In my recent blog, Camper Comforts I promised to share what I’ve learned about how to stock a camper room by room; what’s obvious, what you may not have thought of and why you need it.

I’m starting with the kitchen because food is essential to survival. So is the equipment you’ll need in order to prepare it.

Case in point: When I first moved into my own apartment –sans roommates— I thought I was prepared. After all, I’d been living on my own for a few years. First time I went to make a tuna sandwich for lunch I discovered I had no can opener.

So, here’s a list of kitchen equipment you’ll want to stock in your camper:

Electric coffee pot and coffee bodum –if you’re like me and need your coffee in the morning you don’t want to be caught without it just because your camp site doesn’t offer electricity. A bodum also doubles as a teapot if that’s yer thing. Best to have both on hand.

Toaster –we have both an electric toaster and a camp toaster.

Two fry pans –unless you want your bacon to get cold while your cooking your eggs.

Three nesting cook pots, with lids –same idea as the fry pans; if you’re cooking more than one thing you’ll want to do it at the same time. It’s also nice to have different sizes. I often make eggs Bennedict for breakfast when we camp. The small pot is perfect for cooking the Hollandaise sauce.

Portable BBQ and BBQ utensil set –you are camping after all and not all sites offer a BBQ. We like to go big, but pick yer own size.

Small aluminum roasting pan­ –this can fit in the oven and can also be used on the BBQ, depending on its size.

Aluminum foil –baked potatoes anyone?

Cutting Board –make it wood and wash it with a clean, hot, soap-free cloth. The tannins in the wood will kill the bacteria. And, if you’re ever desperate for firewood, you can always burn it…

More utensils that you think you need!!–can opener (please, please don’t be caught without one!), scissors, corkscrew, tongs, spatulas, slotted spoon, cheese grater (the flat kind), whisk, measuring cups (for dry and wet ingredients –how else are you gonna make pancakes from a box?) measuring spoons (same deal), steak knives (and regular knives, forks, spoons of course) and skewers (I like BBQing souvlaki, but they’re just plain handy to have ‘cause you never know when you might need a pointy “stick”).

Dish rack, dish soap & (optional) dish gloves –this should probably be in my upcoming Camper Housekeeping blog, but whatever. You’ll probably have to get your dish rack from a camper supply store –unless you have lots of storage and counter space and don’t care if it fits in the sink.

Paper towel –for draining the bacon and drying the lettuce.

Paper towel holder –ours is upright and secured to our counter top. This way we can use an elastic band around the paper towel roll to keep the paper towel in place.

Plastic serving bowls, platters etc. –aside from being able to serve dinner outside we’re snackers and I like to have bowls and platters to put food out for the masses. If you choose Tupperware (or its equivalent) it also doubles nicely for leftover food storage.

Dishware; dinner and sandwich plates, cereal bowls, coffee mugs, drinking glasses –we use both plastic and corelle because it doesn’t (usually) break. We also like to have paper plates (and plastic cutlery) on hand for those times when we have no water hookup and our own water is too low to waste on doing extra dishes.

Mesh food domes –I don’t feed wasps and flies…

Plastic wrap, large & small storage bags –for leftovers of course.

So that’s it for this part of the kitchen. Next blog I’ll cover food staples. Again, some will be obvious but others may surprise you. And, if you think I’ve missed anything in the kitchen equipment department, let me know.

~Trina

You can download a FREE printable PDF of this list by clicking here >>> KitchenCamperComforts-Checklist