The Campervan Kitchen Equipment

There are two rings on my van hob. They are so close together that using both at the same time is, in practice, more optimistic than realistic. This is the reality of campervan kitchen equipment — or at least, the reality of cooking in Florie, my Fiat Ducato — and it is the reality that shapes every meal I make on the road.

The hob is a two-ring gas burner running from a 6kg onboard refillable LPG bottle. The bottle lasts well, and refilling is straightforward — there's an external filling point on the van, so no manhandling gas canisters in and out of a locker.

What sits alongside the hob is pretty simple.

A RidgeMonkey — the non-ridged version, so it doubles as both a contact grill and a lidded pan. If you cook in a van and don't own one of these, you're making life harder than it needs to be. Almost everything that wants even heat and a lid goes in here.

A non-stick frying pan for the jobs the RidgeMonkey doesn't suit — a quick sauté, a steak, anything that needs more surface area or higher heat without a lid.

A small saucepan with lid for pasta, rice, soups, and anything that needs simmering in liquid. Small matters in a van kitchen. You wash it up and put it away in the same movement.

A diffuser, which also moonlights as a bread toaster over the gas flame. Genuinely useful on both counts.

A gas kettle — obvious, but worth saying. A gas kettle on a gas hob is faster and more efficient than boiling water on an electric element from a leisure battery.

A flame gun for the moments that need a blast of direct heat — melting cheese, finishing a dish, or convincing something to caramelise properly.

A USB blender — and before you ask, no, it is not for soups. It is far too small for soups. It is, however, excellent for breadcrumbs, which matters more often than you might expect when you're cooking from a limited larder.

In winter, a 20cm Le Creuset pot comes along for the ride. It adds weight and takes up space, but it opens up a different category of cooking — braises, stews, anything that wants a heavy lid and a long, gentle heat. Worth it.

The fridge is a Vitrifrigo C85i compressor fridge — 85 litres, which is ample for one. It runs from the 12V leisure battery system and has a thermostatically controlled ventilation fan fitted to manage the heat. The manufacturer considers this unnecessary. The manufacturer has presumably never parked in Andalucía in August. That's the campervan kitchen equipment in full — everything that earns its place, and nothing that doesn't.

What Stays at Home

An Omnia camping oven. Still in the cupboard at Casa Adora. We have tried, repeatedly, to get on. We haven't.

A portable gas burner — this lives in my outside kitchen at Casa Adora rather than in the van. The original thinking was cooking outside in summer (no point adding heat inside the van) and reducing condensation in winter. The thinking is still sound. It just turned out the outside kitchen needed it more.

Still Thinking About

A small Crock-Pot. The 1.8 litre, 120W version would be well suited to van life — I use the full-sized one at Casa Adora regularly and the logic of a slow cooker on a good leisure battery system is solid. The problem is I cannot find a Spanish seller for this specific model, and it remains stubbornly on the list.

Winter is when I miss an oven most. Not just for Sunday roasts — though a traditional roast is exactly what I mean — but for anything that wants dry heat and time. I looked at the Romska low-wattage oven and liked the idea, but with a 150Ah leisure battery and usually off-grid, the numbers didn't stack up. I've since upgraded to 280Ah, so the power argument is weaker than it was. The space argument, however, remains.

A halogen oven is the other option I've considered seriously — an ex-girlfriend had one and I actually cooked a roast in it, so I know they work. The problem is wattage. At around 1,300W, even with a bigger battery, it's a significant draw off-grid. And space, again.

So the oven question remains open. For now, the Le Creuset in winter does a reasonable impression of one.

And if I yearn for roast potatoes — and I do — the solution turns out to be simpler than any gadget. Par-boil, drain, make sure they're dry, then sauté in the frying pan with a little oil. Not quite the same as an oven tray, but closer than you'd expect.

The Power Setup

The power setup behind the campervan kitchen equipment is straightforward.

I don't cook with electricity in the van, but the power setup runs everything else — and a well-sorted electrical system is what makes the rest of van life comfortable.

The backbone is a 280Ah LiFePO4 leisure battery — upgraded from 150Ah earlier this year, and the difference in off-grid confidence is considerable. It's charged by a 160W fixed solar panel on the roof, a 50A DC-DC charger from the alternator while driving, and an EHU hookup when I'm on a site. A Victron SmartShunt keeps accurate track of what's going in and out.

Alongside that I run two EcoFlow RIVER 3 power stations — small, portable, easily stored, and genuinely useful. They handle the laptop, phone, and anything that doesn't need to run from the main 12V system. A 100W portable solar panel keeps them charged independently.

Between the two systems, the van runs a smart TV, router, LED lights, a 12V Maxxfan, a Shark misting fan, a couple of small 12V fans, and the usual phone and laptop charging. Two 12V DC accessory sockets handle charging while travelling.

There's also an inverter on board for the occasions that need 240V — though it stays off when I'm off-grid. Unless the football is on.

One lesson learned early: tree shade will ruin your solar input far more thoroughly than you expect. Pitch selection matters more than panel size.

Campervan Kitchen Equipment — On the Road

This post is part of the Campervan Cooking Recipes collection — every recipe cooked on the road in Florie, grouped by what it's made in, gathered in one place. Find more recipes and food adventures here. Wonky park-ups, proper adventures, genuine freedom — The Flexible Chef