Organizing and cooking in a tiny kitchen

[EllPea in CA]

Here is a good article with tips about working in an RV kitchen. There are also some innovative storage and organizing ideas.

Making the Most of a Small Kitchen | The Pioneer Woman

[colinn]

Thats a good article, thanks for posting it. I like the spice containers on the fridge.

colin

[honda03842]

Certainly a lot of good ideas however just looking at the pictures shows the kitchen of a stationary camper. Just too much hung stuff to put out and put away for a traveler.

[Island Claire]

Colin, those will not stay on the fridge during travel. Speaking from experience. I now keep mine in Tupperware spice containers. I put a strip of velcro on the shelf and then velcro on the bottom of the container and they stay were they are put, no matter how rough the ride.

[Ron Merritt]

Some good ideas. I'm a big fan of drawers now. Before I got the Oliver, most RV's I've had had a cupboard under the counter and I'd have to go searching for things in there. Often I'd lose things because of all the shifting around. With the drawers, it all stays organized.

[Glenn Baglo]

Spices are supposed to be stored in a cool, dark place.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Certainly a lot of good ideas however just looking at the pictures shows the kitchen of a stationary camper. Just too much hung stuff to put out and put away for a traveler.

Norm, I think you are right... I think they live in this trailer so it may be mostly parked. However, I can see myself using these strategies if I would be parked for several days. But then, I'm just a bit OCD....

[james kent]

Thirty-six spice containers? Four fry pans?
She has enough stuff to fill most homes. There would be nowhere to store that much in a "small" trailer and still be able to use it.
Outdoor kitchen with enough things for normal camping plus a couple of pots and two fry pans inside.


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[honda03842]

We try to stay organized, but really mostly out of sight organization. We have added a number of drawers and they help with the organization. As well we've shelved three under the counter spaces.

As to pots and pans we carry three pots, two small ones, and one medium and two frying pans, both ceramic, really non-stick but not with teflon. Each pan has their own shelf and the pots have a shelf.

We have minimized the spices to our favorites or most used, I'm guessing 6-8 spices. We have a container from RV Widgets that mounts to the fiberglass wall that holds them, no special restraints and they've never popped out. They're not temperature ideal but seem to survive well enough.



Our Scamp's layout has both sides counter space, really tons and a 'passable' space between the counters. Better than most fiberglass trailers we've been in.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by james kent

Thirty-six spice containers? Four fry pans?
She has enough stuff to fill most homes....

I haven't re-read the article, but I think she is set up to live in the trailer... probably parked. My outdoor kitchen looks a lot like yours, except you have more stuff!

I do like some of her ideas and suggestions. While I wouldn't travel down the road with those hanging items and knives, if we were going to stay a while I always appreciate strategies for having what I need close to hand, AND for keeping counter space clear.

[Glenn Baglo]

Actually, the magnetic knife holder is one thing I do have. I've had one knife ( small one ) come off a couple times on extremely rough roads or after hitting a pothole.
I make sure I take down the paper towel or it will unravel all over the floor during travel ( and it doesn't have to be a rough road ). Another way to deal with that is to squeeze the roll so it is no longer round ( best do the TP too ).

[Sue and Henry]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Certainly a lot of good ideas however just looking at the pictures shows the kitchen of a stationary camper. Just too much hung stuff to put out and put away for a traveler.

Yep. I agree. You guys are always on the road. What do you consider essential? My 13 foot burro doesn't have a lot of space. Do you keep your stuff in your tow vehicle?

[honda03842]

Sue and Henry. Defining what we carry in the tow vehicle is easy, defining the essential stuff more difficult.

Tow vehicle we typically don't carry stuff for the trailer. We carry stuff primarily for driving or exploring. We each have a rain jacket, sweater or pullover, watch caps, hats, scarf, and gloves to handle variable weather. We have two walking sticks, a loaded waist backpack for hikes and geocaching, and a small blanket. We always have a case of water in the car for emergencies, some times we're far out in dry areas. We carry two aluminum chairs, a small compressor, tire repair kit, minor tools, a bottle jack. We have a jump starter, thicker than a cell phone but about the same size. We have a snack box with nuts, twizzlers and dots for use while we're driving - 9 AM is Twizzler time. Ginny has two large print maps and usually state maps for every state we plan to be in and a magnifying glass. Ginny's a flashlight nut, never too many and she always has some. We also have a shoe box of medical supplies, actually there's a shoe box under all six seats of different types, snacks, tools, maps, CDs, first aid....

I really stuck on essentials. Of course it's Ginny but out side of that I would say the phone, it must do 20 tasks..keep us in touch, handle finances, keeps track of expenses, takes pictures, keeps notes, serves as an ebook, gps, geocaching tool, flash light, night clock, campground directory, entertainment finder, restaurant guide, tracking device on hikes, auto locator, timer for planks, ....

Next I would suggest our Verizon hotspot. It makes the phone, TV and computer work. We switched to Internet TV last year, giving up out Sat Dish.

I did ask Ginny this question and she said the bathroom in the middle of the night. I do like front couch, I sit there at night working on my computer.

Of my modifications I like the 3 rear bumper storage locations and the 5 under the floor storage locations, they all keep dirty and needed but rarely used items out of the trailer. In side the trailer I like all the defined storage locations, particularly the added drawers and overhead cabinets. Nothing is piled in, one drawer for underwear and socks, one for shorts, one for Tshirts, a place for jeans and..... You can see most of them in the following long thread. Every year I add something to make it a little better.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...6-a-46387.html

Sorry I don't do well on essentials. Not to be too esoteric, but what's essential is the freedom, time and mental and physical healthy environment of living in out limited 92 square feet and the virtual infinite space of North America.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Next I would suggest our Verizon hotspot. It makes the phone, TV and computer work. We switched to Internet TV last year, giving up out Sat Dish.
.

Norm, I went looking for the Verizon 3g unlimited plan you wrote about. THEY NO LONGER OFFER IT! So you really have a deal... hang onto it!

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Ellpea in CA

Norm, I went looking for the Verizon 3g unlimited plan you wrote about. THEY NO LONGER OFFER IT! So you really have a deal... hang onto it!

We plan to keep it. We find we can go on line and suspend service every now and then. This summer we had Comcast Internet for my daughter-in-law who lived with us for while her house was being updated and suspend the service saving $60 a month.