Do you cook inside your Escape?

[dave macrae]

We cook lots of stuff in our trailer, keeping stinky greasy stuff like bacon outside.i love when we are one the move being able to stop and have a healthy good bite to eat from our own kitchen. I know lots of people scoff at the oven but we love ours .

 

[Brian B-P]

I use one or two butane one-burner stoves outside. The tanks cost $2 ea. at Army and Navy or a pack of four for ten or eleven dollars at Home Hardware ( vs. $4.99 ea. for 1 lb. propane tanks ).

That's a great deal on butane; at Canadian Tire butane is more expensive than propane.

In my experience, the butane stoves are much hotter and I can get a pot of water boiling in half the time of propane ( probably using less butane than I would propane ). I used to put my butane stove on top of the propane stove in my tent trailer to speed up making coffee in the morning.

Yes, even at only 8,000 BTU/hr, common butane stoves still have more output than many built-in propane stoves... just not as much as propane campstoves. For instance, according to one retailer, an Atwood two or three burner puts out only 7,000 BTU/hr on the big burner, and 5,200 BTU/hr on the small burner(s). Almost any "outdoor" stove would be a significant improvement over the more basic RV stoves.

Even the highest-output Atwood units don't match a common camp stove, although one of the burners beats the typical butane stove:

Atwood and Wedgewood 3-burner ranges feature one 9,000 BTU burner and two 6,500 BTU burners.

(from the Atwood Cooking Appliance Brochure)

Propane and butane have nearly the same energy value per unit weight, so the same amount of heating will take the same amount of fuel, unless one is more efficiently used (for instance, faster might mean less wasted). Since butane is denser, the can will be smaller for the same weight.

This whole discussion has a distinct déjà vu feel, so I did a quick search. We've discussed both indoor/outdoor stoves and butane versus propane. Michele showed a portablepropane stove by Martin (which looks like it's low-pressure and could be used indoors and out) in Low pressure stove question, again.... It has higher output than even a typical camp stove.

 

[NuthatchBC]

We tented for about 25 years both with and without kids. Having to bring all of the cook stuff out each time and having to set up an overhead tarp when it's raining or shooing bees and flies away doesn't really turn my crank. We now have an Escape 19 with a perfectly good stove and oven INSIDE and don't miss all of the outside cooking hassles at all.

Doug

 

[hillary]

I cook inside unless it's hot out! I love having a kitchen with all my stuff within reach. I've cooked bacon several times and the smell doesn't linger longer than a few hours, and that's with me only using the fan while actually cooking it. The wall surfaces and floor don't seem to hold odor, the bedding can but it's never lasted long. What I find funny is that my trailer still smells like the laundry detergent the previous owner used to wash the trailer sheets in. We don't even use those sheets anymore!

 

[Jubal]

Most of our cooking is inside on the 3 burner stove in our 17B. Any food with strong smells like fish we do on a barbeque. With the max fan set low and drawing in and the stove fan exhausting, we never have trouble with risidual smells.

An excellent and effective strategy !

 

[Jim Bennett]

We do cook inside some of the time. Rest stops or quick overnighters where we don't want to take the few minutes to set up, and usually do not have a great setting to cook it.

However, I love the outdoors, I love cooking in it as well as eating in it, and we do so probably 95% of the time. For me, it is more about the experience and joy of cooking outside, as well as the social aspect, and has nothing to do with odours or the such inside.

Even when it is raining, there is a great comfort feeling of being secure under the awning while cooking your dinner. Now, if that rain was coming down sideways, I will be hightailing it to the indoor stove.

Another thing is that we plan many of our meals around the BBQ. Meats, veggies, potatoes, and baked goods too. Ever had homemade Mac 'n Cheese done on the barbie? mmmmmmm.....

My wife does tend to do a few more things up on the stove inside, but I think that is more to escape me than a preference to cook there. ;D This last weekend she cooked up a batch of goodness to be made into ice cream.

 

[bvansnell]

We usually cook outside because:

• Toast makes our smoke alarm go off
• Boiling water increases moisture in the trailer
• Frying food leaves an odour
• Cooking outside frees up room inside our small trailer
• Cooking inside heats up the trailer

When we have hookups we use an electric frying pan, toaster oven and kettle, running a separate 15 Amp power cord to the current bush.
When we don't have hookups we use a two burner propane stove.
We have a small fold up table that normally sits outside the door under the canopy where the stove or electrical appliances live, although sometimes the stove sits on the campsite table if it is warm enough to eat outside.

The process of moving cooking outside has been a gradual process as we have gotten used to our trailer and experienced camping in all four seasons.

 

[John G.]

We cook a lot of stews and soups, lots of ingredients to be sliced and diced. We tried cooking outdoors with our Casita but the hassle was too much. An exception is fish which we prefer to cook outdoors but have cooked inside with fans running and door open. Three burners are great and scones in the oven are a treat.

John

 

[hotfishtacos]

we cook a lot of stews and soups, lots of ingredients to be sliced and diced. We tried cooking outdoors with our casita but the hassle was too much. An exception is fish which we prefer to cook outdoors but have cooked inside with fans running and door open. Three burners are great and scones in the oven are a treat.

john

yes!!! scones!

 

[Jmn n]

For sale Escape 19:
Toilet - Never used
Shower - Never used
Kitchen/Bath sinks - Never used
Stove - Never used
Fridge - Never used
Hitch - Never used
Propane tanks - Never filled
No one has ever been inside
No pictures available, to avoid flash/sunlight fading of interior materials.


It is really interesting to learn peoples' different camping styles - some really good tips. And of course some cringes - some of us are really weird - I mean unique I mean ... (GRIN)

Diversity is wonderful.

 

[JaneM.]

For sale Escape 19:
Toilet - Never used
Shower - Never used
Kitchen/Bath sinks - Never used
Stove - Never used
Fridge - Never used
Hitch - Never used
Propane tanks - Never filled
No one has ever been inside
No pictures available, to avoid flash/sunlight fading of interior materials.


It is really interesting to learn peoples' different camping styles - some really good tips. And of course some cringes - some of us are really weird - I mean unique I mean ... (GRIN)

Diversity is wonderful.

Thanks for the chuckle! Our previous trailer (a Casita) was 6 years old when we purchased it. The owner had never used the toilet and the sewer hose was still in its wrapper.. We were happy to be the first to use it, but no solids!

 

[Ray N]

For four years we lugged a Coleman stove along so we could cook outside, but between all the bugs and having to run in and out for cooking necessities, we ended up never using it more than once or twice. We found the inside cooking much more convenient. We do, however, frequently use a small Weber grill outside for steaks and burgers. We've never hesitated frying bacon inside and never found that the odor lingered for more than a couple of hours.

When deciding on which stove to get we made note of how often we used more than two burners on our home stove - that convinced us that the two-burner cook-top was sufficient for our needs.

 

[floorpanel]

I think it is a matter of personal preference. I go camping to be outside. There are bugs there whether you are cooking or not. It may be a little more trouble to carry stuff in and out of the trailer but that is just part of it. If you go to the trouble to put up a kitchen tent you can leave a lot of your cooking equipment outside and not have to put it up every time you use it.

 

[vermilye]

While some fellow campers may think I'm a bit weird (If they knew me, they would know I am) I am often seen with my toaster oven sitting on the picnic table, baking a pie, or frozen dinner, at least when I have hookups. I also do most of my other cooking on a Coleman combined grill, one burner stove.

I do cook inside if the weather calls for it, but prefer the outdoors for most of the reasons Brian mentioned. As to the rest of the trailer, it is well used! Yesterday was day 300 of this year's trip.

 

[dbailey]

I'm of the "cook outdoors" crowd as much as possible but I have to admit that when in bear country, the inconvenience of unpacking and setting up the stove and putting it away afterwards has me using the inside stove for quick things.

 

[Linda-ESC]

The reason we have a trailer is so we can use it! I quickly nixed the Teardrop trailer that we tried; one night was enough for me! Bugs viciously attack me in certain kinds of weather or settings. No outdoor cooking for me! We cook everything inside, but we are vegetarians so maybe that makes a difference. If I wanted to cook outside all of the time, I would camp in a tent. I love having everything so handy and organized. With the Maxx Air fan on, odors quickly dissipate; no nightly trips to the restroom, either. Keep it simple is my motto! Camping for me is a more simplified version of daily living so we can enjoy the rest of the adventure!

 

[dave macrae]

Jon every time you mention your number of days on the road I get more and more envious
Unfortunately retirement is a long way off so the dream wi
Have to wait

 

[nealmccarter]

We do a lot of cooking inside, but always use the exhaust fan. So far, no lingering odors. Note: we never fry.

 

[Ruthe]

Back when we started camping I remember setting up an outdoor kitchen -- leaving the stove out -- plates, etc. Probably the dry food stayed in the car, but the cooler was left out. That all changed over the years until now when we couldn't even leave a tablecloth outside this summer. What I started doing was storing a certain number of cooking things by the hatch that accesses the storage space under the bed and that helped, but as Donna points out it means having twice the stuff and adding weight. It's worth it to me though, particularly for those times when I'm cooking a stew or something that takes awhile and I don't want to stay inside or go inside every few minutes to check on the progress. I'm wondering what other people do to set up the outside kitchen.

 

[escape artist]

Hi: All... Our outside kitchen consists of a single burner hotplate, a slow cooker, and a gas grill. All these plug into the receptacles provided by ETI on the exterior of the trailer. It's a treat being able to grill meat and veggies from the main trailer propane bottles via the quick connect. No more little green disposables!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie