Vanlife - Cooking Equipment

October 1, 2022

In my previous life I had a motorhome so cooking in a small space is not new to me. A thoughtful girlfriend at the time bought me two very useful gifts to take on my solo European trip. A cordless Dirt Devil (a handheld vacuum cleaner) and Delia Smith's 'One Is Fun!' which I still have today somewhere and although the Dirt Devil was brilliant it later went with the sale of the motorhome.

Anyway, I mentioned in a preceding post that I already have a portable gas hob and a twig burning stove, should camping and fires be allowed. Internally, the van has a two burner gas hob and an 85L compressor fridge with a small freezer box. By choice, it doesn't have an oven, this has something to do with the paltry gas oven I had in the motorhome – to be honest I used it mostly for storage. It also has a sink with hot and cold water so washing up shouldn't be a problem when off grid. I will, of course, have to purchase some rubber gloves as I have a dishwasher at home and my hands are not used to being in soapy water. 'Out of water - on with Nulon' - younger readers won't get that.

To supplement my kitchen I have been looking at a RidgeMonkey® which is a hinged double pan that clips together to make a sandwich toaster but look on YouTube and you'll see it does much more than that.

Secondly, I am researching an Omnia® stovetop oven and whatever you cook in a conventional oven you can cook in this portable and lightweight oven apparently.

Lastly, if hooked-up to campsite electric supply then a low energy Remoska electric mini-oven may be the answer. I'm not sure my 180w solar panel would handle this but I'll let you know.