Poll - Outside Kitchen

[TucsonJim]

Well, I changed out the stove top for a drawer today. It will get much more use than that little stove, and I won't have to crawl under the slide out to make the propane connection any more. If anyone is interested in the old stove, make me an offer I can't refuse.



Jim

[Country Campers]

Jim

That panel above the new drawer looks like it is begging to be a cupboard or something.

Brian

[TucsonJim]

Jim

That panel above the new drawer looks like it is begging to be a cupboard or something.

Brian

That's actually the back of one of the kitchen cabinets. I'm thinking it would be a good place to put up a few signs or a white board.

Jim

[Steve7]

Regarding the 297RSTS, we do use the outside stove and refrigerator. But as you stated Jim, the hook up for the stove is a pain, causing me to crawl underneath to hook it up to the QD, as well as wind the propane hose up when done. Good poll!

[jim1521]

We don't move around a lot; we tend to go to one place for a month or so at a time. Our month-long stay in Port St. Joe, FL followed by the long stint up here in GA has taught us a great deal about our camping wants and needs:

1. Buying 40 lbs of ice every couple of days to keep the beer and drinks in the ice chest got very expensive and troublesome.

2. Paying full retail for meat (steaks, ribs, etc) is very expensive and inconvenient (we're used to going to Costco and filling up the freezer).

3. The oven in our trailer has never been used. It's too small and would probably heat the trailer up too much.

So in light of these lessons learned, we did the following:

1. Bought a small refrigerator for drinks, and keep it outside under the awning up on 4x4s. At $80 it's already paid for itself.

2. Bought a chest freezer that holds up to 175 lbs of food. We keep it outside next to the refrigerator. Both are covered with a large barbecue grill cover. Now we can make a Costco run and buy all the meat we want, use our Foodsaver to vacuum seal it all. Between the convenience and cost savings of Costco it's been great.

3. We bought a Ninja 4-in-1 crockpot. It slow cooks like a crockpot, bakes like a small oven, can be used as a stovetop cooker, and also it's a steamer. Doesn't heat up the whole house and can be used outside.

4. We grill most meals so our outdoor gas grill gets a real workout.

5. We bought a countertop ice maker. This thing makes so much ice that we only use it about once/week. We make a large Tupperware container that pretty much fills the freezer in the refrigerator in the trailer.

The outdoor refrigerator and freezer are small enough and light enough to put in the trailer with the slides closed for travel, and because they're empty we can store other items inside them when traveling.

[jw^2 family]

We use the outdoor kitchen on our Imagine 2800BH quite a bit. We got a 17" Blackstone griddle and have been setting it on top of the two burner cooktop, and use that quite a bit for breakfast (pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon) as well as dinner (chicken, steak, shrimp, etc.). The small refrigerator is also handy for grabbing a cold drink while outside without having to climb in and out of the trailer (helps cut down on the amount of dirt tracked into the trailer). We usually camp at state parks with hookups, so the fact that the refrigerator in the outdoor kitchen only runs on AC power is not a problem for us. Other features that would be part of our ideal outdoor kitchen would be a small hand sink, a television, and a light.

[powerscol]

We have not found a need for an outside kitchen. I still have my dads old Colman liquid fuel stove and a small BBQ grill. I also carry a heat proof mat so I can set up on the corner of the camp site table. Usually cook inside and bring out, but when there a a calling I set stuff up - especially the charcoal grill. Now if I had the kids and their friends along, that might be a different story.

The old Colman stove is a beast and can really crank out the heat, unlike the current gas models. On full power it will sound like a jet (think big weed burner wide open) . Its great for boils with my 20qt pot.

[offtohavasu]

Although we're not in a GD, we do have an outdoor kitchen in our current setup. We use it all the time. It also has a BBQ attachment to it, so that lends to the heavy use. I like to cook bacon on it in the morning and get that smell going through the campground.

[jmbopp]

My wife doesn't like to cook outside & the stove is too small to heat a pot for boiling corn. If we camp w/o hookups I remove the fridge & put a large cooler in its place. The fridge gets used if we have hookups but not the stove, I have a 3-burner Coleman propane stove & 10-gallon tank for anything big.

[TucsonJim]

Out with the kitchen. In with the beer bar. Come by and share a cold one with me at the Texas, Quartzsite or Las Vegas rallies.



Jim