Gourmet meals.

[Barriesimpson]

I love cooking and prepare all the meals at home. We love good food and I'm wondering if I will be able to prepare proper meals in the van. Barbeque is always an option, but does anyone here prepare gourmet style meals on their travels or is that not really possible? I will have an air fryer (portable convection oven - doesn't fry anything) 2 ring gas hob and maybe the Instant Pot pressure cooker (depending on the payload). Please tell me some of you do real cooking while out and about.

 

[Spriddler]

Many do. Full Sunday roasts, cakes, bread etc. I don't as I CBA'd with the washing up. You've just not been around here for long enough to see the posts and photos.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

But can you do toast in your van?
Nothing like a tin of Aldi gourmet beans on toast.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

We always cook the same meals as at home, obviously Dometic ovens are crap so you have to double the cooking time we have a Remoska, air fryer and Weber BBQ on board so can cook anything with these.

We do take a few ready meals for emergency just in case we get back to the van a bit late
Stir fry is an easy one to do

 

[Ven]

I guess it depends what your definition of gourmet is. With our oven and 4 rings - I have cooked everything that I would at home, it’s just a case of working out how your oven cooks and adjusting times accordingly and being organised as far as mess and limited workspace is concerned.

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[Gina M]

I tend to pre cook a few pasta bakes at home and take them with us these days then just pop in the Remoska to reheat in the van.

 

[TinaLes]

We don't use proper sites much any more, so no EHU no Inverter, so no 240V for cooking appliances.
If you google one pot meals, its amazing what you can find, even if you end up using two pans on the hob.
If you have a BBQ whole chickens & meat joints are great , or a Gas Burner Ring, even better, as you can then do stir fries, curries, whole fish, steaks etc, without fogging up the inside of the van.
I do all the veg prep work inside the van, place in separate bowls to add to the wok or pan at the appropriate time to cook evenly.
Happy Cooking to all.
LES

 

[Hedgewitch]

Yes, with enough time and effort you can cook just about anything in a van.

But I would ask the question why the heck do you want to?

If you want everything in your van to be the same as when you are at home I feel you might be missing the point. I appreciate that for health reasons it is important to some people to have no change in their eating habits, especially if you have allergies or intolerances, but TBH I love the simplicity that van eating brings.

 

[Barriesimpson]

Yes, with enough time and effort you can cook just about anything in a van.

But I would ask the question why the heck do you want to?

If you want everything in your van to be the same as when you are at home I feel you might be missing the point. I appreciate that for health reasons it is important to some people to have no change in their eating habits, especially if you have allergies or intolerances, but TBH I love the simplicity that van eating brings.

Yes, I understand what you are saying but we live to eat and need our good food. Has nothing to do with health reasons, just pure enjoyment.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

We often have homemade faggets, chips, and onion gravy . LOL

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[Gina M]

I used to cook everything from scratch in the van but now I go for tray bakes or one pot meals if I do cook. I have tons of recipes where I can just put everything meat, veg, spuds etc. into a disposable foil tray.

 

[ChrisL]

I'm full time now but pretty much cook the same meals i used to cook when I lived in bricks and mortar, except for baking bread and making pizza bases, and the reason is flour gets everywhere, so I don’t bake but otherwise it's all good, the only other thing is I do my prep first and put all ingredients into tupperware containers, so once cooking everything is ready to go.

 

[Chrisvh]

We really only tour in Europe. Foodie heaven! We wander around local markets and pick up the local delicacies. Farmers markets are a must as are fish markets. I love to cook and attempt new dishes. Not always with great success, but it is always edible. I don’t sauté or cook fish in the MH. I would highly recommend some form of extractor. We have a Maxxfan mounted over the galley and it helps a lot.
If you have an oven check the temperatures with an accurate thermometer. Certainly the Dometic oven thermostat is wildly inaccurate.
Carry decent kitchen knives and a sharpener. Also ensure you have a decent chopping surface. There are some decent folding options. I do as much cooking outside the MH on a BBQ. A few decent BBQ rubs and marinades are well carrying. As are decent dried herbs and spices. Not too much as it is a real pleasure to buy fantastic fresh herbs in local markets. Also a bottle of good olive oil, definitely not for cooking, is perfect for dressing a salad or drizzling on pasta.
A tip I picked up from DBK on here is a decent size lidded saucepan. We have the Tefal Ingenio set which is great. Deals come along frequently and are often posted on here. Kilo of mussels. Splash of wine or cider. Garlic and a shallot plus parsley. 15 minutes and you have a delicious Moules Mariniere.
If you can store decent wine glasses they will always make a good wine that bit better.
We also plan to visit a few, very decent, restaurants when away. Prices in Europe are very much less than the UK. 50% or less is quite common. Fantastic for sampling local produce and getting a few ideas. We have always found the chefs generous with recipes and advice.

 

[royandsharont]

I cook everything, and try to do it all from fresh meat fish & veg but you will soon learn there are lots of restrictions. Here are a few, and some makes of van are worse than others.
Oven small, only 1 shelf and next to useless so cooking time is like forever. U.K. built vans are normally slightly bigger.
No microwave
Only 2 small gas rings so reduced pan size needed
Limited storage space for pan assortment and cooking utensils
Single ring induction hob often means one pan meals
Restricted food storage space so less ready ingredients available
Less fridge and freezer space
Lack of work surface
Lack of sink capacity
No extractor fan
Low electric power supply, if you have EHU, it’s the equivalent to your one kitchen wall socket at home really, or much less.
Soft furnishing all around your cooking area in the van so I try to cook outside, but weather can prove problematic
Payload greatly reduces extras like kitchen tent, workstation, outside gas rings etc
Huge risks cooking in the van compared to a house kitchen
The list could go on
So all in all cooking, like at home, is a real challenge and I feel nothing like it at all. I can and do cook a meal at home utilising at the same time a 4 ring hob, microwave, large oven on 200C and an air fryer. There is no way you can do that in a van that I have ever come across so your hot meals have to be of a well adjusted type

 

[Barriesimpson]

We really only tour in Europe. Foodie heaven! We wander around local markets and pick up the local delicacies. Farmers markets are a must as are fish markets. I love to cook and attempt new dishes. Not always with great success, but it is always edible. I don’t sauté or cook fish in the MH. I would highly recommend some form of extractor. We have a Maxxfan mounted over the galley and it helps a lot.
If you have an oven check the temperatures with an accurate thermometer. Certainly the Dometic oven thermostat is wildly inaccurate.
Carry decent kitchen knives and a sharpener. Also ensure you have a decent chopping surface. There are some decent folding options. I do as much cooking outside the MH on a BBQ. A few decent BBQ rubs and marinades are well carrying. As are decent dried herbs and spices. Not too much as it is a real pleasure to buy fantastic fresh herbs in local markets. Also a bottle of good olive oil, definitely not for cooking, is perfect for dressing a salad or drizzling on pasta.
A tip I picked up from DBK on here is a decent size lidded saucepan. We have the Tefal Ingenio set which is great. Deals come along frequently and are often posted on here. Kilo of mussels. Splash of wine or cider. Garlic and a shallot plus parsley. 15 minutes and you have a delicious Moules Mariniere.
If you can store decent wine glasses they will always make a good wine that bit better.
We also plan to visit a few, very decent, restaurants when away. Prices in Europe are very much less than the UK. 50% or less is quite common. Fantastic for sampling local produce and getting a few ideas. We have always found the chefs generous with recipes and advice.

Excellent advice, more or less what I was thinking. Thank you for your input.

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[Barriesimpson]

I cook everything, and try to do it all from fresh meat fish & veg but you will soon learn there are lots of restrictions. Here are a few, and some makes of van are worse than others.
Oven small, only 1 shelf and next to useless so cooking time is like forever. U.K. built vans are normally slightly bigger.
No microwave
Only 2 small gas rings so reduced pan size needed
Limited storage space for pan assortment and cooking utensils
Single ring induction hob often means one pan meals
Restricted food storage space so less ready ingredients available
Less fridge and freezer space
Lack of work surface
Lack of sink capacity
No extractor fan
Low electric power supply, if you have EHU, it’s the equivalent to your one kitchen wall socket at home really, or much less.
Soft furnishing all around your cooking area in the van so I try to cook outside, but weather can prove problematic
Payload greatly reduces extras like kitchen tent, workstation, outside gas rings etc
Huge risks cooking in the van compared to a house kitchen
The list could go on
So all in all cooking, like at home, is a real challenge and I feel nothing like it at all. I can and do cook a meal at home utilising at the same time a 4 ring hob, microwave, large oven on 200C and an air fryer. There is no way you can do that in a van that I have ever come across so your hot meals have to be of a well adjusted type

Thank you for that, I'll see how it goes. Still don't have the van yet, hopefully only one more week to go. We will then spend a couple of months here to get used to the 'new life' and learn all we need (that never really happens). Then in September we travel up through Europe.

 

[hja]

we have just two burner hob. When we swapped van we "lost" the oven, grill and microwave. Prior to purchasing current van we thought long and hard about what we cooked and whether we would be able to manage. We realised that we largely only used two burners anyway. Toast we dry fry in a heavy frying pan. We cook from scratch and rarely have a meal out. we do fine. I have a file of recipes that i use. We are more and more of grid so I cant use my remoska much, but that is useful when on hook up both for meals (does a really good yorkshire pud) and bread baking.

 

[Burgo]

We have a 3 ring dometic hob inside, a remoska, a cadac safari with my lava rock hack we plug into an external gas connection and a lidl worktop size plug in oven with rotisserie we keep in the garage but put on a dma table outside or under the van if it's raining.

With this we've enjoyed suckling pig to dorado fillets with red pepper sauce, full traditional roasts with choice of stuffings and Yorkshire puds to chicken chettinad with dhall and home made naans, jerk chicken to retinto steaks with sautéed potatoes and a mustard sauce.
All you need is good quality pans, good quality knives, the right attitude and the freshest ingredients from the market.

 

[Barriesimpson]

You're one of mine it seems, thank you.

Eres uno de los míos, gracias por la aportación.

 

[Just smiffy]

Listen…. Me pouring hot water over instant noodles is gourmet…..

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[TinaLes]

I would be lost without my Tefal Glass Lid deep 28/30mm Sauté Pans both at home or especially in the van. We have plenty of storage space so we dont need the ones with removable handles, but these would be 1st choice if needed.
10 years plus of using Tefal Saute Pans, still only on my 2nd at home, New one in the van, fabulous things, used them for most meals over the years.
LES

 

[davidbaldam]

I too love cooking and do all ours at home and away, really love to get in the markets and shops while away but always have a few home made dishes in the freezer in the Van.

 

[Soycd]

Space is a big factor and number of people and the weather. I think with your motorhome your kitchen area is a lot better than say a PVC, like we have. It's not just the cooking though its the washing up, prep, etc. I'm happier cooking outside but that is not always easy, especially in UK. We tend to take a few thinks like a chilli, bolognese etc with us frozen (in uk) as to be honest the eating out choice is not brilliant. In Europe we do tend to eat out more just for the sake of sampling different things.

 

[Jane NotRog]

We love our food, but only have a 2 ring hob in the van. We’re often not attached to EHU so our cooking extras are:

this BBQ - which is a portable grill / smoker so we can also smoke & roast larger bits of meat. We’ve done lamb shoulder, whole chickens…

This stove-top oven with a non-stick inside piece - great for oven chips and heating rolls. Theoretically you can bake, cook lasagnes, etc.

New this year, and unused until it gets warm enough to cook outside - this gas burner, mostly for making side dishes in a pan outside while we BBQ.

We like our Tefal Ingenio pans which stack, have removable handles and have extra sealable lids so work as storage too.

Another thing to consider is what foodie bits and bobs add the most to your cooking. This time we’re adding njuda and kochuchang which can be great in anything from a pasta sauce to the bbq.

 

[Mr porky]

We are lucky in that we have 3 fa's hob rings, a air fryer, a remoska and a inbuilt oven (oven takes ages to cook anything though) and a outside gas barbecue.
We also travel in the motorhome for about 9 months a year so I can basically cook anything as we would miss out if I couldn't.
The air fryer is new to me but its a godsend, we fitted lithium battery's a year ago and that also just helps.

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[Lenny HB]

Not exactly gourmet but we nearly always cook fresh food rarely have ready meals. Use a small pressure cooker for stews, bourguignon, stroganoff, rice pud etc., even managed a cheese souffle in a TecTower oven.

New van we picked up this week hasn't got an oven so I've just spent 3k on Lithium batteries and other gear so we can run loads of electrical stuff, looking at one of the oven type air fryers as we don't use sites or EHU.

 

[DBK]

Using the magic of Google Photos and searching for "plate of food" here's a sample of what we eat. We do have a grill and oven. When somewhere hot lunch is invariably some sort of salad.

 

[Lenny HB]

Using the magic of Google Photos and searching for "plate of food" here's a sample of what we eat. We do have a grill and oven. When somewhere hot lunch is invariably some sort of salad.


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I'm waiting for the photos on your next trip John.

 

[DBK]

I'm waiting for the photos on your next trip John.

It will be from France - where you can't beat the tomato selection. Spain runs it close but I think France just pips it.

Market stall

Supermarket

 

[Barriesimpson]

Using the magic of Google Photos and searching for "plate of food" here's a sample of what we eat. We do have a grill and oven. When somewhere hot lunch is invariably some sort of salad.


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Nice, great pics. Thank you.