioration in quality, use by should be used by that date but you obviously lived to tell the tale 😁. Thanks for sharing.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Thanks Sylvia

[@bettyourcampervan]

I did a review today using a sandwich toaster! Have a look! I have also bought a slow cooker for the van and will be using the River Pro 2 👍 fab video 👍👍

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

That's great. Thanks Paul and Chrissy. Nice toasties BTW.

[@bettyourcampervan]

@@HermanHitstheRoad aw cheers that means a lot you watched it! You are a legend 👍👍

[@martinph9052]

I think you need to change the cooker. I used a Drew and Cole multicooker with a Jackery 1000 and cooked a chicken stew for 2 people in 90 minutes using 370wh. The cooker pulsed up to 934 watts. I think it’s worth knowing the alternatives when considering equipment to purchase. Your demonstration does show one possibility but doesn’t quite do the job, bearing in mind your carrots were not fully cooked. Using my combination of the cooker and powerbank it works really well. We also have a 900w air fryer and a 900w kettle all working off the Jackery when required, only one at a time though. Enjoying your KZbin uploads. Cheers Martin

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Thanks Martin. I used a slow cooker. The idea being that it slowly cooks the food over the day. On low it'll take about 8 hours to cook. The carrots were cooked and soft with a slight crunch, they weren't raw or over soft which some people like.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Also, bare in mind that this Ecoflow is rated at 800W so your jackery has more capacity at 1000W

[@martinph9052]

@@HermanHitstheRoad we also have a similar slow cooker but I’ve not tried it on the Jackery. With a couple of 100w solar panels I expect you would have achieved your 8 hours cooking time. The great thing about using a powerbank is you can let the cooking get on by itself and do something else, go back to the van and have a tasty meal ready, perfect. It’s good that you are doing these tests, it gets people thinking and exchanging ideas. Cheers Martin

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Thanks Martin 👍👍

[@laikatravels]

10/10 for the thumbnail 😂

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Haha. Thanks Laika Travels 👍🤣

[@CraftyCampervanners]

I like to do my stew for 7 hours in the slow cooker - in fact I am making one tomorrow 🤪. Interesting experiment to see how long the eco flow lasted though. P.s. Pete couldn’t believe that you waited 4 hrs to finish off the left over beer 🤪

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Haha it was an even longer wait because I finished the beer in the evening 🤣

[@carolynandcocohaywood2638]

Thanks for doing this as I was wondering if I could use my Air fryer on the Eco flow River 2, I think it might work. Thanks Adds

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

We don't have an air-fryer, Carolyn and Coco so we can't test it for you. What wattage is your air-fryer?

[@carolynandcocohaywood2638]

@@HermanHitstheRoad my air fryer is 1550 watts so I’m hoping it will be ok, if not I’ll only be able to use it when I’m plugged in on a campsite.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Yes, that's right

[@robinzheng1065]

@@carolynandcocohaywood2638 In this case, you need a Delta 2 which up to 1800W output

[@mk1photography62]

Very tasty 😋

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

It was VEERRY tasty, Mark 🤤

[@Andy.Gledhill.Models.]

Love it. 4 hours on high should have been plenty of time to cook a beef stew. Question, did your onion that you put in fade away to nothing? I have found that when you put chopped onion in a slow cooker. If its on for a long time, the onion can just blend in to all the liquid and disappear. I tend to add the onions for the last hour of cooking to prevent this.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Good tip, Andrew but I don't remember

[@Andy.Gledhill.Models.]

@@HermanHitstheRoad Braising Steak is nice done in a slow cooker. But it can break up into smaller pieces during cooking.

[@nigelcharles511]

How much battery capacity was there left at the end? The portability of these power packs adds convenience but if more power or endurance is required it is probably better to spend the money in improving the existing off grid power system within the 'van.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

In the video, Nigel you can see (I hope) in the sped up part that I ran the battery dry.

[@tommo9757]

​@@HermanHitstheRoad 😲

[@RickandHeather]

When you’re contractually obligated to do 2 videos 😉 well it was entertaining but I’m surprised it didn’t last longer….. (she said)

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Haha I'm glad you found it entertaining ,Rick and Heather. No need to make the video longer - In and out (that's what she said 🤣)

[@RickandHeather]

@@HermanHitstheRoad I meant the power bank didn’t last long….

[@jrosam9569]

You did not state how many people your feeding. If for two people I think your slow cooker is maybe too big. Perhaps a 1.8l litre model drawing a 100watts?. I find the food being more compact tends to cook quicker. I find plenty for two people.

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

Just for us two, J Rosam. Interesting what you say about cooker size though👍👍

[@captured-by-kenny]

4 hours and can't cook a carrot 🤔🤔🤔😂

[@HermanHitstheRoad]

It's a slow cooker, Kenny. They are slow at cooking, keeping all the juices and flavours locked in. Nothing to do with the EcoFlow