First let me say how helpful this forum, and those of you who regularly contribute to it, has been for my wife and I. We're researching and studying the issues and questions as we work toward our goal of full timing, hopefully sometime in 2014. We'd like to emulate many of you and leisurely move every week or two and then only 100-200 miles before settling in for another couple of weeks. As American's we're blessed with a beautiful country and DW and I are anxiously looking forward to experiencing all it has to offer.
We're 99% sure we're going to buy a used late model ('09-'11) DP. I would like to either buy an all electric rig or convert whatever we buy to all electric. I'd rather not have propane onboard if we can help it. Among other things this would require an Aqua-hot system, extra batteries, etc. We'd also like to use solar as much as possible. Any thoughts or comments on all electric vs. 'conventional'? Solar?
My main question today is whether most of you full timers cook inside your MH (or 5er) or whether you set up outside kitchens and if so how do you do it? I realize that during inclement weather most cooking will happen inside but on a day in, day out basis where do you do most of your food preparation?
We're concerned with cooking odors, aerosol grease or oil, splatters, and just the general mess that can occur while cooking. Did I mention that I'm the chief cook in our household? Did I also mention I'm not the neatest guy in the kitchen? DW loves my cooking but not the clean up afterwards. (Honestly, I am quite a good cook - but I don't like cleaning up after myself either).
I envision setting up a table or two under the awning on the camp side of the MH. I'd use 2 induction units or maybe 1 induction unit and 1 electric skillet for sauteing, frying, boiling, etc. My cookware is stainless steel so we're equipped for induction cooking already. Maybe a portable refrigerator/freezer on a basement slide for easy access to ingredients. In general, does this make sense?
Do any of you have experience with solar ovens? Do they work well? Would you recommend them?
I also like grilling and BBQ'ing (they are different). I have a Weber kettle cooker that I've had for 15 years; I use a it couple of times per week - even during our NY winters. I realize I probably won't have room for a full sized Weber but I might have room for a smaller model. My question is how practical is it to use a charcoal grill as a full timer? I'm particularly concerned with the ash left over after use and whether it will get all over the basement storage areas and maybe into the living quarters. Also, is there room to store charcoal?
Any and all advice is welcome.
Best Regards, Brad
WestWardHo said
12:08 PM Apr 9, 2014
Hey Brad welcome!
You've obviously done a lot of thinking this thru and have great questions.
If your rig comes with a residential side by side refrigerator you probably won't need and extra freezer. Takes space and adds weight. We were just in a park where another RVer said he travels with his big refrigerator/freezer empty as he doesn't like the extra weight and there are stores everywhere. He was shocked at what I had stuffed in ours! 😄 (reminds me I need to schedule weighting at the Spring Rally with Howard & Linda.)
I think your webber kettle might be messy but you could probably store it in one of those black "contractor" trash bags. Seems many RVers love the Weber Q. We take a Trager smoker grill but it rides in the back of the truck. We have an extra induction cooktop single burner that we can use inside or outside, plus an electric griddle we use for bacon, etc. outside.
Get crockpot liners for your crockpot. (Thanks Ruth for reminding me - they're in the bottom drawer!)
We do food prep inside. We have a folding table with adjustable leg height and two small folding side tables from Walmart to use as needed.
We ALL dislike clean up but I think you may find you'll cook differently in your RV. 😄 it kind of evolves. I might suggest starting out with less than you'll think you need and adding as you go.
Sherry
Lynn and Ed said
02:03 PM Apr 9, 2014
Brad,
Ed and I have a similar situation – he is the primary cook and not neat; DW (me) typically has clean-up responsibility. The running joke is that when he cooks, I clean-up; when I cook, I also clean-up … luckily he does more of the cooking, since he enjoys it. And, I am the lucky one, since he is a wonderful cook/chef.
We will start our journey likely in June – I expect we will cook a little more outside than we do now, but we will wait and see. Our choice of RV was greatly influenced and designed around our kitchen – we will have more counter and kitchen storage space than any DP or other fifth wheel that I have seen, at our size. We had the Majestic designed with a center kitchen island (which is common in most Majestics) but we also had New Horizons build us a deep buffet cabinet and cantilevered dining table. The buffet cabinet is allowing us to bring more kitchen related appliances/stuff than we could have otherwise.
Although I have not specifically asked Ed, I seriously doubt he would start regularly cooking outside (beyond grilling) if it means taking lots of pots and pans from inside the Majestic and bring them outside—just adds a layer of complexity. I am considering purchasing an induction cooktop, incase we occasionally want to cook something outside.
Regarding your questions about outside refrigerator, if I had a DP with limited kitchen space and planned to cook outside regularly (and the added weight of another refrigerator would not be an issue)—I would definitely have an outside fridge as well as storage for outside pots, pans, utensils … so everything that is regularly used is in a convenient location.
I guess in short, we had similar questions to yours – but our approach was to pick the RV that best suited how we wanted to cook. As we start our journey, I am sure some patterns/practices will change—which is fine—but I surely did not want the design of our new home to interfere with DH’s great cooking .
Lynn
-- Edited by Lynn and Ed on Wednesday 9th of April 2014 08:21:54 PM
The Bear II said
02:22 PM Apr 9, 2014
Brad,
I grew up in the 50's my mom took care of the house and my Dad went to work. Men didn't cook or clean. That's the way I was raised and that's basically the way it was when I tied the knot and up until about 5 years ago. Unfortunately my DW has some knee problems and can't stand for long time. That means I have taken over most of the houshold duties.
In the RV we cook just like we do at home. When the weather is nice we cook outdoors (which is 95% of the time). Both of us like gourmet type food so we use a lot of spices. Most of our meals are prepared inside. Breakfast is usually cooked inside.
Odors, grease, spills and splatters won't be any worse than they are at home. The nice thing about the RV there is less to clean. So as long as you clean like you do at home, you won't have any problems in the RV.
We do tend to use more paper plates, plastic utensils and cups when out in the RV than we do at home.
If your concern regarding propane is due to fire safety, just know that in my nearly 50 years of being around and owning RVs, I know of only one fire that was caused by a propane leak. And it was due to a service technician not capping off a line when he removed the heater to do some work on it. Propane filled the RV interior and a spark set it off. I've seen accidents where entire RVs were torn to pieces and the propane tanks survived. Between propane leak detectors and automatic shut off valves, propane use is very safe.
We do travel with our tanks turned off.
Larry
Cindy T said
06:16 PM Apr 9, 2014
We're parked in the Denver area, so cooking indoors or outdoors depends somewhat on the weather. We do really enjoy grilled food, so we often cook outside on the propane grill during good weather. I wouldn't want to be without the grill. I think propane is easier than charcoal & we've never had any problems with propane. I've also cooked outside on the electric skillet. Indoors, I use everything we have - crock pot, stovetop, microwave, electric skillet, convection oven & toaster oven. I like to cook & I make a lot of the same meals that I used to make in our sticks n bricks home. But it isn't feasible to make LARGE meals like cooking a big turkey. Also our refrigerator, while good size for an RV, is much smaller than what I had at home. So I have to be mindful of the amount I cook, realizing that I don't have as much room for leftovers. So far, we haven't invested in a 2nd fridge or freezer. Does the RV kitchen get messy? Yes but it's a small space to clean up so it doesn't take too long.
I don't have a solar oven yet, but I am interested in them & have been considering getting one of those.
TRAILERKING said
08:38 PM Apr 9, 2014
We try to do all the cooking outside. On occasion inside in an emergency, but very little. Microwave popcorn for inside.
Talensnana said
09:41 PM Apr 9, 2014
We also cook in the RV like we do at home. We grill 2-3 times a week, but most of my cooking is done in the Convection Oven and I use my steamer a lot. We do have a large rv fridge, but have also purchased a small fridge / freezer combo for in the basement. I do not have a lot of counter space in the RV so my DH and I created a great moveable island with a cutting board. It is the best! I can move it around and it holds my pots and pans, drawers for spices and more, and holds my steamer. My husband is getting ready to change out our propane stove for an induction cooktop, and I am researching the possibility of getting a toaster oven so I can do more outside cooking. We have had a lot of people say they use a crock pot a lot. We are not thrilled with crock pot cooking so I have never used it in the RV.
NWescapee said
09:09 AM Apr 10, 2014
We cook very similarly in the RV to our old house, we still grill 3-5 times a week, but do most of the prep work inside. Tried doing some prep work outside but I hate bugs in my cooking and it seems I attract them whenever I try to do too much outside.
A few changes I've made - crockpot cooking I always use the crockpot liners, learned that from Linda at the RV Dreams Rally. For steaming vegetables we now use the Ziploc or Glad steaming bags instead of the stovetop method to make clean up easier. Now, have I gotten rid of my stovetop pan that I use for this? no, but I should.
The complexity of my cooking can depend on the site I'm in, if we're on FHUs, I really don't worry too much about how much clean up might be required, etc. If we're on W/E and will be in one site for more than a week, I tend to try not to select recipes or meal plans that require lots of water for clean up as I don't want to overfill the gray tank.
The only appliances I didn't bring along, but missed were the crockpot and the electric skillet. Our old crockpot was huge, so we've now replaced it with a 4 qt and that's working nicely, we had been on the road for about 5 months before we got around to replacing it. Electric skillet is something I probably won't replace, I realize I would probably only use it 1-2 times a month and therefore have decided it's not necessary to fill up kitchen cabinet space.
Greetings all,
First let me say how helpful this forum, and those of you who regularly contribute to it, has been for my wife and I. We're researching and studying the issues and questions as we work toward our goal of full timing, hopefully sometime in 2014. We'd like to emulate many of you and leisurely move every week or two and then only 100-200 miles before settling in for another couple of weeks. As American's we're blessed with a beautiful country and DW and I are anxiously looking forward to experiencing all it has to offer.
We're 99% sure we're going to buy a used late model ('09-'11) DP. I would like to either buy an all electric rig or convert whatever we buy to all electric. I'd rather not have propane onboard if we can help it. Among other things this would require an Aqua-hot system, extra batteries, etc. We'd also like to use solar as much as possible. Any thoughts or comments on all electric vs. 'conventional'? Solar?
My main question today is whether most of you full timers cook inside your MH (or 5er) or whether you set up outside kitchens and if so how do you do it? I realize that during inclement weather most cooking will happen inside but on a day in, day out basis where do you do most of your food preparation?
We're concerned with cooking odors, aerosol grease or oil, splatters, and just the general mess that can occur while cooking. Did I mention that I'm the chief cook in our household? Did I also mention I'm not the neatest guy in the kitchen? DW loves my cooking but not the clean up afterwards. (Honestly, I am quite a good cook - but I don't like cleaning up after myself either).
I envision setting up a table or two under the awning on the camp side of the MH. I'd use 2 induction units or maybe 1 induction unit and 1 electric skillet for sauteing, frying, boiling, etc. My cookware is stainless steel so we're equipped for induction cooking already. Maybe a portable refrigerator/freezer on a basement slide for easy access to ingredients. In general, does this make sense?
Do any of you have experience with solar ovens? Do they work well? Would you recommend them?
I also like grilling and BBQ'ing (they are different). I have a Weber kettle cooker that I've had for 15 years; I use a it couple of times per week - even during our NY winters. I realize I probably won't have room for a full sized Weber but I might have room for a smaller model. My question is how practical is it to use a charcoal grill as a full timer? I'm particularly concerned with the ash left over after use and whether it will get all over the basement storage areas and maybe into the living quarters. Also, is there room to store charcoal?
Any and all advice is welcome.
Best Regards, Brad
You've obviously done a lot of thinking this thru and have great questions.
If your rig comes with a residential side by side refrigerator you probably won't need and extra freezer. Takes space and adds weight. We were just in a park where another RVer said he travels with his big refrigerator/freezer empty as he doesn't like the extra weight and there are stores everywhere. He was shocked at what I had stuffed in ours! 😄 (reminds me I need to schedule weighting at the Spring Rally with Howard & Linda.)
I think your webber kettle might be messy but you could probably store it in one of those black "contractor" trash bags. Seems many RVers love the Weber Q. We take a Trager smoker grill but it rides in the back of the truck. We have an extra induction cooktop single burner that we can use inside or outside, plus an electric griddle we use for bacon, etc. outside.
Get crockpot liners for your crockpot. (Thanks Ruth for reminding me - they're in the bottom drawer!)
We do food prep inside. We have a folding table with adjustable leg height and two small folding side tables from Walmart to use as needed.
We ALL dislike clean up but I think you may find you'll cook differently in your RV. 😄 it kind of evolves. I might suggest starting out with less than you'll think you need and adding as you go.
Sherry
Brad,
Ed and I have a similar situation – he is the primary cook and not neat; DW (me) typically has clean-up responsibility. The running joke is that when he cooks, I clean-up; when I cook, I also clean-up … luckily he does more of the cooking, since he enjoys it. And, I am the lucky one, since he is a wonderful cook/chef.
We will start our journey likely in June – I expect we will cook a little more outside than we do now, but we will wait and see. Our choice of RV was greatly influenced and designed around our kitchen – we will have more counter and kitchen storage space than any DP or other fifth wheel that I have seen, at our size. We had the Majestic designed with a center kitchen island (which is common in most Majestics) but we also had New Horizons build us a deep buffet cabinet and cantilevered dining table. The buffet cabinet is allowing us to bring more kitchen related appliances/stuff than we could have otherwise.
Although I have not specifically asked Ed, I seriously doubt he would start regularly cooking outside (beyond grilling) if it means taking lots of pots and pans from inside the Majestic and bring them outside—just adds a layer of complexity. I am considering purchasing an induction cooktop, incase we occasionally want to cook something outside.
Regarding your questions about outside refrigerator, if I had a DP with limited kitchen space and planned to cook outside regularly (and the added weight of another refrigerator would not be an issue)—I would definitely have an outside fridge as well as storage for outside pots, pans, utensils … so everything that is regularly used is in a convenient location.
I guess in short, we had similar questions to yours – but our approach was to pick the RV that best suited how we wanted to cook. As we start our journey, I am sure some patterns/practices will change—which is fine—but I surely did not want the design of our new home to interfere with DH’s great cooking
.
Lynn
-- Edited by Lynn and Ed on Wednesday 9th of April 2014 08:21:54 PM
I grew up in the 50's my mom took care of the house and my Dad went to work. Men didn't cook or clean. That's the way I was raised and that's basically the way it was when I tied the knot and up until about 5 years ago. Unfortunately my DW has some knee problems and can't stand for long time. That means I have taken over most of the houshold duties.
In the RV we cook just like we do at home. When the weather is nice we cook outdoors (which is 95% of the time). Both of us like gourmet type food so we use a lot of spices. Most of our meals are prepared inside. Breakfast is usually cooked inside.
Odors, grease, spills and splatters won't be any worse than they are at home. The nice thing about the RV there is less to clean. So as long as you clean like you do at home, you won't have any problems in the RV.
We do tend to use more paper plates, plastic utensils and cups when out in the RV than we do at home.
If your concern regarding propane is due to fire safety, just know that in my nearly 50 years of being around and owning RVs, I know of only one fire that was caused by a propane leak. And it was due to a service technician not capping off a line when he removed the heater to do some work on it. Propane filled the RV interior and a spark set it off. I've seen accidents where entire RVs were torn to pieces and the propane tanks survived. Between propane leak detectors and automatic shut off valves, propane use is very safe.
We do travel with our tanks turned off.
Larry
We're parked in the Denver area, so cooking indoors or outdoors depends somewhat on the weather. We do really enjoy grilled food, so we often cook outside on the propane grill during good weather. I wouldn't want to be without the grill. I think propane is easier than charcoal & we've never had any problems with propane. I've also cooked outside on the electric skillet. Indoors, I use everything we have - crock pot, stovetop, microwave, electric skillet, convection oven & toaster oven. I like to cook & I make a lot of the same meals that I used to make in our sticks n bricks home. But it isn't feasible to make LARGE meals like cooking a big turkey. Also our refrigerator, while good size for an RV, is much smaller than what I had at home. So I have to be mindful of the amount I cook, realizing that I don't have as much room for leftovers. So far, we haven't invested in a 2nd fridge or freezer. Does the RV kitchen get messy? Yes but it's a small space to clean up so it doesn't take too long.
I don't have a solar oven yet, but I am interested in them & have been considering getting one of those.
We also cook in the RV like we do at home. We grill 2-3 times a week, but most of my cooking is done in the Convection Oven and I use my steamer a lot. We do have a large rv fridge, but have also purchased a small fridge / freezer combo for in the basement. I do not have a lot of counter space in the RV so my DH and I created a great moveable island with a cutting board. It is the best! I can move it around and it holds my pots and pans, drawers for spices and more, and holds my steamer. My husband is getting ready to change out our propane stove for an induction cooktop, and I am researching the possibility of getting a toaster oven so I can do more outside cooking. We have had a lot of people say they use a crock pot a lot. We are not thrilled with crock pot cooking so I have never used it in the RV.
A few changes I've made - crockpot cooking I always use the crockpot liners, learned that from Linda at the RV Dreams Rally. For steaming vegetables we now use the Ziploc or Glad steaming bags instead of the stovetop method to make clean up easier. Now, have I gotten rid of my stovetop pan that I use for this? no, but I should.
The complexity of my cooking can depend on the site I'm in, if we're on FHUs, I really don't worry too much about how much clean up might be required, etc. If we're on W/E and will be in one site for more than a week, I tend to try not to select recipes or meal plans that require lots of water for clean up as I don't want to overfill the gray tank.
The only appliances I didn't bring along, but missed were the crockpot and the electric skillet. Our old crockpot was huge, so we've now replaced it with a 4 qt and that's working nicely, we had been on the road for about 5 months before we got around to replacing it. Electric skillet is something I probably won't replace, I realize I would probably only use it 1-2 times a month and therefore have decided it's not necessary to fill up kitchen cabinet space.