I love to cook and I’m pretty good at it.  Of course, success in the kitchen is like most things in life.  Having the right tools ensures that success is possible.  Let’s face it; Tiger Woods wouldn’t be one of the top golfers in the world without golf clubs or golf balls.  And I’m not going to be a very good cook without the right kitchen appliances or ingredients. 

In preparing to move into our motorhome fulltime, downsizing my kitchen gadgets was more difficult than throwing out the boxes of memorabilia that I had accumulated and saved.   My kitchen gadgets all served purposes.  As much as I wanted to keep the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and knew that I would use it, the amount of use it would get meant it had to go. 

Six months into living on the RV, I can say that I haven’t missed my Kitchen Aid at all and I still have too many gadgets.  I’m not willing to get rid of them quite yet. But in the next few months, I plan to reevaluate everything that I brought.  It’s amazing how much stuff you don’t need.  And that’s not to say that we aren’t buying things that we think will enhance the life that we have. 

I’ve been frustrated with the convection/microwave oven with which our motorhome came.  It functions fine as a microwave, but as an oven?  Well, that’s another story.  The oven takes forever to preheat; the heat isn’t very even; the highest temperature setting is only 450 degrees;  I’m convinced that this temperature is about 20 degrees cooler than in the oven I had at home.  Try getting anything brown or crisp in the oven, and you’ll be waiting for a long time.  I’ve tried all kinds of tricks, including using the function where it cooks with using microwave and convection at the same time.   The half-sheet pan of roasted brussels sprouts was unlike anything I’ve seen before.  Imagine the rubbery quality that comes from microwaved food and add a not too subtle burnt edge. 

In looking for a solution to my problem, and recognizing what I use the oven for, I started to explore air fryers.  But I couldn’t justify the space that this would take in our tiny kitchen.  And then, I was introduced to the Mealthy Crisplid.  “What’s that?” you ask.  The Mealthy Crisplid is, as the name implies, a lid.  Specifically, it is a lid that converts any 6- or 8-quart pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, into an air fryer.  The Mealthy Crisplid isn’t the only crisp lid technology out there.  About a year ago, I learned about the Ninja Foodi Multicooker that introduced me to this crisp lid technology.  The Ninja combines this with the functionality of a multi-cooker like the Instant Pot I already owned.   But I already owned an Instant Pot, and at $189 and up for the Ninja, I’d need it to do more than just crisp my food. 

Amazon delivered my new gadget this past week.  As the reviews warned, it has its downsides.  The basket is quite small.  Deeper baskets are available, but the pressure cooker limits the circumference of the basket no matter how deep it is.  You can’t cook at temperatures above 450 for more than 20 minutes without letting it cool down.   Cooking time is limited to sixty minutes for temperatures under 450.  On the positive side of things:  it’s small, inexpensive, doesn’t heat up the motorhome when using, and has a transparent, tempered glass cover that allows you to see your food as it cooks. 

This week, I used it for two things—salmon, which was a perfect medium after 11 minutes (no pre-heating time), and toast.  Yup, toast!  I never knew how much I would miss having an occasional piece of toast for breakfast until I had no easy way to make toast.  Three minutes on each side seems to be the perfect time for lightly toasted, crisp toast.  I can imagine other ways that I’ll use the Mealthy Crisplid.  It will be handy in crisping chicken after cooking it in the Instant Pot, and it will provide the crunchy exterior for other meat and seafood that’s been cooked sous vide with the Anova Precision Cooker which made the cut when downsizing.  I’m sure that I’ll use it to air fry small batches of potatoes or vegetables as side dishes for the two of us.   A recipe booklet included with the purchase, has me thinking about scalloped potatoes and lasagna.  Both made using the pressure cooker function of the multi-cooker, but to me not interesting without the crisping and browning of the top. 

I’m currently working on my plan for making Thanksgiving dinner.  Given the size of the kitchen and the limitations of two propane burners and a microwave/convection over, something tells me that the Mealthy Crisplid will come in very handy!  Stay tuned for more on Thanksgiving and culinary adventures with the Mealthy Crisplid.

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