Another Wee Caravan Enters the Market

[fenman]

Well I am a simple man and of few talents in the kitchen, so two rings are more than enough for my cuisine. As for ovens CyberCynth I have only ever used one and that was only once on our first trip away in our first new caravan over an Easter weekend. Most have become expensive bread bins. Same goes for the shower, used it once, didn't like having to wipe it all down and dry it off and then there was the fear of damp. I rather use the site showers and get a decent flow of hot water.
I think and I can only say for myself, that after all the years I have been camping in its many forms, 57 this year, the simpler it is, the better it is. I am not a gadget man, I don't like things being built in and certainly not fond of all these electrical setups that people desperately need these days to enjoy themselves. Am i some sort of luddite, probably, give me a book and a radio and I am happy man.

[CyberCynth]

Well I am a simple man and of few talents in the kitchen, so two rings are more than enough for my cuisine. As for ovens CyberCynth I have only ever used one and that was only once on our first trip away in our first new caravan over an Easter weekend. Most have become expensive bread bins. Same goes for the shower, used it once, didn't like having to wipe it all down and dry it off and then there was the fear of damp. I rather use the site showers and get a decent flow of hot water.
I think and I can only say for myself, that after all the years I have been camping in its many forms, 57 this year, the simpler it is, the better it is. I am not a gadget man, I don't like things being built in and certainly not fond of all these electrical setups that people desperately need these days to enjoy themselves. Am i some sort of luddite, probably, give me a book and a radio and I am happy man.

Aaah, you an' me both fenman ...... Kindred spirits, you and I. Radio? Wonderful invention. Mine is a solar powered/wind-up jobbie, which I will be taking with me on my EHU-free short break this weekend. A caravan shower? We had one in the big Elddis, and like you, never used it! You have been a caravanner/camper longer than me, I can only claim about 35 years in the hobby. Some friends persuaded a reluctant hubby and myself to try it, and we were completely smitten by it! I think it's lovely, now, that so many more people, savouring the delights of camping during the travel restrictions, seem to be equally smitten. From a purely selfish point of view it's a shame we're having to share our hobby with so many newcomers, but I'm so pleased that a new generation has discovered the simple pleasure of pitching a camping unit in a field, enjoying our beautiful British landscape and keeping their money in the home economy!
Cynthia

[fenman]

Eh when I were a lad I joined the boy scouts and my first camp was in a field next to a river near Holt in Wiltshire. My father gave me his old army sleeping bag which weighed as much as a big tent and had a wool lining, itched like mad. Cooked on open fires, washed and swam in the river and dug holes for you know what ! In those day we didn't have posh transport, we went in the back of a removal van, sat on the kit and tent bags and waved at passing cars from the tailgate. That first camp was brilliant and probably where I caught the bug. Of course now I need my comfort and prefer something more convenient all round but they were happy days.

[cammum]

I am quite happy with no oven in our Mini Silver. We will manage with our 2 gas hob rings and the 2 ring induction hob we got to keep gas use to the minimum. We also got a little low watt toaster. We grow veg in our little terraced house garden, where there will probably be lots to pick before we go away in July on the big trip. I will pack some into canvas bags and bring it with us.

We too like cooking and mostly find restaurants expensive and either not as good as we can do at home ourselves, or amazing but costing the same as our groceries bill for the week. So we rarely go, or if we do it is when we travel, but now we have the caravan that will be different.

We were thinking recently that we make many meals on 2 hob rings at home. I make lots of pasta dishes with a sauce filled with all sorts of veg, add some fish to the pan or put grated cheese on top and we have a meal. We can do the same with a curry and rice. We only eat meat about once a week, and that is often bolognase, no reason why we can't do that and put extra veg in the sauce. We could do some mixed veg with prawns, soya sauce and noodles. Or some chilli with beans and some kind of little bread on the side that we can fit in the toaster or warm in a pan, we can improvise. We're happy to eat toast or porridge for breakfast, or cereal. Lunch can be bread, cheese or tuna mayo and salad and fruit, which is what we tend to have at home anyway.

So I think we'll bring lots of pasta, some rice, tins of tomatoes and various types of tinned beans, tuna, mayonnaise, noodles, soya sauce, tins of coconut milk, various herbs and spices, olive oil. Some longlife breads that we can toast or warm in a pan or toaster like pitta, tortillas, naan or chapati will be good. And then lots of fruit and veg and packets of biscuits, nuts, crisps, chocolate, porridge oats and granola. Our fridge is a reasonable size and can store cheese, milk, fish/meat, eggs, butter, some veg and other bits and pieces. It even has a small freezer, we'll have to test that out and see how cold it stays.

We also got a little outside camping griddle, Kampa Griddle it's called, so that sounds fun for some outdoor cooking in nice weather. And we could potentially bring the induction hob for outside cooking too as it is a camping one.

And I nearly forgot the wine! There will be some of that too.

[cammum]

I wouldn’t say we couldn’t do without an oven in a van but we certainly found it useful and an added bonus. We love our food and liked to eat well in our camping days so the four gas rings and oven in an R30 was very useful.

Who needs to eat out when you can cook food like this in your van.

That looks like our kind of cooking! Although with only 2 hob rings and no oven we'll have to improvise a bit.

[Graham]

That looks like our kind of cooking! Although with only 2 hob rings and no oven we'll have to improvise a bit.

cammum All those things were done on two rings.

[Robin]

The shelf in my oven is under the bed and the oven is used for storing food. I use a microwave and a single induction hob and a toaster.
regards Robin

[Ian.C.S]

one of the first things we do with a new to us camper is to take out the battery from the smoky!

YES YES YES When we got the R25 it had a smoke alarm,it went off screaming in the middle of the night, I ripped it off the ceiling and threw it out of the window.