Message Forums

Do most people really have a day tent?I was looking at a picture of one the other day, thinking ooh that looks good but then came to my senses!

That way madness lies!

Can't help you with cooking in a porch, my tents have always been too small but interested in replies too.

Personally I would use a daytent as I wouldn't want the cooking smells in the main tent - DH is rather partial to fry ups for brekkie when we are away!

We have this one, it's very spacious and easy to put up.

hiya,i had a kitchen tent but just bought a new canopy for my georgia so roll on next trip.

lindsey x

When we are in France we have the cooker outside. Turn the gas off at night and just shut everything up. Never had a problem. When it rains we eat out!!

Mostly in this country we do the same. When the weather is really bad we have cooked in the porch with the door open. Our kitchen stand has a solid back and so no chance of flames catching the tent. I am cautious though.

Considering a utility tent this year, but mainly to store things in. I can not stand the thought of been stuck ina small tent cooking. On some pitches you may have to oitch it behind the tent due to lack of width. I like to be near the people I am cooking for and part of the conversation. Open plan living outside.

Sally

A big factor as to whether it's safe is if you have kids or not. Two adults in a tent keeping a close eye on the cooking...and who can get themselves out in a hurry....well, that's probably okay. But if there's kids running in and out the tent past the cooker and/or a wobbly toddler staggering around then the risk of scalds and spills goes up dramatically. Plus you've got to think about how fast you could get your kids out the back pod of a tent if you get a fire in your one and only doorway. You'll have literally seconds to run round the back and cut them out through the tent.

I've got kids and these are not risks I'm prepared to take. A kitchen tent takes a huge amount of the stress out of cooking when there's kids around. You make the kitchen tent an adults only area and then the cook can just get on with things without worrying about getting bumped into the cooker etc. Plus a kitchen tent swallows vast amount of kit and leaves the living area of your main tent clear, which is much better.

On short trips I don't bother with a kitchen tent though...I cook outside or under a tarp or my canopied windbreak.

Having said all that I do cook in the trailer tent. There I have a massive solid backed and utterly stable kitchen unit, a fire resistant wall in that area, a side door well away from the kitchen area, a tent where the kids could get out under the flysheet in one second flat and cotton canvas is a reluctant burner anyway. Very different from cooking in a nylon bag. ,

I set fire to my tent once when I was cooking outside but too close to the side of the tent. Luckily we managed to get the fire put out before the whole tent went up (only because we had a fire bucket!). My daughter was in the tent at the time but we had another door that she could escape from.

I now never cook inside the tent as I think it's just too risky. I also now always have a second door in the tent to make getting out if necessary easier.

If it's wet when we want to cook then we either get wet, wait for the rain to stop or get a takeaway!