New to caravan cooking - ideas please!

[LizziePope]

Amazing work, Parksy!

And in response to the original question about cooking in your van, we posted a query to our Facebook page and received several responses. Please click here.

 

[Lynnybobs]

Thanks everyone for your replies - I now have some great ideas and feel confident that I will be able to cook all my usual favourites so we are not living off pub meals and tinned offerings
Parksy - I have to congratulate you on your amazing achievement - you look like a different person - brilliant !

 

[emilyrae1]

With the equipment in modern caravans anything you cook at home can be done in the van, as a retired chef the only thing I would advise buying would be a temperature probe. As for the Cadac I have cooked a full chicken and baked bread without difficulty, although depending on the size of the chicken you might be better spatch cocking that, but anything goes.

 

[Hutch]

I have cooked a chicken, about 2 kilo, in / on the cadac, using the piella dish as its concave and allows the bird to sit a bit lower from the lid.
Hutch

 

[crazyguider]

Wow, Parksy, you look fabulous - well done!

 

[Parksy]

Thanks, that's very kind of you CG and everyone else who commented. I feel much better than I did when I was lugging an extra 7+ stones around and if I can do it, anybody can ! :cheer:

 

[KeefySher]

We cook inside in the winter, up to and including a full Xmas dinner. We obtained a second shelf for the oven as it only came with 1.

If on EHU we use the microwave in addition to the oven.

Weather permitting, and in the warmer months we cook outside on the Cadac. Never clean it, just do dinner one night, breakfast the following morning.

We have curry in a box on Friday evenings, at home or in the caravan. Get the box from Sainsbugs or M&S, put in the oven, job done.

With Xmas dinner and roast dinners we use foil trays with the meat in one, cover in foil, once finished, throw away. Same with spuds and veggies. Simple.

We buy meat in bulk and freeze at home, bagged into meal size ziplock bags; fill the caravan freezer with sufficient to make meals whilst away.

Having been brought up on Vesta curry and Fray Bentos pie in a tin as a kid in parents caravan, we take the effort to eat well when in the caravan.

 

[saint-spoon]

Your imagination is the limit to be honest. As a tent camper for many years I drew admiring glances (perhaps even jealous ones) from our neighbours when I knocked up a curry on the barby. Or sat with my wok over charcoal banging out a stirfry of one form or another. I try and cook outside as much as I can and have a fishing umbrella under which I can shelter if need be. As a recent convert to the cadac from a charcoal barbeque I can see almost limitless possibilities and have already conquered the obvious full English breakfast, toasties, barbeque style food and so on. I think that with a little prior planning I will get fried rice, chowmein and other stir fries cracked, spatchcock chickens sorted amongst other ideas I have. There is also nothing wrong in my opinion with reheating preprepared meals such as steak and kidney; my parents used to regularly serve up a Sunday lunch in our ancient 1972 six berth cavalier (with glass windows), obviously it wasn’t ancient at the time but it was pretty basic by the modern standard. Mum used to cook the meat at home and warm it through in gravy in the tiny oven and we’d have it with boiled potatoes and vegetables. I remember the funny saucepans, there were three of them that sat on a single burner, each shaped like the saucepan had been cut into thirds. Saying that we have used our oven and hob in the caravan and find it perfectly adequate but I expect that as the days lengthen and the evenings warm outside will be where it is at with our camping.

 

[Hutch]

Well after having a good week, and losing 3 lbs, we got anothe SW recipe book and decided to try Turkey meatballs with Creole sauce tomatoe? Passata, , peppers, celery, onions and good lady threw in some mushrooms, Fantastic, it will be one of our easy favourites for the winter in the van, 20 minutes either in a pan ot casserole dish in the oven .Hutch.