First timers this year will have a toddler in tow and a new born..after July!!
We need to start gathering together our kitchen stuff. What are essential items we must take? what stove do people recommend..would like a grill as well. Also cool box recommendations appreciated
Generally any tips for the kitchen full stop would be appreciated
Have you got EHU? that'll make a difference to what folk recommend for you. When we were in a tent - no hook-up - we just had the basic 2-ring gas cooker on the floor, but you may need to get yours up onto a table of some sort as you have a toddler. Add a basic set of nesting aluminium pans, plates / mugs / plastic glasses / cutlery, basic coolbox (we find a soft one easier to pack than a solid-sided one), and that's pretty much it. I can't recommend named brands - we just bought from shows and shops and classified ads. Better to travel light at first, and add Stuff later when you realise what you're missing, as you'll have enough to pack with two weans. Just don't forget the matches.
This list is a good place to start. Plenty of what you already have in your kitchen can be taken with you. As you camp more you can build up a 'camp kitchen' so that you have a designated box of camp cooking stuff, and you don't forget those important things like the tin opener or corkscrew.
A good starting point for stoves is the suitcase stove. This one is from Go but you can get them from lots of places. A lot of people just have two of these rather than a bigger stove with a large gas bottle.
Don't worry too much about 'camping' cuttlery, pots, pans etc... They're rarely worth the expense. Unless you're backpacking, basic cooking stuff from Ikea, Tesco, Aldi etc... Or even odds and ends from your own kitchen will be fine. Crockery is different. You'll need melamine, Lexan or metal enamel stuff for camping.
We've recently decided to get a bigger cool box. Coleman and Igloo make decent ones that can last a long weekend.
Campingaz have a new (expensive) range of gas cookers called Xcelerate. It might be worth waiting for reviews to see if they're worth the extra money.
Look around on eBay for a secondhand camp kitchen (stand for cooker plus storage/preparation area). Alternatively, Sports Direct sometimes have inexpensive Gelert (now owned by SD) branded stuff. eBay can also be an inexpensive source of refillable gas canisters.
When tenting, the younger your family is, the more trips to the wash block are necessary, to the point, in my experience the trips can be constant. So, thinking of ways to reduce the need will help. Some sort of toilet (number 1s only of course) in the tent, plus some facility to wash hands. In fact running water in general would be missed, so maybe something as simple as a collapsible water carrier, with tap, perched on top of a stool, with a bowl below?
Don't know if you'll be bottle feeding at all, but if so we found a 12v/230v steam bottle warmer / steriliser very useful - from mains in the tent plus from 12v in the car. like this
Also, as regards the kitchen, we found work top height a bit of an issue when we first started camping, because most options are table height, which in most cases means you're not comfortable. so I adapted a table so it's now the height of a normal worktop as at home.
Fire bucket: not necessarily to save your tent, but more likely to use as an instantly available source of cold water in the event of minor burns etc.
Quote: Originally posted by DianeR first time c on 27/3/2014
Hello
First timers this year will have a toddler in tow and a new born..after July!!
We need to start gathering together our kitchen stuff. What are essential items we must take? what stove do people recommend..would like a grill as well. Also cool box recommendations appreciated
Generally any tips for the kitchen full stop would be appreciated
THANK YOU
If your first timers , don't spend too much is my suggestion,
But please give us some more info ( as above do you have EHU (electric hook up)
Are you under canvas?
In a camper etc?
what do you want to cook? Will you want to cook all meals?
Keep it simple to start , look at other set ups when your on site.
------------- Thank you Donnod123
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Coleman Evolva (might have more than one shhhh)
And now a VW T25 high top.
Tilley Titan
Tilley Trio
Cobb BBQ
Thanks for tips and advice so far. We are in a tent. Hadn't really thought about EHU but I think a good idea and one we will probably pursue.
Thanks again
Re camping stove we have the basic campinggaz camping kitchen 2 ring stove without grill and thats fine, anything we would normally grill we fry where we can and haven't missed the grill - but they do a grill version too.
.. they toast real quick over a gas ring, so no waiting around too long for each slice.
Pots and pans - I take my large steaming pan, that way using one gas ring I can do rice/potatoes/pasta in the actual pan and steam the vegies in the steaming level at the same time. I also use the steaming section as a strainer/collander. (Ikea do a "steaming insert" which will fit to certain size pans - this is what we use)
We Started using crockery/cutlery/tinopeners etc from the house but ended up getting inexpensive ones dedicated for camping. It's all packed ready in a single bag saving time and hassle when we're getting ready to go, and stops us forgetting items.
If you want non-electric cool box then can recommend icey tek cool box as they are well insulated and hold the cold in for a long time. We were tempted by coleman extreme but they are too large for our small car.
Sounds obvious but bear in mind weight/size when going for kitchen stands and other kit as it mounts up with tent and everything else. Last year was our first season and after "test packing" the car for the first time we realised our kit would't fit in easy and ended up getting top box.
------------- Aug 2017 St Martins Campsite, Scilly
Jul 2017 Trewan Hall, Cornwall
Jun 2017 Higher Kestle Farm, Cornwall
Mar 2017 Pitch Perfect camping Bath
Aug 2016 Brittany/Normandy:-
La Ferme Croas Men (near Morlaix)
Le Ranolien (Ploumanac'h)
Le Bois Courdrais (Cugen)
Chateau de Montfreville (Montfreville)
Argos is good to look for things too, I had my camping kitchen from there last year, a shelf for the cooker on the top, a shelf underneath and two side storage cupboards, which have a prep table on the top - Aldi too is a good place to look for bargains .
I am in charge of the camp kitchen so borrowing stuff from home is banned by the wife. I have a tool roll holding utensils - mainly designed for backpacking. We have a primus two burner, griddle and toast on a mesh single slice thingie. Cookery is backpacking one. Once pitched, kitchen stuff is kept in a boot organiser and a coolbox. A four man picnic set for crockery, cutlery etc and most importantly....a tarp to cook under. Most was collected in sales or lidl aldi and tkmaxx quite cheaply.
Dont forget matches, can opener and bottle openers. I also found that I needed clothes pegs to hang wet towels and tea towels from guy lines which I didnt realise until we went away a couple of times and wondered what to do with the wet stuff from the beach.
------------- A problem shared is a problem halved
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Help me kit out my camp kitchen please
