I have a gigantic pressure cooker that I use maybe a couple times per year. It takes up way to much space in the kitchen so I store it in the garage. That got me thinking - is there any danger (beyond that of pressure cooking in the kitchen) of buying a portable induction burner and doing my pressure cooking in the garage? I can’t think of any but on the off chance I’m wrong the consequence is my house burning down with me in it. Beside canning, I would make homemade stock via pressure cooker for 12 hours meaning it would be unsupervised for an extended period.
So ignoring any dangers of the pressure cooker itself. The portable induction burner becomes another point of failure. What amperage will it draw and is your garage wiring up to running that amperage for 12 hours?
I think the average portable induction burner runs 15-20 amps and your garage outlet and more importantly the wiring behind it, might not be up to that load.
See, this is why I ask the SD rather than saying, “Yeah, I’m sure it’s good.”
I’ll ask my oldest - he’s an electrician. So let’s assume for this thread the wiring is good.
Are you making a bone broth or something? Twelve hours seems like a lot for most stocks cooked conventionally, much less in a pressure cooker. Or are you doing batches? Im curious what is you’re making—that’s like the equivalent of about a day and a half on a normal stove.
Yes, bone broth that I make into demiglas for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Ok, that makes a little more sense.
There is a general danger in leaving it unattended anywhere. If it blows up, which is nearly impossible with a modern pressure cooker it might do more damage in a garage if you had a car in there. There’s some chance your induction cooktop could catch fire and if you have gasoline or other flammable materials there it could go wrong. But the pressure cooker itself is no more dangerous than left unattended elsewhere.
That’s why I’m thinking induction and not a gas burner. Beyond the obviousness of leaving a gas flame unattended, I’m thinking once I get the X degrees = Y psi dialed in, induction would be the most consistent and the least likely to give me over-pressure. Electric would be a no-go owing to how it controls temperature via cycle-on/cycle-off and the heat if the whole damn thing thing burns down, falls over and sinks into the swamp.
My portable has a selector that lets you change from 600, 900, and 1200 watts. But in any case, it’s not going to be going full blast once it gets up to temp. It won’t be drawing the full current for the full 12 hours.
Plus, why would the wiring in the garage be less robust than that in the kitchen?
Do you have an induction burner already? Mine has the ability to dial in a specific temperature in 5 degree increments. If you have one, does it have that? If not, it may be a feature to look for.
As to the overall OP, other than the fact that it’s going to be more unsupervised in the garage than it would be in the house, I can’t think of any reason why it would pose any particular danger.
The garage isn’t for cooking. It’s for guitar amps and pinball machines.
Depends, detached garages especially often have a single 15amp circuit, sometimes shared with something in the house. Even older attached garages often only have a 15 amp circuit. Basically a lighting circuit with one outlet on it.
Kitchens also vary but most are now 20amp circuits at least.
I guess it depends on the wiring. My garage has pretty good electric, 2 independent outlets each on a 20amp breaker (though one shares with the garage door opener, and I’ve never checked to see what circuit the overhead light is on.) My house is about to turn 60.
I’d generally think that garages would have reasonable power, for use with power tools and such.
Could you do it outdoors? Under a tent or something so in the absolute worst case you don’t set your house or car on fire? You’ll need a heavy duty extension cord. Most of the induction cooktops I’ve seen are made for 15 amp circuits although as mentioned 20amp outlets are common in kitchens now. If you’re getting a long outdoor extension cord you might as well get as long and heavy as you can for all future use. That is until you look at the inflated cost of those things now. Might have you back cooking in the kitchen again.
Most of the home pressure cookers I’ve seen are aluminum and won’t heat on induction.
I recommend a basement setup for your extended ‘cooks’. Plenty of room and little interference.
Stranger
Good point. All of the giant pressure cookers I’ve seen were made of aluminum. However, a steel plate can place between the pressure cooker and the induction cooktop. I think it may not require a lot of heat to maintain pressure in the cooker once it comes up to pressure initially. I suppose a very large aluminum pressure cooker has a fair amount of radiant heat loss, but I can’t see it needing full power to keep going.
Sorry, I’m answering a question you didn’t ask.
Get an Instant Pot, which you can go off and leave. It’s a multi-cooker, so pressure cooking is only one of its functions. You plug it in; it doesn’t need a burner. Much safer than an old-time pressure cooker. They come in 8-quart size. Do you need something bigger than that?
Try the magnet test (a magnet must stick and hold to the bottom of the pan) on any pressure cooker or canner in question. It is also preferable to size the cooker or canner to the size of the burner.
The only pressure cooker/canner failures are from over temp and going dry.
Long’s you insure those don’t happen, you’ll be OK.
Dennis Haysbert has your back.
Stranger