Cooking in your RV? Yes or No

[saenzm]

Hey all, I am new to RVing and will be taking my first weekend trip this weekend to go snow boarding in New Mexico.

I have heard mixed reviews about cooking in your RV. Many saw the smell lingers bad and you won't be able to sleep. Even cooking popcorn in the microwave can be too much.

Any ideas, tips, or tricks here?

Thanks,
Mark

[booster]

Originally Posted by saenzm

Hey all, I am new to RVing and will be taking my first weekend trip this weekend to go snow boarding in New Mexico.

I have heard mixed reviews about cooking in your RV. Many saw the smell lingers bad and you won't be able to sleep. Even cooking popcorn in the microwave can be too much.

Any ideas, tips, or tricks here?

Thanks,
Mark

For us, microwave inside, yes, cooktop never, lots of cooking outside for everything else.

If you are going to the cold, be sure you are well winterized, which can also put some cooking difficulties in front of you to deal with.

[avanti]

A powered roof vent (even if it is not over the stove) combined with strategically-chosen windows cracked open can serve as an extremely effective range vent. Just do it WHILE you are cooking, not just after. We are not big in-van cookers, but we never hesitate to do so when we feel like it.

[peppster66]

We love to cook our meals inside , the ability to cook inside is one of my favourite things about our van, I can still remember cooking bacon or sausage, for the first time inside, the smell and the mess, it was a bad experience, We have learned that some foods are better cooked outside, we have a coleman campstove for that, and also cook over an open fire if possible ,alot of times, its weather, or timing that will determine what and how we cook,,,,,,hope this helps,,,,take care,,,

[saenzm]

If you are going to the cold, be sure you are well winterized, which can also put some cooking difficulties in front of you to deal with.

Hummm, what does being well winterized look like? Like I said, all this is new to me.

I won't have any water in my tanks since I will be at an RV site. I am going to plug in electrical. Should I plug in water too? If I do plug in water, what do I need anything else since it will be freezing temps?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

[gerrym51]

I also only microwave inside,

Our philosophy is why go thru cooking hassles even outside.

sandwiches/easy microwave stuff/paper cups/plates/plastic utensils.

we stop at restaurants if we want a change.

[Bruceper]

For me all cooking is done outside. My propane is disabled as I didn't want to certify the tank due to other issues. But even if the propane worked, I still wouldn't cook inside.

There is much more room on a picnic table to prep and cook than there is in a B and I don't want to have to potentially clean grease off of anything (ie bacon). Grease gets everywhere. Yes a hood takes care of most of it but then you need to clean your hood and vent.

[cruisefx]

Since you will be busy snowboarding, bring some leftovers to microwave instead of trying to make a meal from scratch. Heating up soup or stew might just hit the spot.

[DCHitt]

Originally Posted by saenzm

Hummm, what does being well winterized look like? Like I said, all this is new to me.

I won't have any water in my tanks since I will be at an RV site. I am going to plug in electrical. Should I plug in water too? If I do plug in water, what do I need anything else since it will be freezing temps?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

"Well winterized" means you carry bottled water to drink, you flush with RV antifreeze, and you have the fresh water lines blown out or with antifreeze.

Some of us do special things to handle the winter weather. "All season" use is an objective where the water tank and holding tanks can be used in cold weather. You have to know your van....

[wincrasher]

Since I stopped cooking and eating dead rotting corpses, cooking smells have become a non-issue.

[mkguitar]

wow, i think weird question.

Shannon is an amazing chef- our cooktop does all kinds of magic...our rental in ireland had an oven...more magic.

some cooking is done outdoors, but more for the vibe...some on the campfire, we also carry a cassette-feu- a butane burner.

as per manual, when cooktop is on, the vent behind is open and the vent above open..fan optional.
this is to remove CO



occurs to me a huge part of this may be that I am a veg...so no bacon sizzling in the pan..not alot of grease fumes

Mike

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by avanti

A powered roof vent (even if it is not over the stove) combined with strategically-chosen windows cracked open can serve as an extremely effective range vent. Just do it WHILE you are cooking, not just after. We are not big in-van cookers, but we never hesitate to do so when we feel like it.

I'm not, excuse the pun, a fan. The roof vent may effectively remove odors and some water vapor but for grease fumes, not so much. The right way to do this is a power vent directly over the stove with a useful light which use to be pro forma in earlier times but pretty much deleted in current B production. Avion still employs one in their Azur which I think is a plus.

[rjf7g]

We use the microwave but not the stove. I set up quite the outdoor kitchen and cook everything outside. We just do popcorn, nachos and left overs inside.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

The right way to do this is a power vent directly over the stove with a useful light

I guess that would be nice, but the passenger side of our van is panoramic glass, which is one of our favorite parts. We even took down the TV because it spoiled the view. A range hood would be a total non-starter for us. The Fantastic Vent works fine. We have admittedly never tried a deep-fried turkey, but morning bacon and eggs has never been a problem.

[talktodean]

I live in NM. Where ru headed for boarding?

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by avanti

I guess that would be nice, but the passenger side of our van is panoramic glass, which is one of our favorite parts. We even took down the TV because it spoiled the view. A range hood would be a total non-starter for us. The Fantastic Vent works fine. We have admittedly never tried a deep-fried turkey, but morning bacon and eggs has never been a problem.

If God wanted us pilgrims to cook bacon and eggs he wouldn't have created Dennys.

While bacon and eggs might be OK, from what Wincrasher reports, dead rotting corpses are simply out of the question.

[InterBlog]

For me it's not a matter of smell or cleanliness so much as efficiency. Personally I can't see the sense in any ambitious cooking plans inside a Class B when I have a large custom kitchen at home. I do occasionally scramble some eggs and make toast for breakfast in the rig, but that's the extent of the cooking-from-scratch.

We take our food, including frozen food stored on dry ice (cooler outside on rear hitch platform so that the sublimating dry ice won't suffocate us), and thus far have been able to feed ourselves plus other family members for as long as 18 days (we're not retired so we don't do extremely long trips - 18 days is our current record).

If I were a retired person with excess time on my hands, I might think differently.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

We take our food, including frozen food stored on dry ice (cooler outside on rear hitch platform so that the sublimating dry ice won't suffocate us), and thus far have been able to feed ourselves plus other family members for as long as 18 days (we're not retired so we don't do extremely long trips - 18 days is our current record).

We generally do the same thing. One of the reasons we like our large NovaKool compressor fridge so much is that we can take a LOT of pre-made frozen meals with us, and the food stays reliably brick-frozen. Plus, we DO like exploring the local cuisine. But OP asked about the feasibility of in-van cooking, not its desirability. As I said, we do not hesitate, and with proper technique, we don't have issues.

[skagitstan]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Since I stopped cooking and eating dead rotting corpses, cooking smells have become a non-issue.

Yes, because nothing says odorless like brussel sprouts, boiled cabbage, and asparagus.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by saenzm

Hey all, I am new to RVing and will be taking my first weekend trip this weekend to go snow boarding in New Mexico.

I have heard mixed reviews about cooking in your RV. Many saw the smell lingers bad and you won't be able to sleep. Even cooking popcorn in the microwave can be too much.

Any ideas, tips, or tricks here?

Thanks,
Mark

snow boarding and in van cooking?

do you plan to sleep in the van as well?

cooking breakfast? or all meals?