We very seldom go out to eat when camping. We may eat at a restraunt when on the road, but once at the campsite, we almost always fix our meals and eat there. We do eat well by the way as I'm the one that does most of the cooking, and I do enjoy Porterhouse Steaks and Ribeye Steaks, Ham Steak, Pork Chops, sausage patties, and any other type of meat that produces grease!
Wit that said, I (we) very seldom, if ever, actually fix meals inside the camper. Never have, except on rare occasions, for example extream rain and wind.
My style of cooking has changed over the years, but I don't regret any phase of my advancing years over time and attitude about food preparation and cooking.
30 years ago, when first married, struggling financially, and just getting started, (tent camping), and having babies, it was always fixed over an open fire.
Mostly during our pop-up years, it was on the stove. But the stove could be brought outside, propane hose passed through the wall, and the stove hung on the outside of the camper. Everything was either over a fire or on this stove outside.
When we got our first travel trailer, I really missed the propane removable stove, so ended up getting a Coleman Camp Stove so we could continue cooking outside (but not so much over a fire any more). The heat on a propane burner was more steady, and simply, we were beginning (ok.... I was beginning) to wear down having to clean black soot off of everything from the fire... especially when breaking camp. It too so long to clean our campfire tripod, the chains, the grill that hung from it, the blackened pots and pans. This eventually gave way to using the Coleman exclusively.
By the time we got our second camper, we also had 2 Coleman stoves. One was a flat griddle style, the other a conventional 2 burner. I bought a propane pole (tee) and attached it to a 20 pound propane tank, and also had the Coleman gas lantern that screwed on the top of the pole. Actually, the 20 pound propane tank, with the pole, and lantern was GREAT for fishing at night along the bank!
Well, when your constantly cooking ribs, and T-bone on that grill that came with the griddle, it sure made a mess all the time We used those stoves for years and fixed some mighty fine eats off of them!
(still everyting outside)...
Then came the day we purchased a Presto electric flat griddle for the house.... wonderful for fixing pancakes and eggs. I learned how to maximize use of this device at home in the kitchen, and realized one day ... hey .... this thing would work great for camping too!
So you guessed it! It went in the camper, and we bought another one for the house.
Clean up is easier, the temperature is controlled easier, it's still all done outside, and it's just as fun as a fire..... without the mess of a fire!
Then we also decided to toss in an electric skillet.
So with the 3rd travel trailer, .... yup ... it came with an outside stove (propane). So now I use the outside propane for some items, the electric skillet, and the electric griddle, depending upon what we are fixing.
Inside the camper, we will use the microwave. We fixed spaghetti a few times inside, but the hamburger was fried outside in the electric skillet. The microwave is another chapter to write about, but for the REAL food, it's almost always fixed outside!
Wanna talk about what kinds of ice-cream we keep in camper freezer! We take camping serious you know! It's so rugged and wild out there you know! :B
