What are folks using for cooking utensiles?

[Gilda]

Nesting anything, as you can see by my photos. (We do not carry all those plastic containers). The dishware changes with my theme (don't ya know, I'm a "glamper"). We divided our utensil drawer and carry a backpack size whisk, spatula and cheese grater, among other things. I also divided the upper cabinet so as to store more things. I also lined all my cabinet floors with backpacker insulation to lessen rattling.

We have discovered that the "stick-type" lighters do not work at cold (morning) temperatures and wood matches succumb to the often-damp environment of the trailer. We will be carrying waterproof (either commercial or home-made) matches as well as a flint and steel starter.

[Casita Greg]

Okay, I know it is probably ridiculous overkill, but here's my camp kitchen list: And yes, it's all very heavy and bulky, but I don't care...I like them all, and they all go "camping" with me.

2 burner Camp Chef propane stove, with single burner "flat top" grille, and dedicated 20 lb. propane tank.,
10" porcelain coated Dutch Oven, with lid
10" & 12" cast iron fry pans,
12" Ceramic coated non-stick fry pan, with lid,
8" Ceramic coated non stick fry pan (my exclusive "eggs only" pan)
8" cooking pot, with lid
6" cooking pot, (shares lid),
5 Qt. Kuhn-Rikon pressure cooker, with extra glass lid,
Full-size stainless Colander,
Several cutting boards, flexible type,
15 lbs. of various and sundry kitchen utensils such as knives, whisks, grates and graters, spatulas, serving spoons, measuring spoons and cups, thermometers, skewers, and everything else similar to what we use at home, (comprising a bit of something of everything),
Various trays, plates, serving dishes and bowls, smaller sized hotel pans,etc.,
And a whole bunch of other odds and ends, like my fondue warmer, extra chemical fuel units (Sterno) for chafing trays...well, you get the idea, I travel with everything including the kitchen sink. It's not for everybody, but that's how I roll. YMMV.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by floyd

It's not just microwaves, those toasters can turn on you without warning!!...
Besides all AC appliances steal electricity right out of your wall socket to feed their shocking habits!! It must be that alternating current... they change direction on you in a fraction of a second! They're just hardwired that way.

Good one.
Dave & Paula

[Byron Kinnaman]

As far as cooking and eating go I think there's two type of campers. Those that camp to eat and those that eat to camp.
Being of the latter group I, of course, make things as easy and simple as possible. Primarily our cooking utensils consist of a 10" ceramic lined griddle, a 8" ceramic lined skillet, an MSR 2 pot stainless steel pot stack with lid. A set of small cooking utensils made for backpacking which consists of a a mixing spoon, a slotted draining spoon, and a spatula. Most evening meals are cooked using the skillet, one pot meals. Breakfasts when we cook are done primarily with the griddle. The pot stack can be used as mixing bowls, but not much anymore. We get paper bowls for that now.
For fun cooking we add to that a 5" cast iron griddle, a round pie iron, a dual square pie iron, a waffle pie iron, and a couple collapsible hot dog sticks.

Breakfast is cooked only about 20% of the time, cold cereal most of time.
Lunch rarely cooked, mostly sandwich spread meat and cheese, usually with tortillas. Left overs from last night's are sometimes used.
Dinner is a packaged envelop meal with added meats, sometime spice up with jalapeno or garlic, sometime pickled garlic. The meats are either canned or in foil pouches. These are often a bit more than we can eat.

A piece of meat can be cooked very nicely in the dual square pie iron.
Eggs, ham, cheese and biscuits can be cooked in the round pie iron.
Waffles are cooked in the waffle pie iron.
Heat sources vary, always outside. Coleman fold-n-go, MSR Dragon Fly backpacking stove, charcoal, or an open campfire provide the heat source.

[Hazel in Sk]

We cook outside so keep the equipment for cooking in the back of the Element.


A basic draw string bag containing a small, a medium and a large saucepan (and lids).
Cast iron frying pan
Pot for tea/coffee water
Thirty year old light weight two gallon pot for major helpings of hot water(dishes, cleaning up grandkids etc.)


A bag containing
Flipper
Wooden spoon
Ladle
can opener
Bottle opener
Metal wiener sticks


Dish pan holds the soap, dish rag, small cutting board and plastic tablecloth when not in use


Several sharp knives live in the cutlery drawer under the table and we bring it out when needed


Two pie irons get tucked in somewhere.


Clean tea towels are used to pack the spaces in the fridge when on the move.


We use plastic dishes and drink mugs, real cutlery, and carry a plastic bowl for personal washing.


We have a two burner stove and a small grill that both use propane


Our meals are similar to those we eat at home except for those that demand an actual oven!

[starfighter]

Well.....to start with, when I cook at home, I do large batches, gumbo, pulled pork, marinara sauce, etc. these are frozen in 2 person meal size portions.
Before a trip, fridge is run and morning of departure, these frozen portions are placed in cold fridge as "keep cool while traveling" things. they usually don't thaw before we connect to elect. but what ever is thawing is that days evening meal.
For cooking/reheating we use a one place induction cooker and therefore the appropriate magnetic pans. very compact and No extra heat is created this way and if weather is agreeable, we use a small propane stove carried in tow vehicle and cook outside. Morning coffee and water for oatmeal is made with a very small Kcup machine. (the kind with no water reservoir.)

[padlin00]

We splurged on the Magma set too. That and a larger frying pan is about it. We cook over charcoal Smokey Joe, the Coleman or the kitchen stove depending on the weather, and occasionally a small MSR Micro Rocket backpacking stove.

[Larry Tenhage]

We have a set of camping dishes / utensils that stay in the camper. No microwave, as we often camp without electricity. When we DO get a powered site, we have a kettle & hotplate in the camper too.

[Sharon D]

I asked a similar question a while back and got some good advice. I don't intend to spend much time cooking when I camp and I want to keep my belongings minimal, so I went with the following for 1 person and 1 dog camping: GSI Outdoors Glacier Kettle, Aeropress Coffee maker, MSR Stowaway pot 1.6 liter, MSR Alpine Fry Pan. Collapsible colander (just because it was adorable), a couple of collapsible bowls with lids, plate, Italian camping utensil set, paper plates, travel mug, and some mini-utensils I found at Ocean State Job Lots. It all fits in 2 small bins.

[james kent]

For a standing camp.
The sink is the yellow thing on the left under a 9x9 canopy. The food box on the table (from the old inside dinette) holds utensils, coffee pot salt pepper, sugar, coffee, a small pot and cooking oil, dish detergent and cleaning clothes. We use a three burner stove on a folding kitchen unit and I love my cast iron frypan. We carry a 10 lb propane tank that can sit under a table or be chained to a bumper.
Over kill, maybe. Comfortable, yes.

When on the road
A two burner Coleman , one or two pots and a couple of sporks. And two insulated mugs.



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[Dennis mn]

My cooking utensils are from our days of car camping with a three person mountaineering tent hauled in a Jeep Wrangler or MGB. It's mostly small stainless steel with a copper sandwiched on the bottom, one 6" skillet, and two small sauce pans, a 6 cup perc, and a 6" electric skillet that I use to fry meat outside. I've learned to be a bit if a minimalist. One of the pans fits in my Cobb Cooker which then serves as an oven.

[Gardnpondr]

Man I sure am glad I read all this. Here I was about to furnish the camper with all this stuff to cook with. I also cook more than I need and freeze lots of stuff I could use camping as well. We used to primitive camp all the time until I ruptured a disk in my back and then we had to stop because I chose not to have surgery.
So now we have the camper we are working on so we can start back camping again. This week I actually found us a coleman butane light for 5.00 bucks at the thrift store. Has the bottle and every thing on it. He said it worked because they lit it but it does look brand new. Was excited about that since we have an older one and it hasn't been lit in 23 or more years now. I'd like to get a coleman stove for cooking outside with to if I choose to.
I did want to find us a small barbeque grill for taking with us as well. I can't wait to get started back again. Been too long!

[C&G in FL]

We hardly ever use cookware. 90% of the time everything is cooked on a Weber Q100. I have a griddle which fits it so breakfast foods are not a problem and a small stainless steel vegetable basket. We have baked cornbread, brownies, and cookies with the Q100. I don't go RVing to sit inside/cook inside. The only time we cook inside is if it rains, and then it is something that can be microwaved. And if the microwave stopped working, it would be replaced the next day, but in the short term, there is always the restaurant down the road......