Ok so complaining about my kitchen in our folding camper may seem rather spoilt but its a big bug bear for me as I am the one that cooks!
We have the pennine pullman 535 and I love it but cooking meals is a right pain, I dont seem to have any space to prep anything or dish up etc or space to put dirty pans on. I end up using the sink to put things in and the pull out worktop thingy is only good for making tea! With four of us camping I often feel like I cant move.
we tend to eat on site and cook for ourselves. Sometimes we BBQ if its nice but still got to prepare and cook veg, salad etc and sometimes its just too wet or windy to cook outside.
I've thought of putting a camp kitchen in the awning but that probably defeats the object of having a nice kitchen inside!
Any tips or suggestions for making the best of our space or making the cooking less of a chore?
We have the full awning with our camp chairs in and not a lot else - there is no heater for the awning yet which is too cold for me so it's only used to sit in when its hot
That's about the same with all campers and caravans im afraid, but the more you do it easier it gets, in our Conway there is a cupboard at the other end of the kitchen we put a bowl on there and load it with the dirty pots as we go, so then we have the use of the worktop over the sink
------------- its our imperfections that makes us perfect
The other option I've found useful is to lay the table on the front bed, and use that as an additional work top. Obviously, if you have the table set up for dining, then any board will do, and can be stored in the wardrobe, when not being used, or (if thin enough) under one of the mattresses, or settee cushions.
The front bed is right next to the kitchen, so a board laid on top of the bed makes a useful extra work space, if required.
------------- The one good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others..
come spend a week with me in a professional kitchen
ill sort you out.....
its a pain having a small area to work , tips are to work into a bowl or something and tidy as you go, maybe if its a weekend take all the veg prepped in small tubs ready to go....packaging is evil.
try to use as few pans as possible, one pan wonders, no reason why potatoes can go in the water first, with other veg joining it later. same rules apply to a frying pan, longest cook time in first then the rest...
Thank you :) I used a plastic box as suggested on the end cupboard for all washing up, pans etc which made a big difference & that fits under the seats when it's not being used (I'm need a tidy van!). Using the glass on the sink as a work top helped no end.
We have a camp kitchen in the awning with electric double hob, mini oven and George Foreman grill plus a side table for food preparation. Most of the time thats where we cook and it works well, especially if everyone is in the camper at the same time.
However I get a bit fed up if everyone is relaxing in the camper and you are on your own in the awning, especially if the weather is bad. We were away last weekend and it was cold and draughty in the awning which wasnt very appealing.
I agree that using a table top on the bed is a good idea. I have done this.
We removed the sliding wardrobe ... covered the top of the base unit with mosaic ... and use that as an extra surface.
We do tend to eat outside most of the time ... camping on the continent in summer helps ... still used the kitchen for veg etc.
Also had a slow cooker, which was great ... coming back to a mostly ready meal was terrific.
Not sure on the layout of the pullman, but I had the same difficulty in the kitchen of the crusader...now in the crusader there was a low cupboard behind me if I was stood facing the sink...I bought one of the low camping tables and put that on top of the low cupboard which brought it up to a comfortable work surface height.
To be honest, we have a caravan now and there's still not a great deal of preparation area.
We have one of those halogen ovens so you can cook your spuds and meat, in one, in that (on the top of one of the low cupboards) leaving the cooker/'worktop' for other bits.
creative use of your other surfaces is the key.
------------- Give a man a fish and he'll feed his family for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he'll sit around on a boat all day drinking beer!
Oh, mini ovens, ours is a cheap Argos own brand one. It's tiny but powerful and gives you a few more options - garlic bread, a few oven chips or wedges, pies and puddings. I have a slow cooker too which I use a lot.