breadmaker and rice cooker use

Don't waste your time trying to make bread while mobile.

Bread, cakes, damper, etc all rise because of small air bubbles that form during the baking process.

Vibrations in a moving vehicle will disturb all the bubbles and you will end up with a dud loaf.

Just check your appliances for the power use rating in watts and see if your inverter will have enough capacity to run it.

We have successfully used a 600W inverter to run a Queen size Sunbeam electric blanket - all night. Each side is rated at 80W on max but down to 20W on the lower settings that are usually used for sleep comfort.

We tried the bread maker on a 600 pure sine wave and blew it up and the bread maker was rated at 450 w. we could have done some thing wrong and knowing us we probably did.
BroodieH3

We run a small Breville breadmaker from a PSW inverter and have done so since 2005.
The breadmaker draws 450W maximum and uses about 30Ahr (at 12V) to bake a loaf.
We bake while driving on a regular basis and also when camped. No problems.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Hi Rainbowprof, can't help with the Rice cooker, but we use our breadmaker while driving, we have a 600 Watt Projecta inverter behind one of the panels in the back of our Troopy, and a Breville breadmaker (550 W from memory) it will trip out if the motor isn't running when the Heating element starts other than that it works fine, and the bread is as good as it cooks at home, makes the car smell real good too. It takes about 3 hours to make, so we set it up to run if we have a 3hr run ahead of us and are low on bread. We still use a camp oven if we are set up somewhere for a while but find the set up in the car very convenient while travelling. You don't want to be too fusy about keeping the breadmaker all shiney and flash ( ours looks like it has been dragged behind the car, still works a treat despite the dents and scratches.) Try it out for yourself. Cheers, Kanga.

Well I believe you are taking all the uniqueness out of your camping escapades.

Just imagine, you are at camp and it's time to start the bread making process.
Have the kiddies join in the process of mixing the dough in a bowl.
Kneading of the dough is an adults job but the kids can place the bread mix and yeast in the bowl, then gradually add water as you knead the dough.

Then they can view the prepared dough as it gradually rises over a couple of hours or so, putting the dough in a bread tin, then placing the tin in a warm breeze free place.

When the dough has risen, place the bread tin in an oven of your choice, either a gas fired oven in a van, or a covered barbeque, or best of all, a camp oven.

Half an hour later you should have the best bread you can imagine, in a shape that is practical and the aroma, oh boy!

I have a breadmaker at home, but only use it to mix the dough, then it goes into a bread tin and placed in the oven, BBQ, or camp oven, even at home.
Bread made in a breadmaker is short, high and has a bloody great hole in the bottom where the mixing blade is.

Shake yourself away from electrical appliances as much as possible when camping and enjoy the simple things in life.

As for the rice cooker, what is wrong with a saucepan?
Boil the rice in the water for 12 mins and drain the water off the rice.
It worked for my Grandmother, it worked for my mother and it works for us too.

Hi Rainbowprof

While i said i would never take electric cooking appliances (bulky and heavy), for our last trip i purchased a small breadmaker from eBay - and it stayed under the bed the whole time :O. Much easier to mix by hand than get it out. At home i use a breadmaker almost every day to mix the dough for fresh bread rolls, but when the power was off last week, it didn't take much time to make by hand.

I don't use a rice cooker at home, boiling up a pot of rice every week. In the caravan, it is just as easy to boil for 14 or 15 minutes on the stove.

Motherhen

I certainly appreciate the responses- of course each of us have our own individual priorities and preferences. I went for a s/h 350 watt bread maker from ebay that cost $44 delivered. I'm hoping my inverter will deal with it efficiently! We'll try it and see how we feel. The kids expressed great interest in getting it happening on a daily basis. I might buy 10 kg of flour and some yeast to get us started. Seven people consume a fair amount of carbohydrates. My wife smiled at the thought of us all battling the flies and kneading dough in roadside camps on the trip. Our major priority is crowd control, and hungry people are harder to keep in line. Sometimes practicalities and shortcuts win out :-) Hey , I'm a teacher who's overworked and underpaid as it is. Luckily I'm paid for 4 months off a year. If we're fortunate we'll make bread, enjoy it and spend less on it as a whole over a period of time. Fingers crossed.
Thanks again for all the well-intentioned and carefully considered replies.