Favorite Dishes When Full-Timing?

[FCloud9]

We're not full timers but travel 3-6 months per year since 2014. I was curious if full timers had kitchen issues like mine....indecisive. While I learned tons of information on Airforums when we first began to stock our new trailer, deciding on dinnerware was challenging. So after five years on the road, here's what I use:

Marble Canyon Airstream Rambling Road Dinnerware- 4 tapa size plates

Corelle Aqua Livingware South Beach- service for two ( have two extra sets left @home as I bought service for four to have spares in case of breakage...none so far)

Crate & Barrel Melamine Aqua & Grass green- total 4 place settings with two each color and we use these instead of paper to be more Eco friendly

I continue to try to minimize all kitchen items each year but have not changed or reduced dinnerware.

My member ID pic is actually taken from my Marble Canyon plate. Remarkably, I bought those plates with the vintage Airstream 10 years before I ever dreamed of buying an Airstream. Was on a winter holiday trip visiting family in Santa Fe, NM and fell in love with the Canyon Marble Aqua plates but now cannot find them anywhere to expand my collection but happy all the same, as the plate was my inspiration for personalizing our first airstream flying cloud. The neutral color scheme needed a splash of color and Aqua & touches of spring green did the trick.

[ScottandMoni]

I hesitated starting this thread because I that people would not respond. Wow!! Thank you all!! We live a very eco friendly life style so as little paper as possible and no plastic if we can help it. I’ll be taking a look at the Corel for sure. Next up is a few light weight, non stick cooking pans.

[RJJ]

Originally Posted by ScottandMoni

~Next up is a few light weight, non stick cooking pans.

You'll have better cooking results with heavier weight pots and pans... think heat distribution and retention.... and they'll last longer... js... 🤔

[rmkrum]

Just size them to your family. Don’t really need huge pots and pans for two people for example.

[forestgirl]

I too use Corelle for most dinners but we are upgrading to a 30’ Signature and I decided on a forest theme so I bought stoneware dishes ( Juliska dinner plates from their factory outlet in CT, green pine salad plates from Amazon, and the Hull bowls (which are ovenproof btw) from Etsy. I have buffalo check melamine plates for outside picnic table lunches. Just be aware melamine is not microwave safe ever.
For cooking, I use a Le Creuset set that is a small sauté pan that acts as a cover for the matching saucepan, it was on sale at Sur la Table for 50% off. Enameled cast iron cleans like a dream and is non-stick. I also have a 4 qt. enameled cast iron pot for stews, a 3 qt instantpot which is terrific for mult-tasking cooking, and a Lodge cast iron pan for the grill. You can make deep dish pizzas, roasted veggies, etc on the grill and the seasoned pan is great for outdoor cooking.
I also have a white magnetic board that I use for round spice tins as I love to cook.
Home Goods, TJ Maxx/ Marshall’s have some great cookware at reasonable prices. The Lodge 12” cast iron pan was $9. Have fun and bon appétit!

[EPEisenman]

I will second (third? sixth?) Corelle. I had saved mine from my first apartment in the early 80s and it has served us well in campers for the past 10+ years. And it's now vintage!



As for pots & pans, as someone else mentioned you don't really need many. But cheap ones aren't worth anything. I have some Cuisinart Multi-Clad (cheap man's version of AllClad) that have nice heavy bottoms, but they aren't extremely heavy at all. I carry a larger pot (5 qt) for chili and such, one 2 qt saucepan, and one skillet.

[Ladyfish]

We started in our first AS back in the early 1990's with an old set of Corelle taken from the house. With the new to us (and still working on it) AS we are sticking with the Corelle; but have a nice new set that are square instead of round. We'll see how that works...

[daleyocum]

We, to just use Corelle and love them.

We’ve always been careful to put felt pads between each one on days when we’ll be on the road but I wonder if that’s overkill. Has anyone had them break if they are just stacked on top of one another or vertically in a dish rack? Maybe we’re going to too much trouble.

[Mansderm161]

I like Corelle, too. And bought plastic non skid trays on
AMAZON to put them on. I got rid of all my plastic before buying my interstate. I don't like to eat or drink or cook in plastic.

[NevadaGeo]

One of my jobs at The first paying job I had was breaking Corelle at the refractory services lab in Corning Glass Works. There was an issue with "stones" coming through the glass processing and showing up in the finished plates. My job was to break the plates and make a thin section of the "stone" on a glass slide for the petrologist to analyze what the stone was to decipher what the problem was, probably a refractory brick was distintigrating and getting into the glass. I came up with a system of scoring around the stone with a glass cutter, then I could find the stones much easier after breaking the plate.
Corelle is 3 layers of glass in tension. Designed not to break if you drop it about 3 feet. But when it does break, it's like a small explosion and hard to find the little pieces. Quite safe until it gets really scratched up with deep scratches. (There's your reason to go buy new ones, the old plates are all scratched up).

[EPEisenman]

Originally Posted by daleyocum

We, to just use Corelle and love them.

We’ve always been careful to put felt pads between each one on days when we’ll be on the road but I wonder if that’s overkill. Has anyone had them break if they are just stacked on top of one another or vertically in a dish rack? Maybe we’re going to too much trouble.

My Corelle is just stacked with nothing in between and I've had no breaks.

[Mansderm161]

Thanks for that info!

[PatLee]

RJJ - your dishes are so pretty!!!

[PatLee]

I wanted to go much lighter with dishes with my second Airstream and with nothing that could break. I settled on a set of melamine bowls and plates. Originally, I was put off by the size of the bowls, thought they were too large but after 3 months on the road last summer, they became "keepers". Perfect size for serving up salads, soups, stews, serving dishes, a baked potato, so versatile (thanks to poster for letting me know they're not microwaveable). That they are also very cheery was a plus. Here's link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also bought two storage containers that hold the dishes sideways in my cupboard, it was like they were made to go together. The storage containers are sized either 9" and 11". I visited my Amazon orders and found them but for some reason the link won't go live for me. They're titled "Home-X 11-Inch Dinner Plate Holder. Holds Plates in Upright Position".
I love this thread, learning lots.

[hshovic]

We purchased Corel dishes for our Safari 25FB. What we didn't purchase was latches. We relied on the springs of the swing up cabinet doors
that came with the Airstream. Until we drove on some paved, but bouncy roads on the Oregon Coast. When we stopped for lunch, all the Corel dishes were on the floor. Most were in pieces. And the swing up cabinet doors were still closed!



So we purchased cabinet latches.

[brad1]

We use beautiful, purposefully-mismatched bone china dishes we’ve picked up at antique stores we’ve visited along the way. Fine quality china is thin, light, and quite durable. It’s probably cheaper than buying new when you buy orphan plates and bowls at antique shops. Other than by dropping, we’ve never had any breakage. (Ours are stored in a drawer and we separate them with foam liners purchased at an RV supply store). We have place settings for four. You can set a really handsome, interesting table with mismatched dinner ware.

[Woosch]

Corelle! Paper plates when dry camping.

[Fly at Night]

Bamboo is eco-friendly and lightweight. Safe in the microwave, although this will reduce the lifespan (of the bamboo) somewhat.

Melamine cannot be microwaved safely.

[bigcountry]

chicagoair and mbopp...
...thanks for the tip on Falcon Enamelware.
My wife just received her first order of Falcon dishes and bowls.
Really like the lightweight, durable construction.
The colors are timeless.