Field Kitchen

[renodesertfox]

Howdy,

Here is our field kitchen, both on site and in the jeep. Our transport is called "old red" and unlike Zorro's horse or Roy Rogers', if I whistle she won't move a muscle! She is a 2001 Grand Cherokee(limited edition) with under 60,000 miles and we only take her out to go camping. Anyway, it's the kitchen I wanted to talk about. The kitchen was also made possible from Wal-Mart and cost under $20 to purchase. Organization is the key! Every item we take has a spot in the kitchen and if you take something out, you best be sure to put it back where you got if from or I'll beat you up with a kayak paddle. Ever been beat by a kayak paddle? By the way, "old red" is paid for and I used her while I was working as a shuttle for my camera stuff. Sometime I still do a wedding or two, if I'm in the mood but my fee starts at $800 just to show up and that doesn't include me taking any photos, all that is extra!

[Bigdog57]

Nice 'kitchen'.....! Y'all must eat well.

[renodesertfox]

Field Kitchen

Howdy BigDog,

Thanks for commenting, yes, your right we do eat good. Both Paula & I love to cook.

[nearlywild]

What do you guys think of these for use as a chuck box? I've only been camping 3 times and I'm already tired of digging through our kitchen box(Rubbermaid).

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-059000...837847&sr=1-11

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Consum...8837795&sr=1-1

[Bigdog57]

I like the "Stanley Consumer Storage 020800R FatMax 4-in1 " - interesting concept! I can see making a light-weight work surface to fit on the opened lid, with a folding paper towel holder mounted on top of the lid and hanging underneath when deployed! Maybe with a couple extra bracing rods, the opened top lid could contain a light Coleman flat 2-burner propane campstove? Have an extended hose to a 20lb tank - or RDF's light-weight plastic propane tank!
Hmmm..... yep, the old grey matter is working on this one. I like it!!

[Rob22315]

Nice setup.

We got one of the pricey REI camp kitchens with the two prep surfaces and central platform for the stove. Great to use when we feel like hauling it around but the big deal for us is to have something to get the stove off the picnic table. We finally settled on the $25 high stand from coleman. There's a $40 version available at wally-mart if you want a paper towel holder and lantern hook.

The rest of our stuff is either in the cooler (perishable food), in bags (non-perishable food), or in a Kelty Binto Hauler 2 (kitchen gadets and cooking/eating gear).

[Smokey Mtn. Camper]

Nice setup Reno. How do you "bear proof" when using that system? I use the Coleman kitchen, the small one. I think I may have a pic I can post but it really serves us well. It keeps all my cooking gear organized and when packed, it is 5 inches deep...about 30 inches long and 12 inches wide. Its one of my favorite camping gadgets.

The reason I am building a Teardrop is so I can have a galley to end all galleys and when I bear proof, all I have to do is close and lock the hatch of my Tear. I still keep all perishables in our "food" cooler and all my dry goods in a foot locker. Keeps us pretty organized and all I have to do is place both coolers and the foot locker of dry goods into the back seat of my truck and Iam gold.

Its always a bit of a hassle when you have to bear proof whenever you leave camp but its not that bad. We enjoy the interaction with the bears in the wild among other critters so any extra effort to keep both the bears and my family safe is worth it.

Reno, give me the lowdown on your bear proof methods. Maybe it is as si mple as sitting in the back of your Vehicle or you may choose to use the provided bear proof cages to store your food. I am curious as to what you do. The Bear proof boxes in the Smokeys are not feasable for us and the lil kids eating habits.

[renodesertfox]

Thanks Smokey...the only Grizzly Bear you'll find in the Sierras is the one on the California State Flag or in zoos. Ha Ha! Usually if if camp in an organized setting bear boxes are provided and our two drawer rubbermaid system fits along with our Cabela lockable cooler. If I campin' primitive...at night everything goes into the jeep's cargo hold. We are very organized when it comes to camping. We have our gear just for camping...I don't inter-change our household kitchen stuff with our camping stuff. After every meal cooked on the Big Gas Grill it really takes a little time to clean up messes if we have any. As soon as the meal is consumed we wash dishes, immediately. It's really easy too if you take some time to prepare basics at home and then just warm your meals on site. That's how we do it. It didn't take us long to decide to get organized, but I took measurements in the jeep cargo hold and then bought what we need from Wal-mart. Every couple of years I might get a larger or smaller size of storage drawer depending on how much room I want for other stuff. If I take more camera gear and fishin gear then I'll take smaller drawers. It's good to be flexible and I can tailor the jeep to the campin experience I'm plannin for. Besides the drawers from Wal-mart aren't that expensive. Hope this helps.