RV 12v appliances for the kitchen
In one of the facebook groups I’m in, someone was asking for recommendations for RV 12 Volt appliances; in particular he was looking for a 12v coffee machine that uses pods/k-cups/keurig (I think that’s what they’re called) so that he could brew his consistent cup of espresso every day.
The poor guy that asked the question got A LOT of answers but pretty much none of them answered his actual question.
So I went on a quest to answer these myself.
And now I know why there was so much difficulty in answering his question! There are a lot of gimmicky gadgets that run on 12v, but, to be honest, not a whole of good quality 12 volt appliances for your small RV kitchen.
Of course, if you’re in an RV with 12v batteries, there is always the option of hooking up an inverter to run your normal small kitchen appliances on 110 or 240v power. And for many of these appliances, this will be your only option!
But I wanted to specifically look at what is available in the 12v range. But since it is sooooo limited, I’ve decided to include manual (no power at all) or battery (AA or lithium) powered options as well.
Of course, when you’re in an RV, you don’t exactly want to overstuff your limited kitchen storage with gadgets just for the sake of it. But here are some of the kitchen appliances you might want to consider.
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RV 12 volt appliances
12 volt Coffee Maker RV
Okay, so now I understand why this guys wasn’t able to get a straight answer about a 12 volt coffee maker. Basically, there isn’t one; well, not one that I could find anyway.
Except for this one, but it’s only got three reviews on Amazon, two of which are one star. So maybe give this one a miss?
However, there are a couple of other options where you just need to heat up the water, and use these manual or battery powered espresso makers.
I’ll start with the most popular and highest rated espresso coffee maker, the Aeropress. This is getting rave reviews on Amazon and it seems to appeal to A LOT of true coffee snobs connoisseurs.
Or there is the somewhat more fiddly (apparently) type where you add the hot water and then manually pump the water through the coffee:
Or you can get a similar battery powered one, but no pumping, just press the button and the coffee comes through.
If you’re not after an espresso, then you can have a good ole filter coffee with this 12 volt coffee pot:
12 volt Blender
The options here are limited to mini blenders (to mix up drinks like a nutri-bullet) or a hand-powered blender!
You will also find plenty of these types of mini-blenders; powered by a lithium battery that you can recharge with USB. If you don’t fancy the one below, I would search Amazon for ‘car mini blender’ to get the widest selection.
And if you’re up for the physical challenge, you can go hand-powered all the way!
Okay, so I did find some 12V blenders on Alibaba, but I honestly don’t know enough about them to say it would be worth having it shipped to you from China. And they didn’t seem any different from the USB/car/portable mini blenders on Amazon.
Still in the blending kinda gadgets, let’s look at:
Stick Blenders
This is probably my all-time favourite gadget in the kitchen.
And I can’t find ANY 12V versions. Gap in the market, methinks?
There are some cordless variety’s that have a 12V litium-ion battery, but you still need to plug the recharging base into your regular power supply to recharge.
Food processor
And again, nothing.
It must be that the 12V just doesn’t put out enough power for chopping/blending?
12v Kettle / Jug
There are plenty of 12 volt kettles out there. Here are a couple of nice looking ones:
Sandwich press or grill (12v)
Or… this could be the time to collect some firewood, polish off your fire-lighting skills and crank out the cast iron sandwich press or panini press.
May as well toast some marshmallows while you’re at it…
Hot plate
I suppose with gas being an efficient (?) medium to cook on, the market just isn’t there for 12v cooking?
There are a few cooking gadgets though:
12 volt Frying Pan
12v Slow cooker
12 volt Rice Cooker
Is there a 12 volt microwave?
Surprisingly, I have been able to find a 12 volt microwave. It’s by WaveBox and, while the first reviews it got were pretty bad, they seem to have been getting better over the years.
I’ve gotta say, I’m really surprised at the lack of 12 volt appliances that are available in the market. I’m sure it’s got everything to do with power output (or lack of), but I’m still surprised.
And as I said at the beginning, an inverter solves most of your converting-AC-to-DC-problems anyway.
Do you have any RV 12V appliances that you’d recommend?
If you’d like to just see normal appliances (i.e. normal power, NOT 12v) then head over to the Best Small Kitchen Appliances for the RV.
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Lora Murphy
Monday 28th of May 2018
For a chopper/mini food processor you can use Crank Chop. It pulls with a string like a mini lawn mower. We have a crank chop and it does a great job. will cut up onions, peppers, makes fresh salsa - it just depends on how many times you pull - 1, 2 or 3 how fine the chop is. Ii think there are a few different name brands. also good for coffee is a personal drip - some are made by Melitta. We just got a collapsible silicon one that stores flat. It's cone shaped and you put a paper filter in it and pour hot water through it; cna make a small pot or do over a Thermos (vacuum bottle) for a larger amount. We are in the process of outfitting our RV for boondocking (free camping) and we are trying to find any appliance that does not require electricity at all. We also use a butane stove, Compact and the cnas that fit in are about the size of a can of hairspray or whipped cream. We have used butane stoves for over 30 years, on the boat, in the trailer, camping and at large gatherings to keep food warm or at a fish fry (we had 3 going on picnic tables) to do appetizers for about 60 people.
Michelle
Tuesday 29th of May 2018
Oh wow, thanks for all that helpful information Lora! :-) So those crank chops work huh. I had seen some other manual blenders (the ones with the winding handle) and people complained about them but this obviously has a better mechanism and has heaps of good reviews. -Here it is on Amazon if anyone else wants to see what we're talking about: https://amzn.to/2ISYCyD We've used the butane stoves here too, but we seem to go through the cans at a furious rate. So we now use a gas stove connected to an LPG (propane) bottle. After doing the research for this post, I'm fully in agreement with you. No-electricity-needed-at-all is the best way to go!