Cooking INSIDE your rig. Yes or No ?

Accrete

Accrete

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2010
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134
Location
Exploring the western, USA
Greetings!

First off, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic.

Here is where i'm at. My wife and i are in the final stages of placing an order for an XPCamper. I've had some fun and informative discussions with XPMarc and we love the rig (though we haven't touched one, i guess we "virtually" love the rig!~)

Anywhoooo, Cari and i really never cooked much in our Aliner EASE even though it had a wonderful Dometic 3 burner LP stove in it as we were concerned with contributing smells and grime to the inside of the rig. So except for boiling water in the morning's or evenings for a cup of hot cocoa, tea, or coffee we really didn't "cook" inside.

Here is why i'm asking...we are wondering if we should include the diesel cook top in the rig, we will be able to boil water through a 110v pot. We are NOT concerned about resale value. What we are concerned about is keeping a shape-ship. BUT since we've never cooked inside a rig we can't say that we would be adding grime/smells! : ) Though we have believed to notice smells in used rv's we don't know for sure where they originated.

Thanks again!
Cheers,
Thom
 
Thom,

Having touched and toured the XP, I can tell you I am extremely envious. Congrats on moving forward with your order.

Many wanderers have expressed a reluctance to cook inside their rig for the exact reasons you have mentioned. I wonder, do they not cook at home for fear of smells in the house? So mine will probably be the only respose of this kind. The only time we don't cook in the camper is when we barbeque. I often cook with garlic and onions in the camper. I am not aware of any lingering smells in the camper. Maybe it smells normal to me and I just don't notice them. And, yes, you do have to clean the counter very well after making anything greasy that spatters, like bacon.

Your best source may be XPMarc. As a former chef, ask him how much he cooks in his XP camper.
 
Accrete: I have a couple of thoughts for you.

1.) I have had the fortunate occasion of seeing an XP and I think part of the desire to own one would be to have the stove. As I recall, it had a larger more usable and cleanable kitchen style area and I think later you would find you would have wanted it. Its part of the experience of having such a high end camper, I think.

2.) I have the smallest of the All Terrain and I understand what your concerns are. Generally, we use the kitchen for coffee and my wife cooks her vegetables inside so smells are minimized. We carry a small barbeque for cooking meats and fish, etc outside.

Have fun out there and be safe.


Darryl
 
I normally cook outside because that is where I usually enjoy being. However, I think having the ability to cook inside is a big bonus, especially if the weather is ugly. I keep some diluted Simple Green in a spray bottle to cleanup after cooking inside. I've cooked onions, bacon, sausuage, fish, and all kinds of other fragrant foods inside and I don't have any lingering smells.
 
I don't have any problem with cooking in my rig in my mind and I do (mostly boiled stuff though) unless I'm cooking over the campfire.

Here is why i'm asking...we are wondering if we should include the diesel cook top in the rig, we will be able to boil water through a 110v pot.


Is this running over batteries and an inverter or shore power? If shore power that is fine but if its off batteries I'd advise against that regularly as you'll burn alot of amps up quickly.
 
We really like the option of cooking inside, and do when the weather is crappy. Our Phoenix Coyote has a three-burner stove, one more than our Coleman. Plus, having the sink right there is great. I don't notice any problems with lingering cooking smells, but if I did, they'd be awesome... since I'm such a good cook.:cool:

Congrats on the XP! That's a beautiful lookin' camper.
 
We do all of our cooking inside, and we cook much more than we let on. We always run our fantastic fan that is right above the stove with the turnbuckle port open down below. That gives a good airflow. Most of our cooking is fairly simple as we generally are on the go and hanging around the camper is not the focus of our travels. We do eat outside whenever weather permits. Since we got our unit a year ago we have used it quite a bit. There is no notice of cooking smells.
 
We cook inside quite a bit - unless we are cooking over the campfire. Anyway after 9 years of cooking inside no noticable odors or cleaning issues. Bacon does leave a bit of a trace but we do the pre-cooked stuff and its easy to clean up after.

I always thought one of those RVQ's that would hook on the outside would be a nice addition to the next camper - could cook inside or out depending on the weather, activities, etc.

I'd suggest go for it if you think there is any chance you are interested in it.

-Vic
 
Congratulations on the future XPC!

I would say it would be best to be able to cook inside.

I do not like cooking in rain, cold, bugs or dark. And usually one (or more) of those things are happening when I am cooking.

And as stated above, even if you cook inside, you can always eat outside.
 
I cook in the camper.
I like to have everything handy and bug free; all my spices; oils etc are right there.

Never had a problem with any smells; even after cooking salmon; bacon or other foods.
The window above the stove helps to vent some of the exhausts outside; and with another window open you can get some pretty good cross ventilation.

The walls are easy to clean; since they are all smooth' and having a sealed cook top helps with the clean up.
That is when the hands free faucet comes in handy as well. Specially when doing dishes.
 
I cook in the camper. . .and having a sealed cook top helps with the clean up.
That is when the hands free faucet comes in handy as well. Specially when doing dishes.

Thanks for the reply Marc. Looks like we'll include the stove with all the positive replys from other WTW campers.
We usually cook with copper bottom SS... is that cookware ok on the cooktop?

As the official "dishwasher" i opted (with loving support) long ago to use paper. And we can't use the sink for food/cleaning if we want to continue to dump the gray tank in the PNW parks.

:)
Thom
 
Thanks for the reply Marc. Looks like we'll include the stove with all the positive replys from other WTW campers.
We usually cook with copper bottom SS... is that cookware ok on the cooktop?

As the official "dishwasher" i opted (with loving support) long ago to use paper. And we can't use the sink for food/cleaning if we want to continue to dump the gray tank in the PNW parks.

:)
Thom

Yes, I use those as well.
They work well.
 
My primary reason for getting a camper -- after decades of camping in a tent and canopy and cooking on the tailgate of my truck -- was to be able to cook inside.
I camp in the winter and other times when it's cold/windy, and I got tired of it taking forever for a wind-blown Coleman stove to boil water, etc.
I almost never cook outside now unless I'm using my little Weber table-top gas grill.
 
Here is a pic of the Webasto cook top in action.

gallery_2406_114_26818.jpg


Another example of how good the cook top is:
gallery_2406_114_25975.jpg


Finished Product: :D

Pork Filet with Mushroom sauce; Braised red cabbage and Potato Dumplings.
All produced on the Webasto Diesel cook top

gallery_2406_114_11749.jpg
 
You pre-making those dumplings and vac packing them to head in the boiling water?


Yes
I use the bags for the vacuum sealing machine; since you can boil them.
work also for Bolognese; just heat the bag.
 
I will if I have to but other than making coffee, I normally cook outside. Really depends on whether I'm "camping" or "overlanding".
 
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