Anyone who knows us knows how much we like to cook. Well, actually, we like to eat. Our motto is "food makes you happy". And since we prefer to eat alone by the sea than in a restaurant, we usually cook ourselves on the road. Unless there is like in Cologne, the world's best sushi place around the corner. Here on this packing list we have summarized everything that is somehow related to cooking & eating:

Since we do not want to bore you with facts & figures, we have included links with the best deals. This can be at Camping Wagner or Bergfreunde. Or also times with Amazon. The Amazon links are with picture. The other links are highlighted in blue in the text. Just click on it and you will find all the information about the respective articles.

Ask yourself the following questions to help you decide:

What weather is there where you want to cook? What do you do when it rains? With wind?

Camping or wild camping?

Where do you drink your 1st coffee in the morning?

How many people do you want to feed or how large are the quantities you are cooking?

Because it makes little sense to want to cook outside when it is constantly raining on your tour. And an induction hotplate makes more sense when you're on shore power. And since we drink our coffee in bed in the morning, we definitely need a stove inside.

We currently use the Bright Spark gas stove in our SpaceCamper. We use it to make our coffee every morning. A mobile, lightweight 2 kW burner with simple, automatic piezo ignition and safety shut-off. Safe is safe. Is for us the best cooking solution inside for a very fair price.

The only drawback are the small butane gas cartridges, which are of course always empty when you just can not use it. And you only have one flame. Is therefore only conditionally suitable for a 3-course meal.

There are similar stoves from various other companies. Make sure that you can rotate the pot holder. Reduces the pack size immensely. For quick, uncomplicated grilling or bread toasting, if you do not feel like unpacking the big grill, there are this grill attachment.

Tip: It's often the little things that make the difference: A gas cross to this stove is important, because otherwise cups or the Bialetti milk frother do not fit on the pot holder. You can find them everywhere for little money. Just not in the city of Cologne, I've been looking for it for quite a long time.

For those who want an additional flame or as an alternative to the Bright Spark, we recommend a Trangia stove. Of course, also here the large version, we want to be full. Who this with gas and Spirit burner is prepared for all eventualities. Because not all fuels are always available everywhere in the world. Anyone who has ever wanted to fill the 'wrong' gas bottle abroad knows what I mean.

Outside comes our two-flame Primus Tupike STOVE - gas stove for use. We put it on the ground and use our storage box as a table next to it. Should you not need feet, you can use the cheaper Primus Kinjia Stove take. Both are equally powerful with 3000 watts, the Kinjia is another 500g lighter and 5cm flatter in pack size. Who wants can also choose the successor model in red: Primus Atle Cooker. However, this one is bigger and over a kilo heavier.

Everything you need about gas for these stoves, you will find below in the paragraph Gas

Pots, pans & Co

Involved from the very beginning is the Primus Campfire Large cooking pot set. Attention: The emphasis is on Large. We have no idea how you can get full with portions from the S-variant. It consists of 2 pots ( 1.8 & 3.0 l) with lid incl. Drainer and a frying pan with integrated handle made of sturdy stainless steel. Is with us for years in use and works great.

The GSI Halulite pressure cooker 2.7l: I was so skeptical at first and today I love this little pressure cooker so much that I can't imagine cooking in the van without it. I use it almost every day. Potatoes are cooked in max 15 minutes. Ours is actually too small for us, because you can only fill a pressure cooker to 2/3 and I like to cook larger quantities of goulash or soup. At the next opportunity we will replace it with this larger GSI Halulite pressure cooker with 5.7 liters exchange 

Petromax cast iron pan 30cm: The choice of a new pan I have not made easy. The requirements were high: It should be suitable for ALL eventualities, whether electricity, gas or campfire. So also be correspondingly robust, and of course nothing should bake. And it should also be easy to clean. After much research, I decided on a cast iron pan from Petromax. It's not a lightweight, but the egg-laying lollipop was unfortunately just out. And we are thrilled: absolutely nothing bakes on. The pan needs longer until it is really hot, cast halt. But it also keeps the heat much longer. I had to get used to the fact that I can turn off the gas earlier. Once you understand the principle, you can make wonderful stews with it. Or roast potatoes for a really long time. Anyone who has ever wintered in southern Europe knows how quickly it gets cold in the evening when the sun is gone. And how quickly the food then gets cold outside. That doesn't happen with this pan. Cleaning without detergent is also much easier than expected.

Important for us were always toast attachment & grill plates. The GSI collapsible toast attachment or Primus for gas stoves works great. The stainless steel mesh distributes the heat over the bread slices. Really a very good part. Whether from GSI or Primus, we have had very good experiences with both brands and there does not much in terms of price. However, we have found along the way that we do not eat bread in the morning. We rather put the bread at dinner with on the grill, ie on the Primus grill plate. Also works great.

Barbecue

Lotus Grill, including BBQ Teppanyaki and a bag of "smokeless" charcoal in "protective bag" - This even works.*.

The Lotus grill has now left us. Why? - We have found that the grill plates of our Primus KINJIA STOVE are absolutely sufficient for us. So we prefer to save space and weight. The Lotus Grill now makes a young Berlin family happy. This is called a win win situation. Apart from that it was great. Especially in combination with the grill plate. 

Who thinks Marc only wanted to make room for the Beefer?

Yes, you read that right, Marc really has the Beefer taken away:

The original, the best 800 degree top heat grill, made in germany in Linz near Bonn, with the best support I have ever seen. The guys love what they do. Turns every steak into a work of art. If you don't believe it, feel free to testbeef with us. With a little sensitivity and imagination go things that do not succeed so well on any other grill.

Marc: I don't know what there is to laugh about. Sure, a beefer isn't exactly part of the standard equipment of a van. Cheap copies are already available. But who wants that? You just have to set priorities. 

On our first tour, there was a deadline after three months. On that day, I asked myself what I was missing from our big apartment in Cologne. In the end, the Beefer remained. So now it's on board. For steaks, there is nothing better from my point of view. But also pizzas, casseroles & Co. turn out great and are simply delicious. Therefore, the Beefer pizza stone, tray lifter, burger grate and replacement gastro trays available in the accessories are also on board.

You can not yet imagine exactly how it works with the Beefer? Torgit was also skeptical at first and thought you could only make steaks with the Beefer. She was surprised when she saw the Beefer homepage recipes for fish, asparagus, meatballs, and even pizza and tarte flambée. So hooked, we then conjured up the most amazing dishes with the help of a Beefer cookbook. The Beefer has also proven itself at parties. Although the grilling area is much smaller, the waiting time for guests is shorter than with a normal grill because of the high heat.

Tip: For those who do not yet have their own Beefer, there is on the Beefer homepage a list of restaurants that use the Beefer.

Knife

In Cologne, we had knives from Güde for many years. The forged quality Made in Germany / Solingen convinces. We like the timeless, simple design Alpha Olive, with the olive wood handles. Even on the road we did not want to do without these professional knives, but have exchanged some knives for smaller ones. For example, we now have the bread knife X430/21. With a blade length of 21 cm, it is the longest of our knives and more than sufficient for the van. The larger version that we had before was just too big for the van.

Torgit's favorite knife is the all-purpose paring knife X703/06, with which she peels everything from fruit to onions. And her second favorite is the serrated tomato knife X464/13, which she uses to quickly chop everything with the small cutting board on her knees in the van. Marc swears by his all-purpose chef's knife "Santoku" X746/18.

Tableware - Plates & Cups

Ready for any eventuality: Falcon enamel plate, bowl and sieve. Supplemented by two personal enamel cups. Enamel is more sustainable than "plastic and elastics from Schkopau". And we do not trust the so "sustainable" dishes made of bamboo or coconut wood, due to possible pollutants. Stacked together, all the dishes fit well under our pot set and thus both then in the California kitchen cabinet and today in the SpaceCamper kitchen block. Meanwhile, a few bowls have quirks, but so they also fit us.

Coffee

We can hardly take our Rocket Mozzafiato portafilter and the Mazzer Mini grinder from our Cologne apartment into the van. So what to do? Because we don't want to do without good coffee. A friend recommends the Bialetti espresso maker, which we know from our student days. And what can I say? It's not only cult, the coffee tastes really delicious. There are many funny designs, we have chosen the Kitty stainless steel. First the small one for 6 cups or 300ml. Then when the question, "You don't want more coffee do you?" got a special undertone, we upgraded to the larger model for 12 cups. It's really amazing that this inexpensive solution can almost keep up with a good expensive portafilter in terms of taste. It's very easy to use: pour in water at the bottom, coffee powder in the sieve, put it on the gas and it's ready in no time. Just the bubbling as the fresh coffee rises to the top of the pot and the smell of fresh coffee wafts through the van makes hyggelig. In Cologne, it was almost a ritual in the morning to drink the 1st coffee in peace. Time for us. In good weather in the hammock in the garden, or otherwise in bed. The good weather was sometimes brought by sheepskin, bedding and hot water bottle in the hammock, because coffee outside always made us even happier.

What would be a good coffee without milk foam? Since the espresso maker from Bialetti is convincing, we also have the accompanying Tutto Crema milk frother from Bialetti. Black and chic, non-stick so nothing burns, and with double strainer insert for fast, creamy milk foam. And what can I say? Works great. Easy to use, easy to clean (by hand), perfect result. 

update: The milk frother from Bialetti worked great until the strainer insert was once too close to the gas stove. The new one from Silberthal is made of stainless steel without a non-stick coating and works even better than the old one because it has a spring. But you have to be a little more careful that the milk doesn't burn. I have linked you both. 

update from update: In the meantime, the milk frother from Silberthal has proven itself and we can highly recommend it. With the code SILBER5 there is 5% on everything at Silberthal.

The whole is complemented by a Porlex hand coffee grinder. The ceramic grinder is fun to use. I used to grind coffee by hand at my great-grandmother's house.

However, the salad spinner has left us again, although Marc thinks it's great. Torgit prefers to spin lettuce with the net. Saves space. According to the motto: Who uses it, decides.

And then there are the countless little things that don't cost much but make me happy along the way:

Like our foldable shopping box, for example. Take it to the supermarket, load it full in the shopping cart, and then just put it in the van. Due to the square measure it stands space-saving and super stable and does not tip over. We have the same shopping basket with cooling function.

Checklist alphabetical

Bread bag & vegetable net made of linen, no plastic

CutleryVilleroy & Boch Oscar accompanies us for over 10 years, now also on tour

Tins for muesli, nuts, seeds & Co.

Can opener, without sharp edges. Lid can be put back on

Bottle cap / cork for wine bottles, if you sometimes do not drink the whole bottle 😉

Tableware: cups, plates, cereal bowls, salad bowl & pasta strainer

Barbecue glove: never burn your fingers again, even on the Beefer!

Barbecue tongs from Rösle with ingenious closure system

Rubbers: normal small household rubbers

Hooks for everything possible and impossible

Cooking spoon & spatula: 2 pieces so we do not argue

Corkscrew / bottle opener: not a real Laguiole, but very good

Kitchen towels: 3 gray pit cloths, beautiful and practical

Net: Storage for fruit, vegetables, onion & garlic

Grater from Microplane for parmesan, ginger & Co. Not cheap, but never another!

Salad spinner (bowl, colander, or net) - We chose the net for space and weight reasons.

Salad servers

Salt & pepper mill: nothing works for us without

Scissors: Tupperware - One for life

Whisk: the short one, only 21cm long

Cutting board wood

Ladle: small and only 27cm short, then you just scheppt a ladle more, but saves space

Flush bottle: filled with water and a few drops of detergent. Rinse spray, wipe, is often enough ...

Sink bowl, foldable & dishwashing liquid, eco-friendly & sponge

Swiss army knife for all cases when you do not have a Sardinian shepherd knife

Bags: we have 2 ordinary white KEA bags with us, for laundromat or bulk shopping.

Drinking bottles, refillable - We avoid plastic as much as possible

Sharpening steel: there is nothing worse than dull knives

Toothpicks for roulades and dates in bacon

Magic Wand KitchenAid: a little luxury must be

Flush

Even though we have 170 liters of water on board, that doesn't mean we can flush like we do at home. For a quick rinse in between, our rinse bottle is enough. This is a spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of washing-up liquid. We use the biodegradable Ecover hand dishwashing liquid. Spray it in briefly, wipe it down, and you're done. Works well if you do it right away and nothing has dried up. Like, for example, quickly times the cup or the fruit knife.

When it's late at night and we don't feel like washing up (or because it's raining), and the tomato sauce or pumpkin soup has dried up really hard, I like to soak everything in the sea first. Without detergent. Works great. Depending on then briefly rinsed again the salt and ready. Sometimes it's even enough to let it dry and rub off the salt, like on the wooden boards.

Small tip: Make sure that you collect everything again when you rinse in the sea. I say that from experience. We have already driven 50 km back to the last spot because M. forgot the lid of our pressure cooker when rinsing in the sea.

Some things I generally rinse without detergent, that is our Bialetti espresso maker and the Petromax cast iron pan. The Bialetti I also never, never, never again rinse in the sea, after the once in too many waves sand got into the pot and it sulked for a week. If the cast iron pan is heavily encrusted, I first clean it roughly with the special Petromax ring cleaner. And then with hot water. Without detergent. I wonder today why I used to use so much detergent at home.

Garbage bags

Let's talk about trash bags for a minute. I think we all want to avoid plastic. We like the look of the black trash bags in our black trash can better, but the Biovative ones are biodegradable. So we make a compromise: there is always a Biovative bag at the back of the vehicle for the 'dirty' and 'smelly' garbage and only the 'clean' garbage goes into the black bag. You know what I mean. Then I can empty the black bag, and reuse the bag.

Tip: I would always have enough trash bags in stock. That sounds laughable now. But in Spain you could only buy perfumed garbage bags. And it's not funny when your whole van smells like that garbage perfume.

Food

We always have this basic food equipment on board:

Coffee Beans & Tea

Milk for Marc

Oat milk for torgite

Muesli or oatmeal

Nuts for muesli: almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts and walnuts

Seeds: sunflower seeds, linseed & chia seeds

Bread: packaged brown bread and crispbread for emergencies

Pasta, rice, potatoes, couscous

Beans & Lentils

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, SweetChiliChickenSauce

Onion, shallots, garlic, ginger

spices, coarse sea salt, broth, colored peppercorns

Our spice box is individually assembled: Stainless steel shaker with paprika, curry, salad herbs, smoked salt, organic broth and chili flakes. Our food varies by country, because not everything is always available everywhere and we also love to try the country's cuisine. Usually there are then other things that are at least as delicious. In Spain and Portugal we ate a lot of beans because they were fabulously delicious there. In Portugal, the vegetable broth was replaced by massa de pimento, which is salted paprika. In Italy we cook a lot with ricotta and of course eat more pizza & pasta. And depending on the temperature, we eat more salad in the summer, and more soup when it's cold. Regional is more sustainable anyway, right?

Hennes Finest - Kampot pepper

Since pepper has a special place in our kitchen, I dedicate him here a separate section. I (Marc) have already discovered Kampot pepper for me a few years ago. Playboy reported on a couple of guys from Cologne, who were so enthusiastic about Kampot pepper on a backpacking trip through Cambodia that they left the contents of their backpacks there to bring as much pepper as possible back to Germany. They then used it to set up a business in Cologne called Hennes Finest. Even on tour, I don't want to miss out on good pepper and even have my cast iron mortar with me. This way, the real Kampot pepper can develop its aroma in the best possible way. Hennes Finest stands for the highest quality, the production is sustainable & fair.

Gas when camping: Gas bottles ✓ Campingas ✓ Gas hose ✓ Gas smell ✓ Gas regulator

The topic of gas is simply part of camping. If you follow the applicable regulations, it is and remains a cost-effective, clean and safe permanent fuel. Speaking of regulations, we are campers and therefore ultimately laymen. Gas is a fuel and therefore to be used with a certain caution.

If you want to know what to look for in terms of safety and transport, we strongly recommend that you consult a professional.

An experienced camper gave us the following rules on the subject of gas odor:

• Do not panic
  Close gas bottle
• Open doors and windows
• Hands off electric switches
• Check the hoses, pressure reducer and especially the screw connections for leaks.
• Contact specialist

So here's info on what and why we have one or two things on the packing list:On our 1st tour we had a Campingaz bottle R 907 with us. This is standard in the VW California, so to speak. If this gas deposit bottle is empty, you exchange it at a CampingGaz dealer for a full one. Actually a prima system, if one finds a suitable dealer. But if you are constantly somewhere else, as we were, the constant search for a dealer was annoying. This Gampingaz page is helpful in this regard, but not always reliable.

That's why we bought a composite tank bottle 12.7 liters with OPD valve on the 2nd tour. We can fill this bottle at any LPG filling station. OPD stands for Overfill Prevention Device. The float stop valve automatically stops the filling process of LPG as soon as the maximum filling level of 80% is reached. Thanks to this automatic shutdown is an absolutely safe thing and refuel at any time. With a tare weight of only 3.58 kg, this bottle is lighter than aluminum or steel bottles. At 1st glance, this bottle seems expensive, but filling the bottle at LPG stations is much cheaper than Campingaz. Above all, this bottle offers three other advantages that money can hardly buy. It saves you time, money and nerves. Because during our search in France, Spain and Portugal we invested more time, fuel and nerves than we thought possible. Often there was not the suitable one or no bottles at all locally. We have this bottle directly through the company VOSKEN ordered.

However, LPG gas also has its pitfalls. To be able to refuel the cylinder at an LPG filling station, you need a corresponding adapter. These adapters are different in different countries. So much for EU standards. That's why we bought the adapter set for the EU countries. So far it works fine with the filling. Attention: The fact that you can do it does not mean that you are allowed to do it. You can also fill up your diesel vehicle with heating oil. Officially it is forbidden in Germany. And in various forums the club is brought out again. On the other hand, there are people who refuel even classic gas cylinders with obscure adapters. While we consider the filling of our LPG gas bottle with a tank stop to be uncritical, we would not fill a normal gas bottle either. If the gas station attendant fills my bottle, I won't object. Everyone should form his own opinion. So please again our warning. Attention! Forbidden in Germany, please do not imitate! 

1. Drehmeister LPG Adapter Set M10 long - Tank adapter with case - All Europe LPG adapters (we have in use)

2. Drehmeister tank adapter with integrated nipple for filling gas cylinders (11kg, 33kg) (use at your own risk)

GAGO gas regulator is used on our BEEFER.

4. campingaz safety bottle valve, is needed to connect the campingaz gas bottle R 907!

5. campingaz Regulator 50 mbar, 1 Kg/h - regulator/valve for small cylinder connection 

6. gas hose, so that between the cylinder valve and regulator a connection is made. Bluetooth did not yet exist. 😉

7. gampingaz bottle R 907, filled. Caution: there are also empties for sale. Especially if you drive a VW California, the first choice. For longer tours, we recommend a spare bottle.

8. Primus adapter, this connects the Primus gas grill to a German gas bottle, such as our LPG gas bottle.

9. WINOMO adapter, this connects the Primus gas grill with a small gas cartridge, such as the one from Kochmann.

10. gas cartridges, small, 227g for the Bright Spark. We are not a fan of this, but have not yet found a better solution.

11. primus filling adapter for lighters. Finally, a practical little helper. With this adapter you can refill your lighter.

12. you still have such a nice old ZIPPO storm lighter. However, if like me, you no longer like the smell of gasoline, there is this gas insert.

Note: Our packing list contains our personal product recommendations with so-called affiliate links. Don't worry: Nothing will change for you. The products will not become more expensive. If you buy something through one of these links, we get a small commission. It doesn't matter if you buy exactly the linked item or something else. In 2020, we have earned € 29.87 😉 Maybe we will still be rich. Since we live on our savings, you support our planBwagen and we can take you even longer on the road. A thousand thanks for that!