Must Have kitchen items for the AS Kitchen

[lrankine]

Originally Posted by Gearheart

I do coffee in an Aeropress. DW likes her instant coffee. (I know)......

http://www.airforums.com/forums/atta...1&d=1495191699

"Instant coffee??????....The Borgias would do better......"

[Lily&Me]

Lots of great ideas here, too...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240...ng-100347.html

Maggie

[Jan Tillman]

Bring what you will use . I carry a hand held Kitchen Aid mixer and Corel plates ,
and stainless utensils , a good wine cork screw and plastic stemware.I use stainless steel cookware inside.
I have a German chefs knife set that travels with me .
We love our icemaker as I drink iced tea all day and my husband has his Keurig for his coffee

[meritage]

The most important item we take is an Anova Sous Vide, check out anovaculinary.com. Often we sous vide a bunch of ribeyes, double cut pork chops, chicken legs & thighs before leaving home. But on the road clean odorless cooking is a pleasure, a blazing grill finishes the process in seconds.

Other staples... In no specific order.

1. Good coffee beans [Baby's Coffee.com] small grinder & pour over with filters
2. Silicone XL ice cube trays
3. Lodge Cast Iron, a few All Clad pieces, a large Wok works for everything
4. Quality Knives & diamond steel. I like Wüsthof.
5. Wood cutting board, John Boos works well.
6. Mixing bowls, Plastic Containers, HD Zip-Lock bags
7. Tongs, spoons, spatulas, whips, scraper, grater, mandolin,
8. A well chosen spice set
9. Outdoor grill and high btu stove
10. Well chosen wine & rocks glasses!!

The list goes on...

[Rgentum]

Others have mentioned my "gotta have": combination corkscrew/bottle opener.

If my sweetie were responding, her "gotta have" would be her Nespresso latte maker. Her day DOES NOT BEGIN without a latte.

[2fromtexas]

We also take a combo pressure cooker/slow cooker. If going sightseeing, nice to have a meal already made or a good meal in 20 minutes.

[losfeliz]

Originally Posted by Gearheart

I do coffee in an Aeropress. DW likes her instant coffee. (I know). .

Since my wife has a coffee roasting business, so we always bring two or three bags of fresh roasted coffee beans. :-) And a Chemex brewer, Bonavita water kettle, coffee scale, and Baratza coffee grinder. The aroma in the morning is amazing!

[Ruffn It]

For pot luck at rallys - something like a small picnic basket or large enough tray to carry your dish-to-share & serving utensil as well as your personal plates/silverware/drink cups etc.

Food safety - fridge temp monitor ("huh, wonder how long that's been off?")

some amount of EXTRA drinking water for you and the dog. just in case.

Bar Cabinet: the good stuff, whatever that is for you.

[DOCBloom]

What knives were mentioned I bought a set of pure komachi at costco. Each knife is a different color with its own matching color plastic knife scabard the knives stay sharp in an safe in the drawer.
I also carry a aluminum dutch oven cooks the same 1/3 The weight*

[Dennisr]

What type of ice maker do you have?

[Toasterlife]

I bought a set of teflon coated cooking pots in Paris with a removable handle - 3 pots with 1 handle. Best thing ever. They stack nicely in the oven, I can use them without the handle in the oven or with the handle as cooking pots. I just love them. I have silicone collapsible stuff for use as salad bowls, or when heating in the microwave - ditto a silicone measuring jug. Silicone is light and sturdy.

One thing I use all the time is a single electric hot plate. when I have shore power I use it on top of the closed stove top as I rarely need 3 burners and this way i have more prep space. I also use it on the camp table for outdoor cooking or boiling a kettle when I have shore power. Better than running in and out all the time. it may seem like a silly thing but it is so handy.

At least 2 good knives.

Try and make everything do double duty

[369goose]

As others have stated...we have pretty much the same equipment as we use at home too. Although some smaller scale as we don't entertain or often cook for as large a crowd as we do at home. Smaller Keurig, crockpot, small green egg (& pizza stones) gas grill, microwave/convection oven, blender & barware and HD hand mixer instead of large stand mixer. The silicone bakeware & collapsible gadgets are really sturdy, light and easy to clean & store. Wish I'd had these silicone items many years ago.

Of course we enjoy having non electric items too Fir being off grid (i.e.: canopener, coffee/teapot). That way we can cook either outside on the gas grill or a charcoal fire or w propane inside too, think rainy days.

A great suggestion is to have dishes, silverware, cutlery, serving pieces & barware as similar and as sturdy as you are accustomed to using at home. Tablecloths, placemats & yes, occasionally fabric napkins are optional. You are, after all, glamping when you Airstream.

Happy shopping!

[369goose]

Wingeezer, I AM SO JEALOUS! I've been wanting to buy a "sous vide" for the Airstream but wondered if it could be a bit overkill.

Please let us know how often you use yours while camping and any thoughts or suggestions you feel relevant. I do have room for it already...hmmm, you may have just helped me decide!

[Len n Jeanne]

DOCBloom, the answer depends not only on how you like to cook and what you like to eat, but also on the size of your unit (the shorter the length, the less the storage space,) and the types of trips you like to do (paved roads to RV resorts, or bumpy back roads to remote campsites.)

With the smaller units like ours, it helps to scale down the size of utensils and appliances, and to look for items that have more than one use. See the long-running thread on "Small Space Living" for all kinds of ideas on nifty gadgets (thank you, Maggie!)

For back-roads camping, it's helpful if (a) everything is either unbreakable or extremely well-packed,) and you have some kind of back-up for your must-haves. If an appliance or part of the AS malfunctions, it helps to have a back-up. This might be something like an outdoor camp stove that you can cook on.

If your unit comes with a microwave, you won't be able to use it in campsites without an electrical hook-up unless you've got solar (??) or run the generator; so it's good to think of work-arounds.

People who love to grill outdoors or do Dutch oven cooking will have a whole other set of ideas; as will the gourmet chefs vs. the take-out people who don't enjoy cooking.

In our case, we do enjoy a decent glass of wine and occasional cocktail, so we have 3 different kinds of stemless crystal wine glasses packed in their original boxes. (Red, white, champagne, mostly Riedel bought on sale.) We carry a small cocktail shaker, as well as a small silicon ice cube tray that makes jumbo cubes. These go into the back-of-beyond, where we feel mighty civilized of an evening, I can tell you!

We love our morning coffee, but boil water in a tea kettle on the stove, and then use a simple drip method with a cone and filter paper. This goes directly into a thermos, to keep the coffee hot. So no coffee maker, and nothing glass.

If you focus, as we do, on small, adaptable, rugged items, REI is a great source of kitchen equipment. Our drip coffee cone collapses into a neat flat box for storage, for example.

[lrankine]

Originally Posted by 369goose

As others have stated...we have pretty much the same equipment as we use at home too. Although some smaller scale as we don't entertain or often cook for as large a crowd as we do at home. Smaller Keurig, crockpot, small green egg (& pizza stones) gas grill, microwave/convection oven, blender & barware and HD hand mixer instead of large stand mixer. The silicone bakeware & collapsible gadgets are really sturdy, light and easy to clean & store. Wish I'd had these silicone items many years ago.

Of course we enjoy having non electric items too Fir being off grid (i.e.: canopener, coffee/teapot). That way we can cook either outside on the gas grill or a charcoal fire or w propane inside too, think rainy days.

A great suggestion is to have dishes, silverware, cutlery, serving pieces & barware as similar and as sturdy as you are accustomed to using at home. Tablecloths, placemats & yes, occasionally fabric napkins are optional. You are, after all, glamping when you Airstream.

Happy shopping!

Please tell me more about your small Green Egg! We have one at home that we love but were a little concerned about the weight. Even the small ones are a little hefty.

[Cinmeredith]

I am intrigued by this item and want to know more about using it while camping. Several of you talk about it as being a 'must have'. Do you only use it to cook meat? I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of it until reading about it here. Please tell me more. Is it only Able to be used with Bluetooth or wifi connectivity?

[LBOskiBear]

Originally Posted by Cinmeredith

I am intrigued by this item and want to know more about using it while camping. Several of you talk about it as being a 'must have'. Do you only use it to cook meat? I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of it until reading about it here. Please tell me more. Is it only Able to be used with Bluetooth or wifi connectivity?

We don't always bring ours - kinda costly to keep one at home and in the AS.
It does work great for odorless cooking. The bluetooth is optional - you can set the temperature on the dial and hit the button.

So far, I've only cooked meat in it - but I'm largely a carnivore anyways :-)

[Gearheart]

I have the ANOVA sous vide but haven't thought about bringing it along. There are tons of ideas on their website, for things to cook with it. I am into doing egg bites, a knock off of the ones at Starbucks, in 4 oz mason jars. I can do 12 at a time and since they are cooked and sealed they last for weeks in the fridge.

[PKI]

OK, back to the wine cork screw knife. Anyone got a good recommendation? Been looking to replace the rigging knife I normally carry. We were picking up some wine and they had cork screw knives in the display case. Got me to thinking. Then you posted that image and I'm thinking some more. Have always used the rabbit ear type, but son swears by the waiter pocket style. Been considering a Swiss Army knife, since it has a screw as well as a screw driver blade. However the CSK looks like a winner. Ideas, or does it matter? Pat

[bluecornstal]

We too use Aeropress for coffee. Like it so much that we use it at home too.