Life is full of things we take for granted, like fresh air, sunshine and a Starbucks on every corner when you live in San Francisco or Seattle. But if you’re on the road or camping in the forest, that fresh cup of joe is a little more elusive. Those of us used to walking to the electric coffeemaker or the electric tea kettle don’t often ponder how much power is required to work our every day appliances. Then suddenly we’re camping in our Prius and wondering how to boil just one cup of water!
Yes, you can always use fire, assuming you have a camp stove and fuel, and an object to place it on, like a picnic table. Personally, I carry none of these in my car, because I travel light, and fast, and my stays at campsites with picnic tables are rare on my travels. But my car has a lot of power, so I’ve harnessed that to make my life easier.
If you’re a die-hard water arsonist (just my term for folks that love boiling water using fire), the Jetboil is the most compact way to do it. It’s a pot with metal blades on the bottom that help increase the heat. And they require a special fuel that you’ll need to carry with you. Check out Amazon for more info.
But if you want to boil your water WHILE you drive, you’ll need to use electricity. This will be fast or slow depending on your power source, and requires knowing just a little about your car’s electrical system.
The Prius has 12v sockets that output 12v DC power, a 12v DC starter battery, and a high voltage battery bank that outputs 200v to the starter battery. The small cigarette sockets are meant to be used by low draw appliances, most of which have a 15 amp fuse. If you try to pull more than 15 amps from the 12v sockets, the fuse will blow and your appliance stops working. This means that with 12v at 15 amps, you are limited to appliances with a maximum wattage of, you guessed it, 180 watts! It’s just math!
The latest craze in heating water in your car is the Smart travel mug. These mugs vary in features, and will let you heat, and/or boil water, then maintain your desired temperature while you drive. They vary in wattage, and in the cut off temperature at which they stop heating. You need to check the wattage to determine whether they are only capable of reheating something that’s already lukewarm, or whether they have the capacity to take something cold and actually boil it. You also have to keep in mind that since you are only drawing a max of ~100w, it will take a lot longer than your coffeemaker that draws 1000w at home! It could take up to 40 minutes to boil water and make you cranky if you’re in a hurry!
There is one kettle that uses 300w and can be used with a small 300w power station. It boils 10oz of water in about 6 minutes. See my post on the Tiniest Tiny Prius Kitchen for more info.
If you don’t want to wait 20-40 minutes for your hot water however, I’m happy to say there are a multitude of solutions, as long as you’ve got an inverter, or a portable power station with a decent amount of output. By inverter I mean a high wattage inverter, of 1000w or more, connected directly to your starter battery. In a pinch you could use a power station that outputs 1000w, but plugging in high wattage appliances will drain them very quickly and they cost a pretty penny. Read my gear article to learn about inverters and power stations.
My favorite appliance for boiling water is the collapsible kettle. It squishes down flat and fits inside of a plastic shoe box where I keep spices and utensils. It uses 800w and boils 2 cups of water in about 3 minutes. This gives me the option of driving to the national park, pulling up to a beautiful lake, and setting my kettle on top of my fridge. I can either have instant coffee or use a coffee press. Add a slice of buttered toast and it’s heaven!
My only reason for considering a different kettle to boil water is the option of using it for other things like heating soup on the go. I’ve never tried it, but I think that silicone will stain and perhaps smell if used for something other than water. And soup is oily, making it hard to clean off rubber. Since the bottom of the kettle contains electronics, you can’t immerse it in water to wash it. You can only scrub the inside and wipe the outside. A stainless steel kettle won’t stain or smell, but it takes up more space.
If I were to travel or hang out with more people on a regular basis, I might go with a larger kettle like the Dash. This kettle can be used to boil water, heat soup, or even sauté, since the bottom is stainless steel. There is a rubber gasket between the stainless steel and the plastic however, and I don’t know how this will wear over time.
If you’re serious about cooking and boiling water in the same appliance, and you don’t mind a larger size, I’d consider the Dezin nonstick hot pot. It has variable heat settings and a nonstick interior that let’s you sauté for more than one person. You could travel with just this hot pot and cover all your cookware needs.
My final bit of advice is to research your purchase carefully before buying any appliance. Make sure you’ll be able to handle the wattage, and that the item has good ratings. I’ve seen negative ratings on almost everything, some perhaps due to user error or unrelated wiring issues. And if you’re at all concerned about an item not being reliable, purchase a protection plan. Electronics can be finicky and I don’t like losing money, so I usually get the protection plan.
So there you have it. You can now go out into the wild, knowing you never have to be cranky for want of caffeine on the road. For more info on other electric appliances, check out this post. Happy travels!
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Tiny Prius Travel 