Can you really use power banks to cook in a van?

I've been cooking with electric kitchen appliances for the last couple of months and testing them out. 

I get a lot of questions on my videos about them and how I cook with them and what they can actually power. 

Naturally, I’m more than happy to try it all out. ‘Oh no, I have to cook and eat a load of food’.

Before I crack on, if you're not sure what I mean by power pack or portable power bank, it's essentially a rechargeable battery-powered generator. They are absolutely brilliant for providing extra power when needed and for giving you the ability to run mains powered items if you don't have the facility in your van.

The technology has been around for many years, mainly in the marine sector. In the last 2 years, however, they’ve blown up in vanlife. You can’t talk to a fellow vanlifer without hearing the word EcoFlow or Jackery at least once.

Back to cooking with appliances powered by power banks. In my case, I use EcoFlows. 

What cooking appliances I power with power banks

One kitchen appliance I've been cooking with a lot is the George Foreman. I do toasties, bacon, chicken, burgers. Anything can be cooked on it really. It’s so easy 

And then I've got the induction hob. This is quite new to me but it's been brilliant. Again, I've been using it to cook things like bacon and eggs plus I boil water on it. 

The great thing is it's got loads of settings, so you can choose the wattage that you want. This means you don't have to have it on something crazy like 2000 watts. 

For both of these, I've been using the EcoFlow River Pro and it powered them no problem. Even better, I could cook outside with them. One of the advantages of cooking with portable power banks!

What power bank do I use for higher powered appliances?

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, I also have my air fryer! That is probably the appliance I use the most now as its so easy and versatile.

But of course, that uses a lot more power. So for that, I’ve been using the EcoFlow Delta and it's an amazing bit of kit.

It’s a beast! It has an inverter built in that runs at 1800 Watts and peaks at 3300 watts which is freaking incredible. It runs the air fryer an absolute dream.

To be transparent, EcoFlow sent me mine as part of my agreement with them. Rest assured though, I don’t mince my words. If something isn’t good, I will say it isn't good. 

Do you think I would cook my precious chicken wings using something that wasn’t up to scratch? Hell no. 

How much is an EcoFlow Delta and is it worth it?

I'm not going to beat around the bush, the Delta is expensive. About £1100 - £1200 pounds.

But, it does provide another option if you're going more towards electric appliances, but are not upgrading your on board power system in your Motorhome or Campervan. 

Or even better, if you’re not installing a solar power system at all.

Out of the EcoFlows I’ve got, I’m using the Delta more to cook. It has a bigger inverter and I wanted to fully test it because a lot of people ask; what they can actually do?

I’ll tell you what it can do that I wasn’t expecting - the perfect soft boiled eggs! I kid you not, nine minutes in the air fryer and they come out spot on.

How easy is it to charge a power bank back up?

Talking specifically about EcoFlows, they have a mad quick recharge rate. Probably the best on the market. They will charge up on mains/AC in an hour!

They have the flexibility of charging via 12v or via mains so that expands the charging options. 

If I know I have a drive coming up, I’ll chuck them on charge while I drive.

If I’m going somewhere I can charge them via mains, I’ve got no problems with sitting in a cafe or restaurant and plugging them in (I actually did this at Tim Horton’s).

During real life testing, I let the Delta drain right down. Then I left it for a couple of days, empty, until my solar panels had charged my batteries up again. Then, I charge it up off my system and then my system will charge itself backup. 

It's a win-win really because I'm expanding how much power I've got. 

I’ve also tested it at my Mum’s with some appliances and it all worked great.

To recap, this has run a toaster, a toastie maker, an induction hob and an air fryer. 

In fact the Delta will run the induction hob and the airfryer at the same time, not a problem. 

The only thing I haven't tested is a coffee machine as I didn’t have access to one. I’ll have to borrow someone's and put it on just to show that it does work. I’ll update this post when I do!

There you have it. You really can cook with power banks. I’ve used the EcoFlow River Pro and the Delta.

If you are looking to go more towards the electric side but don’t have an inbuilt system that can cope with it, then power banks are an option. Especially because of how quick they charge 

I can cook with power banks but I still won't ditch LPG

Long story short, I am not going to ditch my gas. Even when I change my motorhome, it will still have gas.

Aside from redundancy, the other reason is I want to travel to mainland Europe, and then around the world! 

I know we're moving away from gas quite a lot over here [in the UK] on the forecourts but mainland Europe are not. It's still readily available over there. 

Why would I not have more than one option? I think vanlife as a full-timer is about options. You need to be able to adapt and overcome and have multiple options for multiple things. 

It comes down to being able to survive in any situation in comfort at the end of the day. 

And having perfectly crispy chicken wings and a cold Pepsi Max!