Best Kitchen Design for Full-Time Foodies

[ExcitedToRv]

We are very excited as we plan for retirement (although a couple of years away…but we are trying to figure-out every way we can to accelerate that date). We will be jumping into full-time RVing with both feet (we never owned or rented an RV) – but have NO hesitations making the change. A question that I thought other New Horizon full-timers could share some great perspective on is the kitchen layout and what others who were/are serious cooks like/dislike about their New Horizon kitchen. My husband and I great enjoy cooking/eating well (i.e., foodies) and we would likely benefit from additional kitchen counter space. We are seriously considering a New Horizon, likely a Majestic 102-F37RETSS model. My question is why New Horizon kitchens does not offer a “J” counter design, instead of solely an island option, to provide added counter space. I realize that I could request a related redesign (e.g., move the refrig location and create a “J” counter area that connect the current refrigerator area with the option island), but I would welcome other’s perspectives (e.g., did they customize the kitchen layout and/or kitchen options, would they make those modifications again and/or would they suggest other alterations). Other than the addition of a “J” counter we are going back-and-forth on the need for the stove (since we will have the convection oven), but will likely include a dishwasher to simplify cooking clean-up when we are in a full hook-up situations. Although potentially more context then you need, we plan to boondoggle, stay in National Parks (i.e., limited hook-ups) as well as stay at full service RV parks. Thank you for sharing any insights!

[mwilliams]

Excited,

It is nice to hear of persons who express the level of enthusiasm that you do for getting on the road full time AND having a higher interest in cooking. I am not a full timer but do enjoy cooking. Personally I don't think there is a need for an oven other than the convection oven that you indicated that you will get. I have no opinion about the configuration of your kitchen area other than to suggest that you communicate your interest to NH folk and see what various ideas they come up with. Because I like to do a lot of the cooking outside I carry with me a lot of "outside" cooking equipment (grill, gas heating ring, wok, dutch ovens etc. It adds a lot of weight but for me I would rather enjoy the cooking and skimp in some other area. For us the pantry with slide out drawers was essential.

Happy dreams while you make your way to the full timing lifestyle.

[CapnMorgan]

Hopefully your plan to boondock doesn't turn into a boondoggle. :-). We too are preparing to full-time and since we have a little time and it is cold, we are experimenting with tools inside. I bought a Coleman camp stove:
Coleman - All-in-One Cooking System -
and i set it up on top of our existing stove in our house. I am cooking exclusively on it to see what the limitations are and what I can cook, before I hit the road.

[Diwizi]

I too am an avid cook. We just got our rv in November and i wasconcerned about the cooking. However after a 2 week trip and a3week trip, i have realized I can cook anything in mine that i can at home. I make a lot of yeast bread and that has been successful in only the convection microwave oven, as also cakes, biscuits, etc.... I do not have a conventional oven and have not missed it. But i sure use the rack for double space.... I do ave a convection at home as well. You will qckly figure it all out. I have a pull out peninsula with extra drawers that i love... More space when i need it. I also have table andchairs NO booth, because it doubles as my watercolor painting desk.... And it can be extra prep space.... But i am not full time.... Only thing i wish i had taken that i did not is my kitchen aid stand mixer..... Did take my keurig coffee maker and my food processor...... Let us knw

[ExcitedToRv]

mwilliams, I am sure NH will have some great insights. Regarding outside cooking, it will surely be an important part of our extended kitchen! I started a list of all the great options/tools that you and other RVs use (i.e., we are currently reading every blog that we can find about RVing.)

CapnMorgan, Great idea to start cooking with the same options/tools we will use when RVing. Particularly since we will be RV newbies, this will provide some great insights into what will best work for us. (And, regarding boondocking and boondoggling … I have mastered the excitement … but some of the lingo, I am still working on )

Diwizi, I will now have to rethink storing/giving away the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – although I was planning to bring a hand held electric mixer, we regularly use the Kitchen Aid for the attachments (pasta rollers, meat grinder, etc.) … the challenge will be figuring out where to store it (and/or prioritizing what else we leave behind … )

[dooks@verizon.net]

Great idea to do the research now. We are on our 2nd NH and opted to have an oven in both. We are not full timers, but do spend months on the road at a time and do boondock quite a bit. We do not have a built in generator, do have a small portable that we carry with us. If needed we use that for the microwave. The oven I find very useful when we are boondocking (especially when overnighting at Walmarts, etc. in that we can set up quickly and I can bake or heat up a meal. One suggestion if you do end up with an oven: get a pizza stone to keep in it. The stone will even out the heat in the oven and make baked products come out much better.

As for the microwave/convection oven, I LOVE it. Phil convinced me to get the Whirlpool Velos unit and it has been worth every penny!! It bakes, warms, microwaves, broils, etc. and thinks for you. The light and fan are also very good. It is far superior to anything that Dometic has ever put out.

Good luck in your planning. You can never do too much looking to see what others have done, taking pictures and making notes of things you like. Also, watch for the next NH Rally in the Spring of 2013 in Texas. Come and share ideas and suggestions with a great bunch of people, as well as learning more about NH.

[Neil Laubenthal]

We looked at the J design kitchen on a DRV . . .and although it looks like it has more counter space in actuality you end up with less useful space and it's harder to get out of the kitchen area. The island in the NH does not have the sink or the dishwasher so you have plenty of counter space there.
I like it that NH now puts in the residential Verona stove as standard; and we ordered ours with a residential fridge instead of the propane one for added space, better reliability (lots of recalls for the propane ones in the past couple of years) and some additional safety since it is electric only instead of propane.

[Diwizi]

I think i would rather have my stand mixer instead of food processor if i had to choose... I will take my good knives next time as well.... Thought i coukd cope with okd ones, but after switching to Wusthoff knves, i am now a knife snob.... Good kuck and keep us all posted on what you choose.... Oh, i did buy a crock pot and electric skillet, but did not use either one..... Yet...

[greyt-parent]

We too are new to RVing, jumping in to full timing right from the start. We both like to cook. In terms of the oven to convection/microwave debate, we were very used to using a convection microwave at home, so felt that there was no need for a conventional oven, deciding to use the space for a dishwasher instead. We love the Velos convection/microwave and have used it as just a convection oven or just a microwave. Haven’t tried the combined mode as both convection and microwave yet. I am looking for a pizza stone that will fit the Velos so I can start making pizza again. We are still working on the stand mixer vs food processor quandry. Maybe once I get the pizza stone, I will get back into baking and resume with the mixer.

Lynn has started doing a lot more meals in the slow cooker, which is also very cost effective, both on energy and ingredients.

Our RLTSS layout has an kitchen island. With 2 people and the smaller confines of an RV kitchen, being able to get around the kitchen by going on either side around the island helps prevent collisions. One person does prep work on the counter while the other on the island, thus keeping out of each others way. Also having access to the island storage from either side is a big advantage.

You should check the Ambassadors list/schedule and hopefully you will have the opportunity to visit a unit being lived in and how each layout works.

[chaunclm]

greyt-parent,

Hi, we too enjoyed slow cooking, but then we discovered the programmable electric pressure cooker. It does the slow cooking just like a slow cooker, but when one needs to speed things up, then one can do it all in an hour.

Electric Multi-Cooker | Fagor America

We love this thing. Its a great slow cooker and a great pressure cooker. We even make cheese cake in it. In the summer we use it a lot because it doesn't heat up the trailer.

Williams-Sonoma sells a pizza stone that works in our Dometic Convection Microwave. It is 13 inches in diameter.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-convection-oven-pizza-stone/?pkey=e|Pizza%2Bstone|8|best|0|1|24||4&cm_src=PROD UCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

[ExcitedToRv]

Regarding Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer versus a Food Processor – unfortunately, for us, the Food Processor is a necessity. However, I may look for a smaller Food Processor. We do not own a slow cooker, but will definitely purchase one for the RV – what size do you find the most helpful? One of the brands that I like offers a slow cooker that is 6.5 quarts, which seems large for RV cooking, unless potluck dinners are commonplace in RV parks. The one item I did not planning to bring was a blender; I recently purchased a good immersion blender that I thought could serve dual purposes.

Additionally, we will now also need to look into the Electric Multi-Cooker, since it is not only a slow cooker, pressure cooker but also a rice cooker (i.e., our small rice cooker was on our short list of items to bring, because it makes great rice as well as wonderful steel cut oats oatmeal—but this may be an alternate and space saving option.)

We will certainly look into attending the NH Rally in the Spring of 2013, a great way to see some different NH models, meet NH owners and learn from their stories. In the interim, we plan to attend an RV show this coming Fall where NH will be one of the makers displaying their RVs. The RV show will also help us see first-hand a “J” kitchen design, potentially by DRV or other RV maker, and compare it to NH’s kitchen layout. Walking through and experiencing the layouts, will clearly help us see the kitchen flow and anticipate how we would use the counter workspaces better than solely looking at floor plans. I definitely hear and appreciate your insights about the ability for two people to be in the kitchen at the same time well as the kitchen counterspace usability--it sounds like NH’s kitchen layout makes sense.

Ok now for a crazy question , since I am now considering bringing the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – has anyone brought their mixer and requested that NH incorporate a self-riser for the mixer into one of the cabinets (e.g., something similar to http://www.amazon.com/Rev-Shelf-RAS-ML-HDCR-Heavy-Mixer/dp/B001B0QFOI)? I could imagine the riser being placed in a cabinet at the end of the island … just some day-dreaming (first have to convince DH that the mixer needs to be on the short list), but it does offer some intriguing possibilities … as well as makes it simple to take out/put away the mixer and it would have its own “counter” space.

[Diwizi]

Wow... I am going to get the multi-cooker.... I se an old time pressure cooker all of the time, so that will solve not taking that..... And while the mixer rise woukd be handy... How much space woukd that eat up..... I do have a small food processor that luves in the MH, and an immersion blender as well..... My pantry is in my slide, so i had to make sure when setting my things up to not have necessities in it, in case we cannot park where we can put the slide out... So think about that when you are looking at floor plans.....

[chaunclm]

Hi Diane, Larry and Mannie,

Remember that New Horizon will build your rig to your design. Take a few pictures of the things you like in other rigs and they will build it for you. Moreover, if you don't like it the way it is, they can remake the way you want it.

In fact this ability to modify your rig if you would like things different is in my opinion one of the best reasons to buy a NH. We had the factory make some significant changes in our rig this last fall that only a custom builder could make. We had them turn our dinette into a big desk with huge drawers for storage. The desk has the same top and woodwork as the rest of the rig. You can't tell that it is not original.

[ExcitedToRv]

Originally Posted by Diwizi

Wow... I am going to get the multi-cooker.... I se an old time pressure cooker all of the time, so that will solve not taking that..... And while the mixer rise woukd be handy... How much space woukd that eat up..... I do have a small food processor that luves in the MH, and an immersion blender as well..... My pantry is in my slide, so i had to make sure when setting my things up to not have necessities in it, in case we cannot park where we can put the slide out... So think about that when you are looking at floor plans.....

I had not even considered access challenges that would occur if we were unable to use a slide-out ... a very important consideration! I was toying with the idea of making the kitchen island longer, which would have extend it in-front of the refrigerator, thereby complicating refrigerator access (at least on one side) if the related slide was not extended. Thanks for sharing the insight; it certainly is an important consideration as I think about all the possibilities as well as related implications!