Double-duty seat back org plus outdoor table

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

NEODYM-SUSPENDED MULTI-PURPOSE SIDEBOARD FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

INTERBLOG - That a very nice project there with all the nice stainless steel pots/pans/mugs. But my eyes are not as good as they used to be - if those are white styro plates, gotta make fun of you. If those are the Corelle plates you discussed elsewhere, then very nice. Inherited a kitchen full of Corelle from my mom - while her taste of all the diff flowery mottif does not match my preference, we still love using them. I grew up only knowing Corelle plates.

[InterBlog]

White Corelle. I'm always on the lookout for the TOTALLY PLAIN Corelle when I pass a yard sale. I guess I'm a Corelle snob because I won't have anything with pattern.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

White Corelle. I'm always on the lookout for the TOTALLY PLAIN Corelle when I pass a yard sale. I guess I'm a Corelle snob because I won't have anything with pattern.

My wife is a thrift store junkie! While in Kerrville for an Airstream rally, we stopped in a big thrift store and found a trove of plain white Corelle in several sizes. The price was more than right; a giveway! Some of it is in the Airstream and the remainder is stored away for any needed replacements.

When we first bought the AI, I made a hard left in a construction zone. The upper cabinet came open and I lost several dinner plates and salad plates. We are up to a proper set again.

[rmkrum]

Corelle is nice dinnerware, but a fall to the floor makes it explode into fragments that go everywhere.
Making sure it’s in a rack or otherwise well secured is vital.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Corelle is nice dinnerware, but a fall to the floor makes it explode into fragments that go everywhere.
Making sure it’s in a rack or otherwise well secured is vital.

I'm still finding occasional shards after almost 2 years of having 2 plates and 2 salad plates come crashing down..

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Corelle is nice dinnerware, but a fall to the floor makes it explode into fragments that go everywhere.
Making sure it’s in a rack or otherwise well secured is vital.

RMKRUM - Don't ask me how I know this . . . so . . . well Sweeping is not enough, regular vac is not enough, this was my awakening moment decades ago that I needed to buy a shop vac

[InterBlog]

I've yet to identify anything superior to Corelle. Most commercial products are too thick and heavy. I don't like putting plastic in the microwave (and some kinds of plastic CAN'T go in). Plus we do so much campfire eating that I don't want combustible dinnerware. With my luck I'd set my plate on the edge of the fire ring and singe off the edge.

The design ethic with some of the better plastic products = raised lip (the manufacturers assume you'll be eating many stew-like meals). Not convenient for cutting up a steak or a pork chop, both of which we eat in abundance off-grid.

The newer collapsible silicone-sided products are great space-savers, but too hard to get clean with limited wash water - all those grooves and crannies in the silicone. Plus I've had to return defective Sea to Summit products where the pot body was great, but the covers warped.

I love stainless but of course, no metal can go in the microwave.

[bugsbunny]

We have a couple of Corelle plates, but our go to now are the original Corning Ware Pie Plates - model P309 - the pyroceram ones. They have a fairly low profile for eating dinner, yet great for salads and reheating in the oven, microwave or on top of the stove! The other great thing is that a Pyrex bowl plastic lid (one from the classic nesting bowls), will fit on top, so you can store leftovers! There were also some made in all white without a pattern! We have been using these for several years while camping and have worked out great for us. When the pyroceram breaks, it is usually in just a couple of pieces versus shattering. It can go from freezer to high heat (they made rocket cones out of this material originally). Look on the back and make sure they note range before using them on the range top just to be sure.... Available on ebay readily or at your local Goodwill. Individual Lids can be bought online or at the Corning outlet stores (2.5 quart lid fits).

We also use the clear Pyrex pie plates in the same way for leftovers. Note, they don't go from freezer to range top like the Pyroceram does, which is why we prefer the rocket cone material!

[InterBlog]

Very interesting! It looks like Corelle might be the poor man's pyroceram (?). The Corelle glass material is called "Vitrelle". Corning is still making items out of pyroceram, but nothing resembling a dinner plate, apparently.

[bugsbunny]

Yes, that is correct- They did make dinner plates long ago, BUT unfortunately they are not microwave compatible due the the final glazes used, etc.

There is a great website of all things Corning, http://www.corningware411.com

He is a collector and has loads of information on all things CorningWare. If you are ever in Western New York, the Corning Museum of Glass is phenomenal (and has RV parking)!

[InterBlog]

There's a lot of BS in the marketing of products. For instance, AFAIK, melamine should never be put into a microwave oven. And yet when I google for 'unbreakable microwave plates', I get an avalanche of melamine products.

[Lineolated]

Nordic Wear makes microwaveable plastic dinnerware. They are off white, not pure white. They will scratch. We’ve used them happily for years, won’t have Corelle due to shattering.
https://www.nordicware.com/3-piece-m...dinnerware-set

[InterBlog]

I saw the Nordicware. It is melamine and "top rack" dishwasher safe. A dinner plate doesn't fit very well into a top rack. Melamine creeps me out because it is somewhat reactive*.

This is a First World problem to be sure - we can put a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth, but we cannot yet design a dinner plate that is simultaneously:

(1) Unbreakable
(2) Dishwasher-safe
(3) Microwave-safe
(4) Lightweight
(5) Chemically non-reactive

It seems to me that polycarbonate has some potential in this regard. There is a company called Carlisle that makes polycarbonate dinnerware for institutional use. It's got a 5-year warranty, so it has to be tough. And difficult to fashion into weapons (via cutting, breakage, etc.) if it is used in prisons. But I have not found a source that sells individual pieces. Their products have to be purchased in institutional quantities.


* noun: melamine; noun: melamine resin
1.
CHEMISTRY
a white crystalline compound made by heating cyanamide and used in making plastics.
2. a plastic used chiefly for laminated coatings, made by copolymerizing this compound with formaldehyde.

[bugsbunny]

I did read that some thicker Corelle has been made....

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/ab...06/abu0337/s05

[Lineolated]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

I saw the Nordicware. It is melamine and "top rack" dishwasher safe. A dinner plate doesn't fit very well into a top rack. Melamine creeps me out because it is somewhat reactive.

Nordic Ware claims these are “melamine free”. I see your point about dishwasher though.

[Piggy Bank]

I would add that just because a product is "dishwasher safe" (meaning it won't melt in the heat levels or be too fragile for the agitation) doesn't really make it suitable for the dishwasher.

Maybe it's just me, but I hate it when I can taste the residue of the dishwashing soap IN items.

I find silicone items, and many plastic items (such as food storage containers) will take on such an icky taste that I end up hand washing them to avoid this taste. I have tried different dishwasher detergent products and still seem to have this issue.

So I would add being chemically inert/vitreous like glass, porcelain, ceramic, or metal would be important for me.

The weight factor is also interesting to me, in that obviously when traveling reducing weight is an overall benefit. But if you eat outside, having a plate that won't blow around in a small breeze is also useful.

Currently we have melamine but am considering changing to FiestaWare. Another benefit of plates like FiestaWare is they dry faster when hand washing because they heat up with the water and then the rinse water evaporates easily from the glazed surface.

[InterBlog]

Same thread dilemma as usual: Interesting information to add, but how to make it find-able for others later on? We have X number of threads that discuss tables. This is only one of them.

Anyway, hat tip to RickBurch on Class B forum for finding this obscure video of a Sprinter owner who created another kind of front table for his rig. I haven't seen a solution like this before, and it's an excellent execution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyUh...ature=youtu.be

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

... RickBurch on Class B forum for finding this obscure video of a Sprinter owner who created another kind of front table for his rig. I haven't seen a solution like this before, and it's an excellent execution.

Very clever! Hopefully he can share details on the parts used. But that was a great and well executed idea.

[Boxster1971]

That is a clever setup. Looks like all solid wood parts with a few hinges. The key is the mounting bolts he attached to the center counsole near the radio. Matching clips on the edge of table top attach to the mounting bolts.

You could probably build something with a similar function by attaching the popular Lagun table to the passages seat base. Some ideas in the photos on the Lagun USA web pages.

https://www.lagunusa.com

[InterBlog]

This one appears as if it might represent true convergent evolution rather than idea-poaching (i.e., commercial poaching of MY idea).

This is the new Australian Jabiru Class B product made by Trakka, and notice the red arrow pointing toward the sideboard / table structure on the side of the Sprinter. I went through their website in an attempt to get more information on this feature, but right now it's a lot of the usual whiz-bang marketing BS, with few technical details.

From Popular Science: "...the avian ancestors of birds and the mammalian ancestors of bats both evolved wings independently, in an example of convergent evolution. The same happened for the eyes of squid and humans. Exactly how such convergent evolution arises is not always clear."

"Not always clear"? How about "the need for a small table on the side of a Sprinter camper van is self-evident, just as the need for eyeballs is self-evident"?

But this Australian company clearly went about achieving their functional goal in a different way than I did. For instance, it's not apparent to me whether this feature is permanently mounted, or detaches from the side of the van for storage. My version described in the thread above is intended to be stowed during travel.