how do you cook in your tab?

Denny16

“Do your cook outside at home? ...”. Yes, yes we do.  I have a commercial single, high BTU burner I use outdoors on the back porch to stir fry, and a has BBQ with a searing burner for cooking fish, veggies, and burgers on... 
cheers

JPRoland

We like to have several options for cooking. If the campsite has a grill,  we will do all of our cooking on it with charcoal. If the site only has a fire pit, I prefer my portable Napoleon grill. If it is cold or rainy, the gas burners in the T@B and microwave both work great. I do remove the battery from the smoke alarm prior to cooking inside because it is very sensitive in that small space. There are typically two to four options when it comes time for cooking and I use the T@B burners a lot! It's a breeze to clean, too. The outdoor shower is great for cleaning cast iron skillets, tools, etc. 

Tampakayaker

Coming from a PUP without a working stove we do our cooking outside of the T@B, and so far all of our camping has had electricity.

We have used a Keurig a couple times inside for our morning coffee.

We're still experimenting on what works best for us.  So far all of our trips have been with 2 daughters and a granddaughter so it's been different than just cooking for 2.

We've used a Foodi grill and an induction plate and they've worked decently.  We just purchased a 12 inch square electric skillet and we're going to use that instead of the Foodi.  The Foodi is big and heavy, and had to travel on the back seat of the truck.  The skillet fits under the bed in the T@B.

I have an older WeberQ grill and a Coleman Roadtrip grill (which has grill, griddle, and pot ring plates), but we haven't taken those with the T@B yet.  We used the Roadtrip with the PUP and it worked great.

So far all of our trips with the T@B have had us looking like the Beverly Hillbillies with tents, screen room, inflatable mattresses, bedding, etc to support the kids.

Mellow_Yellow

I just had my first boondocking trip and took along pre-frozen, reheatable dinners such as cabbage rolls and beef stew. I'll admit to really enjoying cooking while sitting on the bed to get the propane flame "just right" for reheating.

Tabulating

We do almost all of our cooking outside.  On either a Camp Chef two burner and oven combo unit and/or a Weber Go Anywhere charcoal grill. If the weather is bad, we usually just eat cold things like cereal or sandwiches.  We do boil water on the inside stove for use in a Wacaco Nanopress for espressos and we have made oatmeal inside.  The Camp Chef is very versatile and after some experimentation, it is easy to bake and cook as we do at home.

 

AirBoss

Protein breakfast (eggs, precooked meats and potatoes) and coffee (old fashion percolator) inside on stove, most dinners outdoors on Camp Chef or Hibachi grill. No heavy proteins inside (steak, fish, etc.). 10,000 miles to date and still smells new. 

Sharon_is_SAM

@AirBoss - I remember my parents using the old stainless steel plugin percolator, but my coffee days only date to the Mr. Coffee drip machines.  Should I try some percolator coffee?

AirBoss

@Sharon_is_SAM
LOL! Yes, I remember the old electric percolators very well. Fond memories of mom in the kitchen while I was taking on a bowl of Jets cereal and watching Touche Turtle and Dum Dum.


Yes, by all means. I do pack Cuisinart electric drip but this is my go to pot on the road:


Just have to watch it. Once it starts percing up throught the glass knob, turn down the gas to slow boil, otherwise it get a bit messy. Ask me how I know. And, it's entertaining! You can watch the color of the coffee change in teh glass knob and shut it down when you like.

Ah yes...nothing like a good cup of camp coffee! Been known to throw a wee bit o' whiskey in me cup as well...when the morn' is a bit nippy! 

dsfdogs

I started with 6 cup stove top percolator pictured above, even with filters inside the basket, coffee grounds still ended up in my coffee and the basket with grounds was messy to clean up. Now I just use the coffee pot portion to boil water for a pour over method. Faster and tidier. 

JPRoland

I have fond memories of a shiny Sunbeam percolator and Sunbeam toaster in our kitchen in Miami in 1958. I was eating Sugar Pops or Cream Of Wheat watching Sky King (brought to you by Nabisco) and The Lone Ranger. My wife and I purchased the very smallest Keurig, single serve coffee maker and it is slim enough to fit on the left side of the sink against the bathroom wall. We drop the plug down the hole in the back to the outlet down below and the cord is the perfect length. We just stow it in the cupboard below when traveling. 

AirBoss

@JPRoland...huge Sky King fan. Guess that's where it all started for me! Good get!

bergger

We use a combination of our hibachi, normal pans on the stove top and our omnia oven.  However I normally do at least one full meal and a night of cobbler in the dutch oven.  Cooking in a dutch oven is hard to beat and it is so easy.  

Denny16

The fanciest meal I ever fixed whilst camping was a full ham dinner (canned ham),  sweet potato’s, fres veggies, etc.  the ham was cooked in a 1940s camping oven on top a wood fire.
cheers

Tampakayaker

We christened our 12 inch electric skillet this past weekend.  Reheated pre cooked ribs, cooked breakfast sausage, then eggs.  Worked great, but of course you couldn't use it boondocking.

Mellow_Yellow

dsfdogs said:

I started with 6 cup stove top percolator pictured above, even with filters inside the basket, coffee grounds still ended up in my coffee and the basket with grounds was messy to clean up. Now I just use the coffee pot portion to boil water for a pour over method. Faster and tidier. 

I have a similar 4-cup model and use it without filters, no problem. The trick is to turn the heat to low as soon as it starts perking. Let it perk another 2 minutes, then turn off the burner and let it sit for 1 minute. The grounds are only an issue if you let it perk on high heat for too long or if you serve it before the basket has finished draining. 
The smell of perked coffee is divine! Takes me way back...
PS - Also use 'regular' grind coffee, like the old MJB brand. Not necessarily MJB, but ground like that

rcarlson1957

I don't if I can help it.  I cook outside unless the weather is really bad. I did use a small Weber Q grill at 1st but it seemed to have one setting - high and extremely high. Went and got a Eureka Ignite 2 burner gas stove (can actually simmer things now) and a 5lb LP tank (much smaller and dedicated it to the stove). I bring one nonstick frypan and saucepan which covers most any of our cooking needs (a lot of flexibility). I've found a grill kinds of limits things and this setup you end up cooking more like at home. Plus frying something in a pan is easier cleanup than on a grill to us. Plus if do have to use the inside stove nothing is really different. Also got a nice folding camp kitchen the folds up to just a little bigger than one of our camp chairs. Keep perishable food in indoor frig (load with frozen water bottles before go) and bring small cooler that comes in truck with us. Have a big ICECO powered cooler but seems to just be overkill most times and started leaving at home. Store dry goods in a plastic tub. We normally stay at state parks with electric and water and usually try to limit ourselves to 2 days of food when leave and buy local past that. As to what we bring - usually some steaks, chicken, pork or shrimp and salads. Eggs and bacon. Sometimes pasta and the little boil in bag potatoes. Try to portion so no leftovers (like split a steak between us). Normally have a tub with cookware, a tub with dry goods, the folding camp kitchen, gas stove and cooler out when cooking. It sounds like a hassle but I usually put everything in the truck bed with lockable hard tonneau cover at night except the camp kitchen and stove to ward off the raccoons. Started out like a lot of people do getting too many things that ended up not using. Now try to keep it simple. But...we are foodies and like to eat well and with COVID try to avoid restaurants. Pre COVID finding neat restaurants and cafes in small towns was fun. 

JPRoland

I am with you. We love to cook but are avoiding restaurants and fast food joints for a little longer. We are both foodies and between the campsite grill (charcoal), Napoleon gas grill, gas burners, a good cast iron skillet and a microwave we are able to cook anything. I'm not really able to make home-made bagels or bake a cake, but I'm not living in the T@B and we are not on super-long trips, yet. I just make a batch of home-made bagels before we head out and bring a vat of cream cheese. They freeze perfectly! And I'm proud to say that I make awesome New York bagels as good as any in Brooklyn! My daughter lives in Brooklyn Heights so when I'm there I compare bagels (pizza, too). You can't find a good bagel in Little Rock, so a Miami boy has to do what he has to do-learn how to make them myself! Here's the best bagel recipe and demonstration on the internet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrJ1zpJGrfA&t=14s