Cooking inside a Cargo Conversion

[JaggedEdges]

Exhaust hoods work wonders I find, more so than just close by fans/ventilation. If the heat and steam has any distance to travel it heat soaks all the mass it passes on the way.

Possibly worth a mention also, is that I know a number of people that are "inefficient" cooks, they're boiling anything, they'll just leave the burner on full blast, the pan open, instead of covering the pan and turning the burner down to simmer. In that situation, they're just spending extra fuel on evaporating water as steam, not getting anything cooked faster. Similarly until you want to crisp/brown off something in a frying pan, you can cover it on lower heat. Let these people cook in your trailer and you'd be using twice the propane and steaming it apart in the process.

[MTPockets]

A lot of great ideas here! I'm leaning towards the small sink setup and small counter area "just in case" I want to cook something inside should the need arise.

I like your outside shelf MtnDon, I may need to steal that little gem of an idea. Any chance of seeing a pic of the back of the shelf? I'm curious about the mount, what it is and where I might be able to find one like it. Also, what kind of fasteners did you use to mount the piece to the trailer? I assume bolts, nuts/washers? but we all know what happens when we assume

Thanks!

[DustinS]

This is my 6x12. I cook and bake in here. I do need to add a fan!

Just curious if you had more info on that stove setup? Is that a gas or electric RV stove? How does it do for simple cooking?

[MtnDon]

Any chance of seeing a pic of the back of the shelf? I'm curious about the mount, what it is and where I might be able to find one like it. Also, what kind of fasteners did you use to mount the piece to the trailer?

No sooner said than done! How about the catalog image from the vendor? It's from Vintage Trailer. Their ebay site.

The extruded aluminum pair looks like this....



The right hand piece attaches to the trailer wall, the left hand piece to the shelf. To mount the shelf, hook the top of the left piece over the top of the right hand piece. I fastened the rail to the steel wall ribs in two places and also with screws into a hardwood strip I glued in place on the inside of the aluminum body skin.

Then because it will only hold a certain amount of weight w/o some extra help I used a pair of folding brackets like these...


Amazon has them at a good price. I added some wood blocking to make them work and to spread the load out over more wall area.

FWIW, I also used a pair of those brackets for a folding shelf inside the CT. Makes for a handy shelf / table that folds down and out of the way when not needed.

[professorkx]

I struggled with this as well, but the "cook" had other ideas. So, installed a two burner stove top. No oven and no microwave, as we had these in other RVs and never used them. I have extra Formica, so will be building a cover for the top of stove so we get the counter back. Same for the sink, the "cook" wanted a sink. I didn't install a pee trap, so drains straight to the ground. Used a tall RV kitchen faucet, so I will have room to add a cover for this as well to reclaim the counter space when the sink isn't in use. I have a 4 gallon water jug under the sink for fresh water supply, but will eventually install tank under the rear. Jug works great, but don't want to carry extras. Here is my sink and stove top:



Even with Sandy working in the kitchen and the bed in the down position, still enough room for the foldout table and two chairs.

With that said, inside cooking is for inclement weather only, so we will be using the fire for cooking as long as the weather is clear.

Oh yes, we do not have a hot water supply, so will use solar shower bags hanging from the easy up and just shower in our swimsuits. We can always heat water and fill the bag with warm water so we don't have to wait for the sun to provide the energy...but kind of tough to take a shower outside when it's close to freezing temps....

[MTPockets]

Thanks MthDon! I will definitely be using this setup somewhere on the trailer.

Any chance of seeing a pic of the back of the shelf? I'm curious about the mount, what it is and where I might be able to find one like it. Also, what kind of fasteners did you use to mount the piece to the trailer?

No sooner said than done! How about the catalog image from the vendor? It's from Vintage Trailer. Their ebay site.

The extruded aluminum pair looks like this....



The right hand piece attaches to the trailer wall, the left hand piece to the shelf. To mount the shelf, hook the top of the left piece over the top of the right hand piece. I fastened the rail to the steel wall ribs in two places and also with screws into a hardwood strip I glued in place on the inside of the aluminum body skin.

Then because it will only hold a certain amount of weight w/o some extra help I used a pair of folding brackets like these...



Amazon has them at a good price. I added some wood blocking to make them work and to spread the load out over more wall area.

FWIW, I also used a pair of those brackets for a folding shelf inside the CT. Makes for a handy shelf / table that folds down and out of the way when not needed.

[lrrowe]

I too will be ordering these when it is time. From the research I have been doing for the past few years, this brackets seem to be the best for me. There are many applications where they can be used.

[Glenlivet]

We cook in the little 6 x 10 toy hauler. I like desertrat222's setup and some of the other ideas. Wow, professorkx sanitary work makes mine look like a kid's homemade fort. Well done.
My table flips up on locking hinges for prep work, flush with the stovetop. It's tight in that kitchen but it works.

[MTPockets]

Glenlivet,

I noticed your water jug stand, clever idea!

[Trailmate]

I wanted a cooktop inside. I initially decided upon propane and even ordered a Wedgewood 2 burner and I cut my countertop for it but after all the research I did (mostly on tntt) I changed my mind. Between the cost, the amount of work involved and the safety issues I decided to go with this. It's a Summit electric two burner. I have 30 amp service. If I had to pay retail I wouldn't have bought it because they are too expensive but I found one near new on ebay for 90 bucks. BTW, I sent the Wedgewood back to Amazon and their return policy was amazing. They arranged for a pickup by UPS and they paid for the shipping back. No questions asked. Full refund. Maybe I'll switch to propane someday but for now this is my indoor cooktop. I've got a Coleman two burner for cooking outdoors.

[hikrynut]

The wife and I discussed this same topic quite a bit as well. We had borrowed a scamp from a friend one weekend. Cooked bacon the first morning and the rest of the weekend it smelled like old bacon grease inside. So we decided on our cargo conversion to cook out side. But, we still wanted it to be accessible from inside as well for most of the reason discussed in this thread. Long story short, this is what we came up with.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1431984531.500034.jpg (82.71 KiB) Viewed 2899 times

With these doors on the inside to access the whole thing.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1431984466.401569.jpg (110.8 KiB) Viewed 2899 times

[professorkx]

The wife and I discussed this same topic quite a bit as well. We had borrowed a scamp from a friend one weekend. Cooked bacon the first morning and the rest of the weekend it smelled like old bacon grease inside. So we decided on our cargo conversion to cook out side. But, we still wanted it to be accessible from inside as well for most of the reason discussed in this thread. Long story short, this is what we came up with.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1431984466.401569.jpg

With these doors on the inside to access the whole thing.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1431984531.500034.jpg

Excellent work on the dual purpose kitchen!!

My wife mitigates things like cooking bacon, sausage, etc by cooking these ahead of time and then just heating them in a pan next to the pancakes. Not quite as tasty, but good enough for camping.

Hamburgers, sausage dogs and such always taste better when cooked over a fire, so we took the grill out of an old small $20 BBQ that took those little green bottles and use the grill over the fire propped on large rocks. We keep the grill inside a re-purposed twin size air mattress bag so we contain the grease to avoid getting anything else greasy. I take this grill on the dual sport motorcycle trips as well, as it's easier to use than the one burner backpack stove, but I make sure it's stored well away from my tent just in case any big cuddly bears are in the area.

I should also note that we own a Coleman two burner stove for those occasions when we have others camping with us, as I don't want my trailer to become cooking central for a big group, so totally understand not cooking inside the trailer. This strategy would have saved me about 120 hours of work building a kitchen for my wife...

[Spotman]

hikrynut is that side door custom ordered? Like very much your idea!.




Bob

[desertrat222]

speaking of cooking just tried out my $80.00 used range i picked up off the local classified and it cooked up my German pancakes nicely!

[Gonefishin]

speaking of cooking just tried out my $80.00 used range i picked up off the local classified and it cooked up my German pancakes nicely!

That's what I'm talking about!! Easy, no mess.