Take it or leave it?

[quasi]

I cook. A lot. I have gadgets and geegaws, appliances and appurtenances. My question is what to take with us when we start Long-Timing next spring. Do most of you cooks out there take most of your kitchen with you or do you try to get by with a mess kit and a pocket knife? Trying to determine if I need things like a stand mixer, food processor and panini maker, all of which I use weekly at home.
Suggestions?

Jim

[mgirardo]

I enjoy cooking, but our 32' Class C motorhome is limited in Cargo Carrying Capacity, so I limit my knives to 1 good quality Henkels chef's knife and various other knives that are usable, all with light plastic handles. For Cookware, we have a decent dutch oven and good quality Calphalon frying pan, and a few cheap pots. We also bring a 6 qt Crook Pot with us (wife cooks in crook pot, I use it to keep things warm).

That's enough to get us through a 4 month summer season. Most of our cooking is outside. We have a portable propane grill, a 2 burner Coleman camp stove and an offset smoker. We do big cook outs a couple times a month and the two big summer holidays.

Trying to determine if I need things like a stand mixer, food processor and panini maker, all of which I use weekly at home.

If you have the room and the OCCC for them, bring them. These gadgets make cooking easier, but I make do without them and still produce quality meals.

-Michael

[DutchmenSport]

Everybody has their own way of doing things, and when it comes to food, everyone REALLY does it different. So, in the end, whatever you are accustom to at home, you will probably do when camping also. However, as stated above in so many words, space in an RV is limited, so if you can find appliances or devices that serve multiple purposes, its really to your advantage.

We do (well, mostly me .... I'm the husband) ... does most of the cooking when camping. My wife does most of the cooking at home. But we do have a good compromise in the camper.

First and foremost, it took years (30 years to be exact), to reach the point we're at right now.

We have learned we need items for 4 types of food preparation:
1. over an open fire,
2. on the gas stove and oven in the camper,
3. the microwave,
4. and an electric skillet and flat electric griddle.

I very seldom, if ever cook over an open fire any more. After years of cleaning black soot off of pots and pans, you reach a point you're sick and tired of that. That led to the Coleman gas stoves so we could cook outside the camper. It get REALLY hot inside cooking in the summer!

After a while, I got tired of cleaning grease from all the parts on the Coleman stoves, and we slowly switched to an electric skillet (outside), which also led to an electric flat griddle (which I do about 99% of all our food preparation on now, with the electric skillet). Clean up is just MUCH easier, the heat is controllable, and more consistent than a fire, or a gas flame blowing in the wind.

In your food preparation, you need to consider all 4 types of cooking applications and have equipment for each type. We also carry hot dog and marshmallow sticks (still), and occasionally use them over an open fire too. This is also considered part of the cooking paraphernalia. And don't forget about the dutch over style cooking.

So... first and foremost, identify the type of cooking your doing, then determine what you need to do it. A Teflon coated frying pay with a plastic handle will NOT work over an open fire, and a dutch oven will probably not work very well on an electric skillet!

We have found, simplicity in food preparation is the best. We have a hand held, old school, square aluminum thing that has the 4 sides, and each side shreds or slices (whatever) a slightly different way. More we don't need.

We have one pot with a lid with holes. It's perfect for things like spaghetti, to drain the water, or to dump grease out of so the meat won't fall out. We have learned we can bake cookies, cup cakes, cakes, pizza, and all sorts of stuff in an electric skillet with a lid, but we do have an oven.

The thing is, less really is better! So, identify your style of food preparation and bring the essential tools to do that. In the end, only YOU can make those decisions. If you need all the processors, then yes, take them. YOu won't be happy if you don't. But if you REALLY don't need them, leave them at home.

Part of the fun of camping is learning how to improvise, to make something happening with something you don't have. Food preparation is a perfect example of this! It's fun, it's challenging, and it keep camping interesting.

[mockturtle]

My rice cooker is a must-have but I don't bring my crock pot or food processor. I do have a Kitchen Aid portable mixer with attachments. Rarely use it. Ditched my electric drip coffeemaker and now only use my stovetop percolator (I mostly dry camp, anyway). I do use my coffee grinder as it works very nicely on my small inverter.

[warrantyblues]

We have the older version with 2 sets of grill, one flat and one ribbed. Been using it for years and it's performed flawlessly. We went to it from a George Forman Grill and are happy we did.

[quasi]

How do you like the combo unit? I've seen some combination appliances that end up not doing either thing particularly well.

[Big_Katuna]

Thats the one has one we carry. The new version has reversible grills; smooth on one side, grill bumps on the other.

[quasi]

Katuna, you sound like my kind of cook. Most of the equipment I want to take isn't a uni-tasker (nod to Alton Brown) and the few that are may be replaced with multi-taskers. I'm looking at the Cuisinart Griddler. Anyone use one of these and care to comment?

Thanx,

Jim

[Texas_Roadrunn1]

I cook a lot also and want a well equipped kitchen when we are on the road, 2-3 months at a time. Having said that I have converted to using some bought sauces, i.e. bottled arrabiata sauce, Alfredo sauce, some Mexican sauces, etc. which makes prep a lot less complicated. I also make lots of soups and sauces at home and freeze them in quart zip locks. They stack easily in the freezer and don't take up a lot of room. However, I still keep a small hand mixer, food processor, crock pot (albeit smaller than my home one), toaster, and waffle maker in the fiver. I also use a panini grill at home, but on trips I use an iron skillet to press the sandwich. It works fairly well. One of the greatest things I have found is a collapsible colander which lays relatively flat in the cabinet, or will stand on its side. I think I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond, but am not sure about that.

[Big_Katuna]

I carry a lot. I dont take a stand mixer but I do take the panini grill. Its the kind that opens out and you can use it like a griddle.

I also carry a electric griddle. elec skillet, Breville convection oven, induction burner, small and large crock pots, immersion Sous Vide device which uses standard pots. I have the Magma nesting Ceramica pot set from Camping World that is wonderful invention.

I like to cook outside when I can and have the two burner Camp Chef e stove with a one burner grill and a two burner Pizza oven. I carry a few big pots for steaming seafood or doing low country boil for a crowd. The electric stuff is good for outside, too.

And of course a big cast iron dutch oven and frying pan.

I also made a mini Weber Smoker from a Smokey Joe and a steamer pot from Walmart to smoke pork butts in.

DP's have a lot of storage.

[obgraham]

Why would you change your lifestyle and give up what you like to do? If you have the space, take the cookery toys.

Now, if you did like me and swap a Class A for a Class B, you have to multitask -- there isn't any room for single purpose gadgets.

[oldtrojan66]

We were blessed to be able to purchase a larger RV and TV from friends for a substantially reduced cost. That said, my wife always said she would love to leave home and camp, as long as she could take a lot of it with her. We are now camping for the longest period yet, in our new lifestyle. We have not even filled all the storage we have, effectively. Perhaps we're missing something, but the DW has her Ninja, an electric pressure cooker/slow cooker, a hot plate (because their electricity is cheaper than our propane), a waffle maker/sandwich toaster. I even have a toaster for my morning pop-tart! Perhaps we will discover, later, this is too much in the way of gadgetry, but for now, we eat as well as home, and she can cook whatever she has a mind to. Works for us!

[quasi]

Thanks for the replies (I'll also post a "Thanks" in the Full-Timers forum)
We have been lucky enough to be able to get a 36RL Redwood with a ton of storage and pantry space. That was one of my deal breakers when we went looking for a new fifth wheel. I've already begun whittling and scheming. I've started a list with "Must Haves", "Nice to Haves" and "Find an Alternative."
Thanx,
Jim

[Jim_Shoe]

I have one appliance that goes with me from home. Its a Cuisinart toaster/oven that has settings for toast, bagel, bake, broil and warm. Not quite as good as individual appliances, but at 9" high by 16" wide by 12" deep, it takes up a lot less room.
OTOH, I carry an old fashioned metal stove top coffee pot. I found one in a hardware store out in the country about 30 miles from home. No electric needed and no chance of breaking.

[dahkota]

We went full time in a short bus so I had to give up a lot of my kitchen tools and appliances. But, I also modified my cooking because we can't carry the pantry we could have at home.
I kept a small hand mixer - the kind you can get for about $15 at the drug store - but it works great for whipped cream, mashed potatoes, and cakes. I'm not making enough quantity to need a stand mixer.
I kept a combo blender/food processor. It is smaller than standard but makes margaritas and milkshakes for two and can process enough food for a couple of meals.
I also kept a crock pot, though I did downsize to a 6-quart. I'm still getting used to smaller batches but it is easier to store.
And we kept the coffee grinder - good for grinding grain, spices, and coffee.
I no longer have a grill, breadmaker, deep fryer, etc. But I rarely miss them.
Most of the fancy appliances just take the place of something that used to be done by hand anyway.

We also eat and shop differently now, both due to space and availability of items. Currently we are in Florida and so have a wealth of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish available. We only have a week or two of space in the pantry and so shop more often and are pickier about what we keep around. Rather than carry tarter sauce and cocktail sauce, I make my own and am considering making my own mayonnaise. You will also find that many food staples at home are hard if not impossible to find in other areas of the country. But you will gain access to new and interesting things to cook. The local grocery store here has almost no Asian food. I got into experimenting using Asian ingredients in the pacific northwest, where there was almost an entire aisle.
Just think of your traveling time as a food learning adventure. It is a lot of fun and really improves your ability to cook on the fly.
Best of luck to you!