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Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:59 am

I'm interested in hearing from experienced westy campers as to how much cooking they actually do on the gas stoves in their westies. My old air cooled westies had a table that flipped up and extended outside through the sliding door - one put camp stove on it and cooked outside. Worked great - so I'm interested in hearing from people just how useful the gas stove is
Thanks
JC

Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:05 pm

I like to cook outdoors so I have a camp stove I store under my seat, along with a portable BBQ. I tried several models to find one that fit across the top of the heater cover and still let the seat close. I can see boiling water inside or similar non-smelling things, but I like to cook outdoors too.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:46 pm

We cook most everything outside on a Coleman propane stove. The inside stove is used mainly for toast or to boil water for coffee.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:52 pm

We use it all the time, that's what it's there for.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:53 pm

I use the inside stove. I'll start a pot of stew in the morning, which is how I get my lazy butt teenage son to stir out of bed. I'd cook outside, but on cold mornings, it makes sense to stay indoors until it warms up.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:56 pm

mightyart wrote:

We use it all the time, that's what it's there for.

Now that I'm in Texas and in Mightyart's backyard, I'm going camping with his family!

Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:08 pm

I cook both indoors and outdoors. The Westy stove is generally used for morning coffee (and if I fill the coffee pot the night before I can start it a-boilin' without getting out of the sack).

I'll cook meals inside if it's a quick and simple task or if I'm in a hurry or not setting up camp.

But if it's a multi-day campsite, I generally cook outside on a Coleman or the small butane stove I carry under the seat. I love to cook and large messy meals are best accomplished with multiple burners and lots of space. But I love having the stove inside, too.

As an aside, many years ago I was winter camping in S. Utah in my '67 splitty. It was well below freezing outside so I stayed inside to cook and made the mistake of boiling a pot of spaghetti water. I filled the interior of the bus with steam, which turned into condensed steam that rained on me in my sleeping bag until such time that it all froze and commenced snowing inside the van.

Don't do this.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:54 pm

I use the inside stove quite a little bit. But I also like to cook outside. Every time I go camping, I always bring along my Coleman 2 burner stove, as well as my BBQ. I fancy myself to be quite the chef, and tend to eat really well while on the road. I do try to avoid cooking anything really greasy or smelly on the stove inside.

Cheers!
-Jared

Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:12 pm

backcountrymedic wrote: I use the inside stove quite a little bit. But I also like to cook outside. Every time I go camping, I always bring along my Coleman 2 burner stove, as well as my BBQ. I fancy myself to be quite the chef, and tend to eat really well while on the road. I do try to avoid cooking anything really greasy or smelly on the stove inside.

Cheers!
-Jared
Ditto for me.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:19 pm

We use ours , but we also have the coleman 2 burner stove & grill. We like to have options on what we eat.

I would say we mainly use the stove for coffee in the morning.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:27 pm

We use both the Westy stove and a Century 2-burner. All depends on how many days and how many people are with us. Though I have to say that the Century is a great stove ... can really do the job at 12K BTU per burner. I usually bring a large propane tank and hook up with our 30" tri-outlet post ... screw in my lantern on top and connect the stove to one of the 2 side hook-ups. Mount the post to your picnic or cooking table and you're in business.

Here's a link if you're curious ... you can definitely get one one for less than what this site (Amazon) has it listed for. Plus given the one review, it seems this brand/model stinks. The one I have works great and there is no pressure drop-off whatsoever.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000E2FD8?smid=A3JP1DNK62GHI9&tag=dealtime-sg-ret-20&linkCode=asn

Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:47 pm

When I'm on the road I use the stove all the time for every meal, I love my stove! I also use the fridge and the sink (mostly for hand washing)

Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:59 pm

Quote: ... many years ago I was winter camping in S. Utah in my '67 splitty. It was well below freezing outside so I stayed inside to cook and made the mistake of boiling a pot of spaghetti water. I filled the interior of the bus with steam, which turned into condensed steam that rained on me in my sleeping bag until such time that it all froze and commenced snowing inside the van.
Don't do this
That's the most 'laugh out loud' funny thing I've read in the forum in a dog's age...

Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:04 pm

I alway use the indoor stove for coffee and hot breakfasts. Dinner is usually cooked outside on my Magma BBQ(I love to BBQ!!!) and/or on the fire.

Here is one of my favorite camping dinners, short ribs!

Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:55 pm

Rhino,

Which model Magma is that ? That is a cool setup. Also what model is the clip that attaches it to the side of the van?

Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:10 pm

beagling wrote: Rhino,

Which model Magma is that ? That is a cool setup. Also what model is the clip that attaches it to the side of the van?
http://www.magmaproducts.com/Products/Marine_Products/Gas_Barbeque_2/Gas_005/gas_005.html
http://www.magmaproducts.com/Products/Marine_Produ...5_240.html

Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:20 pm

I use the stove in my Westy all the time. Once in a while I will build a fire and put foldable grate over it and cook dinner outside, but most things get cooked inside since it is usually butt-cold out there in the mornings and after the sun goes down. I always crack open the sky-light when cooking to let the moiture and smoke out. Never had a problem with cooking smells in the van. Making a pot of coffee on the Westy stove out in the middle of nowhere is one of the great joys in life.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:39 pm

tortuga wrote: We cook most everything outside on a Coleman propane stove. The inside stove is used mainly for toast or to boil water for coffee.

Pretty much same here, We are pretty lucky to have a few VW camper nuts on this coast of FL that like to camp-ALOT so we get together almost monthly and camp/caravan somewhere. This means we do alot of Group meals so most everything is done outside, we grill just about everything anyway.

We do soups, boil water etc.. inside, but no real cooking in there, I'm to dam messy for that!
\
now if you'll excuse me, gotta get ready as we are all going camping/boating this weekend 8)

Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:50 pm

Perales wrote: beagling wrote: Rhino,

Which model Magma is that ? That is a cool setup. Also what model is the clip that attaches it to the side of the van?
http://www.magmaproducts.com/Products/Marine_Products/Gas_Barbeque_2/Gas_005/gas_005.html
http://www.magmaproducts.com/Products/Marine_Produ...5_240.html

Thanks for posting the links Perales.

***begin edit***
I purchased mine from West Marine. There are a couple of options. One has ceramic brickets for more even distribution of heat and less flare ups. I have the one that converts into a stove. It's nice, but sometimes I think the one with ceramic brickets would have been the better choice.
***end edit***

Beagling, check out this thread as well http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2504950#2504950
It talks about tapping into the "house" propane tank for gas grills. This is one of my many projects next spring. That and doing a Suby engine transplant.

Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:10 pm

Thanks for the great info. I have a West Marine in town and will go blow some cash this weekend. javascript:emoticon(':P')