| What do you cook in your Westy, if at all? |
| I cook full meals, or at least maximize the galley when I travel. |
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69% |
[ 39 ] |
| I cook light things, like hot sandwhiches or hot cereals |
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16% |
[ 9 ] |
| I don't really cook much at all, maybe coffee or tea. |
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8% |
[ 5 ] |
| I rarely, if at all, use the galley for much of anything. |
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5% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 56 |
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Wasted youth
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2012
Posts: 5134
Location: California's Hot and Smoggy Central Valley
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 Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:10 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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When it really hit home for me was last October when I took the family through Yosemite Valley up and over Tioga Pass, a route I had never been. I promised the kids I would treat them to a nice hot lunch with all the goodies if they behaved all the way to the summit of the Tioga entrance, where I expected a turn-off, small lot or viewpoint.
Nope. Nothing like that at all at that gate! 
And... it was windy with some snow on the ground. All rocky and no good place to set up. No picnic tables. No shelter. If I had to set up my Coleman stove on a table-top rock outside to cook, the wind blowing around the burner flames would only equal the trouble I would have experience stumbling around out there. We would have been eating cold cereal instead. 
But lo! The magic of Westfalia appeared! I simply pulled off of the shoulder of the road, made the Van mostly level and popped the top. Out came the cookware, tables and a huge nourishing lunch was soon prepared!
The strong gusts of wind were no match for the comfort and shelter offered, and cooking and clean-up was far easier than my old car-camping methods.  Hot cocoa for the kids and tea and coffee for mom and me as I cleaned up. The time savings alone gave us plenty of daylight to get a fair look at Mono Lake before nightfall. |
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61Scout
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2011
Posts: 1297
Location: Shoreline/Yakima WA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 9:07 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| kamzcab86 wrote: |
If I wanted to cook every meal outside, I would've bought a Weekender/MV. I bought a full-camper precisely because it has a kitchen and I use it for cooking everything except boiling water and BBQing.
I buy pre-cooked bacon; no grease splatter. I brown ground beef for tacos before leaving; no grease splatter. If I do happen to need to cook something that may splatter, it goes into the skillet that uses a vented silicone cover; no splatter.
| 61Scout wrote: |
| For people who say their vans don't smell, I call rubbish. |
I have super-sensitive sinuses, so I smell anything and everything. What does the inside of my van always smell like? Rubber floor mats and old vinyl.
I, honestly, don't understand folks like yourself who insist that every full-camper smells like food due to lingering cooking odors. You don't know me, the meals I cook, my van, or my cleaning habits (I'm basically the daughter of Mr. Clean; the most common question asked of me: "Do you actually use this thing?" Answer: "Yes, I use the kitchen and the van has even been off-road a bunch; it's simply meticulously maintained"). Furthermore, my van is more ventilated than my freakin' house when cooking, so the very notion that meal odors linger for the life of the van is just absurd. |
I never said (or insisted) that every full-camper van smells like food due to lingering cooking odors; you did. I simply stated that all vans smell and suggested that the owners are immune to whatever smell embodies the van. Some vans smell like old food, some smell like cigarettes, some like body odor, and so on. You're right kamz, I don't know you, and neither do you know me. So please refrain from placing words in my mouth or making assumptions about what I'm trying to convey. Truncating the remainder of my thought takes the first sentence out of context.
I took the opposite approach. I sought out a weekender precisely because it does not have a kitchen. I am not I prefer to cook outside. I didn't want to deal with the stove, fridge, water tank or rust. I'm happy as a clam with my decision, as I'm sure you are with your decision. It's a great thing we live in a country where we can all have our own opinions and purchase whatever we want.
-Kevin
_________________
1986 Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg, RJE 2.3
1985 Tin Top, Subie 2.2 + 5MT
Floppy Mirrors no more: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=653018&highlight=
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-Nec Spe, Nec Metu |
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ThankYouJerry
Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2012
Posts: 2271
Location: Shakedown Street
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Maybe there should be another option:
"Yes, I cook in my Westy, but prefer to cook outside whenever possible."
_________________
1990 Multivan - "Ohana"
1.8T, Auto w/3.27 R&P + Peloquin TBD |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7925
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:02 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| 61Scout wrote: |
I never said (or insisted) that every full-camper van smells like food due to lingering cooking odors; you did. I simply stated that all vans smell and suggested that the owners are immune to whatever smell embodies the van. Some vans smell like old food, some smell like cigarettes, some like body odor, and so on. You're right kamz, I don't know you, and neither do you know me. So please refrain from placing words in my mouth or making assumptions about what I'm trying to convey. Truncating the remainder of my thought takes the first sentence out of context. |
A) This is a topic about cooking food, ergo, directly linked to that is food odors. Since you were not specific, it was naturally assumed that the "vans that don't smell" line was referring to food odors, regardless of your truncated dog smell portion.
B) I wasn't putting words into your mouth. You were quoted, yes, but please make note of the word "folks". That indicates that I was referring to multiple people who have, over the years, stated that camper vans smell like food. If you wish for people to not make assumptions about what you are trying to convey, then be more specific. Or, better yet, instead of being so snotty towards someone who did not, according to you, perceive the exact meaning of your words, simply respond with a more polite explanation: "That's not quite what I meant. What was I trying to say is that..."
C) I'm rather tired of the food odors nonsense that is constantly spewed around here, so perhaps my previous response was a tad more negative than it should have been. Apologies if anyone was offended by a full-camper owner defending using the kitchen and trying to put the odor nonsense to bed.
| 61Scout wrote: |
| I am not I prefer to cook outside. |
Pot, meet kettle. I didn't say you or anyone else with a Weekender was "screwy" for owning one, or for cooking outside. In case that first sentence in my initial reply wasn't clear enough, the second sentence expanded on it: I got a van equipped with a kitchen precisely so that I could cook inside; if I didn't want to cook inside, I would have bought a Weekender/MV instead. Furthermore, I have a portable BBQ, which I mentioned; ergo, I also do cook outside at times.
| 61Scout wrote: |
| I'm happy as a clam with my decision, as I'm sure you are with your decision. |
Exactly, and that's all that matters.
_________________
~Kamz 
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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61Scout
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2011
Posts: 1297
Location: Shoreline/Yakima WA
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:51 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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We point our Weekender into or left side into wind and cook on Coleman stuff on a compact table outside, downwind under either awning or rear hatch. We have boiled water for coffee on the table in either heavy weather or convenience but when you are 7 pax up in any of these vehicles how does one think they can even use a galley?
Unless your fastidious about cleaning, cooking real food in such a small space leaves odours. Those that don't have my congratulations.
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6833
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:49 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Okay, but this is how I enjoy cooking in a VW!
(You see a lot of vans of all makes with wood burning ovens in Pizza vans over in France and probably all of Europe.) |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:13 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| Steve M. wrote: |
Okay, but this is how I enjoy cooking in a VW!
(You see a lot of vans of all makes with wood burning ovens in Pizza vans over in France and probably all of Europe.) |
That will cook faster if the engine seals were in place.
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figborg
Samba Member
Joined: August 24, 2015
Posts: 338
Location: Northeast
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:12 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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As someone mentioned earlier the vintage Ovenette is great too for baking and making pizza on any stove top if you combine it with a 9" pizza stone. You can find them on eBay and Etsy from time to time.
Good for the Westy but not for backpacking since it doesn't collapse.
Mine looks the same as this one (photo from Google search)
_________________
-- PF
Providence, RI
1986.5 Westy camper (G year code, grey interior), 2WD, manual transmission, Subaru conversion by Vanaru. Spoiled rotten.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=662374
Last edited by figborg on Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kourt
Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2013
Posts: 1948
Location: Austin, TX
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:44 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Love to cook in my Westy. I also use the Magma grill, mounted outside the van, to cook up messier things like bacon, or chili from the night before (notice the spatter on the outside of the van--worth it!):
Lots of cooking going on in my van!
kourt |
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jackbombay
Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007
Posts: 2723
Location: Eastern Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Most years I spend 100+ days living out of my van, I cook in it pretty much every single day I live in it and there is no food odor, at times there can certainly be some dirty laundry odor, but no food odor. With as many days a year as I spend in my van it would be a huge hassle to cook all my food outside especially when it's raining windy and or snowing...
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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We should stop these discussions about odours or lack thereof as
They aren't measurable
They are subjective
Detection and sensitivity is highly individual.
And ergo the discussions are pointless
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jackbombay
Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007
Posts: 2723
Location: Eastern Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 6:53 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
We should stop these discussions about odours or lack thereof as
They aren't measurable
They are subjective
Detection and sensitivity is highly individual.
And ergo the discussions are pointless |
Well then, we should lock the thread as the idea of cooking odors permanently affixing themselves to the inside of your van because it's a small space is black belt preposterousness.
_________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
DIY artificial rain gutters (ARGs) |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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The absurd position is to take the stand that " I can't smell it, therefore it does not smell ( to others)" for self-evident reasons.
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jackbombay
Samba Member
Joined: October 19, 2007
Posts: 2723
Location: Eastern Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
| The absurd position is to take the stand that " I can't smell it, therefore it does not smell ( to others)" for self-evident reasons. |
Why does cooking smell permanently affix itself to the interior of smaller spaces, a van, but not the interior of your home? Or does you home also possess the ability to permanently retain cooking smells so you don't cook in it either?
_________________
Gas struts to pop your top easily!
Pop Top strut kits now available for late Bay window Westies
Samba ad here.
DIY artificial rain gutters (ARGs) |
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Jeffrey Lee
Samba Member
Joined: February 04, 2014
Posts: 1488
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:53 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| kourt wrote: |
Love to cook in my Westy. |
Day-am! I don't know where you're camping next, but I'll be tagging along!
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7925
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
| The absurd position is to take the stand that "I can't smell it, therefore it does not smell (to others)" for self-evident reasons. |
It's equally absurd to say: 1) "All vans smell like food after being cooked in"; 2) "Even if you can't smell food odors, doesn't mean your van doesn't smell like food".
Each person is different, each van is different. Joe Schmoe's van may smell like it's a tuna can, Jane Paine's van may smell like it's a deep fryer, but MY van smells like rubber, vinyl, oil, and cleaning products. Don't believe me? Drive to Phoenix and take a good, deep whiff for yourself.
_________________
~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22670
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 4:25 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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All vans do smell like food after being cooked in.
All vans can also be cleaned so that 99.99% of people will agree they don't smell like food.
I couldn't imagine not cooking on a camping trip but I move messy stuff outside so I lighten the cleaning load.
I would say I detect pleasant cooking odours in 95% of my neighbors kitchens after cleaning. My dogs, 100% of kitchens.
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iliketowalk
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2011
Posts: 614
Location: Northern CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Wow... Those that don't cook or have kitchens seen to have awfully strong opinions about those that do...
We always cook in the van, otherwise would have to carry an extra stove. Never had any issues with food smells, you crack the window when you're cooking. Stayed in bear country many many times, never had any issues or interested bears - their noses are better than mine and yours.
Typically if you spend a few hours or days away from a familiar smell, you will smell it on your return. The van always smells like a normal van, no food odor.
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1986 Weekender "Birch" |
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candyman
Samba Trout Slayer
Joined: December 20, 2003
Posts: 2694
Location: Missoula MT
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:54 am Post subject: Re: Do you cook food in your Westfalia? |
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Why are food smells bad? Give me the smell of caramelized onions, bacon or anything homecooked over air freshners, cleaners, bad breathe, nasty dirty feet or just poor hygene in general. Im sure more vans smell like the latter than cooking food
I cook in my van as much as I cook at home, as a chef its just what I love to do. One day my van may smell like India, or Oaxaca, Marseille, Emilia Romagna, or whatever the flavor of the day may be. Who cares, ill take that over your pine tree hanging stinkfoot rear view mirror ornament |
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