Hey campers,
I'm designing a product that aims to help make cooking much easier for you. It's basically a portable kitchen (shaped like a box) equipped with its own hob, storage, and a chopping board. It should be able to fit in the boot of the car so that it's easy to transport. I was wondering what sort of problems you have with cooking outdoors? e.g. unpredictable weather/cooking utensils use up lots of space in the car/van, etc.
Have a look at chuck boxes on Pinterest - most of them are large American ones for what they call tailgate barbecues; or big ones for use by scout packs, but there are a few 'domestic' designs there. For economy, I'd build around a double 'suitcase' stove, but include a windshield. Most campers will keep it outdoors, albeit under cover, so it need to be resistant to damp. Height off the ground should be adjustable, and able to be levelled.
Having had a go at this, the big issue is weight. If you set 25kg as an absolute top, it's quite difficult to get the materials down low enough to be useful. Even that would be a health and safety hazard! I did see a commercial one made out of a twin wall acrylic sheeting board, but it looked flimsy.
The camp kitchens you see in camping shops tend to be designed to unfold onsite. I did wonder about some kind of modular solution. We used a plastic drawer unit in the end - better than plastic boxes because of side access.
If you can sort it, take it to one of the big brands to get it made in China - there should be a market, assuming you can hit the right price point. Good luck with your project!
Problems with cooking outdoors? Well, without stating the obvious an outdoor kitchen will need to cope with the weather. No just the wet stuff, but wind can cause issues too, with both stability and keeping the gas burner lit. Storage - for me, and you're the designer here, it needs to be both well ventilated but also built to deny access to insects, (100% ant proof when closed). Chopping board needs to be both removable and washable. Multi fuel wood be a bonus, but most campers use gas. If it's to be outside, maybe you could include a solar panel to power maybe some led lights around the top of the kitchen to shed some light on any late night cooking? Or perhaps include a solar powered phone charger? It needs to be as lightweight as possible, but also sturdy enough and well built enough to survive getting packed in a boot of stuff, or chucked into the back of a trailer. If you could crack a way of packing down the kitchen, but leaving all the utensils pans etc inside it, then you'd be onto a winner.
Good luck with your studies, you've made a good start with the research into your product, hopefully the kind forum folk on here will help you out as much as possible.
Some of those pictures of the bootjump made me smile, I want to title them howto go from an upright human into the Hunchback of Notre Dame in 2 weeks.
I think one was in Peugeot Partner? Obviously not enough room to sit upright in one of those.
Space/Space/Space and the weight I assume?
You may want to source some old camping magazines and see whats been released before, the issue is ask 20 people what they want and you may get 20 different answers.
Will it fit in the back of a Ford Focus or VW Golf sized estate car and still leave room for say 2 decent sized suitcases?
Windshield, adjustable height, compact size so that it will fit in an average boot alongside all the other gear you need for camping, and some kind of fold- down chopping board area, and storage for the bigger utensils like knives, spatulas etc, and I agree with the idea of basing it on two suitcase stoves, as they are easy to use and the fuel cans are readily available.
Don't know if this is any help to you but late hubby made for me a camping "kitchen" 40 years ago. We had a propane gas dual burner stove with grill (propane). Essentially it had a wooden base for the stove and spacers to create a second shelf beneath but would sit flat for travel. It had folding metal windshields on 3 sides to the base for the stove. It stood on strong legs and he made the legs adjustable both for height and uneven ground. It only died some six years ago when the big shed got damaged and the legs disappeared. Basically, it was a heavy forerunner to the modern camp kitchens but much heavier. However, I would take it on our weekend trips and after trying a couple of modern options, I wish I still had it!! BTW cost next to nothing as the bits all came from skips!!
Think you need to determine whether you're looking at the short break (w/end) tenter or the longer holiday tenter. For example, as a weekender, I have knives, cutlery etc., in plastic boxes and put these with my pots/pans on the lower shelf, stove above, but only take basics. For a longer holiday, I'd take more by way of utensils. Maybe a basic and a de luxe model?
BTW, I'm not averse to the dual suitcase stove option but do bear in mind the fire safety issues with these mentioned on other threads.
Very good luck with your project - your post was better written and more informative than some from third year first degree students - and, if you're allowed to give feedback, that would be good to have in due course.
------------- " When I die I don`t want my life to flash before me in an instant, I want it to be a 3 hour epic !"
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: A-Level Design Project
