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Ultimate Kitchen

33K views 64 replies 32 participants last post by  MNichols 
#1 ·
Post kitchen photos here!
I am looking for good ideas for a FUNCTIONAL kitchen layout that packs up fast!!.. I wanna see cool Do It YourSelf homemade kitchen boxes... Kitchen setups for big groups, kitchen setups for small groups (4 or less). Plywood, water proof or splash resistant... Awesome camps, a kitchen that can be easily cleaned and packed up and loaded in 20 minutes.. Dish washing setups too. Post photos. Extra points will be given to setups that break down fast and offer maximum counter space...yeah buddy. Crack that PBR and post a sweet kitchen photo
 
#4 ·
mmmm - kitchen porn! Can't wait!
That is what I was thinking. Plus he's giving points! "yeah buddy"!

Dutchman is cooking your hobby? I've been on a few trips with folks who love cooking and rafting is one of their ways of doing what they love in the backcounty. That is awesome especially for guys like me who love to eat in the backcountry but I've changed from deluxe kitchens to simple. Now we make meals in advance, vaccume pack them, and heat them in boiling water. For me every moment setting up camp or breaking it down is time away from fishing. And, I'm one of those guys that MUST help until the work is done so even if it's not my gear I may be working and not fishing. I'm sure you'll get lots of useful replies here. I think cooking is a passion for a lot of rafters.
 
#6 ·
I certainly love fishing and exploring more than eating. That's why I wanna see kitchen setups that pack up quick and save time. This is especially critical on cold weather late season trips. The days are short, the morning is cold, people move slower, everyone wants a hot breakfast, and hot water right at launch time...oh I hate those trips where we keep the kitchen setup so people can fill their thermos after they are geared up and we should have shoved off an hour ago. So easy to breakdown, easy to clean kitchen is a must..
 
#10 ·
I have a Discada that I use for almost every meal on the river. So what is a Discada? Its basically a large steel disk that is kind of like a semi-flattened Wok. Check it out here DISCADA | Plow Disc Cooking | Plow Disk Cooker | Disco | Outdoor Wok | Disc Grill

It is great for cooking for large groups and I have cooked all kinds of food in it. Its heavy as hell but I think its way better than bringing stoves, pots, pans, ext.
 
#12 ·
I need to see if I have any detailed pictures, but basically my rafting buddy's kitchen goes like this....... Latch-in Recretec kitchen box with shelves built in. Everything you need to cook with is in that box. The box gets unlatched and carried up to camp. Once it's open, the lid becomes prep space. Add one extra counter height table, Partner stove on a stove stand, and you are done. Drying shelf and drying rack attach to the table. Propane tank under the stove stand. My buddy has a system for packing the kitchen box. After breakfast and clean-up is done, the rest of us pack up the other stuff and he packs the kitchen box. We carry it down and throw it in the boat, latch it in and go. We all know what's in his kitchen and I have yet to find anything that I needed that wasn't in there. We also do a lot of DO cooking, and all of that stuff is in my boat. We eat well and can be on the river by 0900. The secret to success is that we all pack up other stuff and leave him to pack the kitchen. He knows where everything fits and can pack it up fast. I know some folks will groan about carrying the kitchen box to camp, but with 4 people and the legs to the box used as carrying handles it's pretty easy.
I'll try to find some pictures.
 
#15 ·


Here is a "discada" in action, complete with hovering 5 year old. .. we call them taco disco's however. Same thing though, best part is they can be homemade; at least that's high on my qualifications for awesomeness.

I don't really have pics of the rest of my kitchen. It's kind of always in a state of Flux. But I will say the most important thing to me is flexibility. What's right for one trip may not be right for another.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Fast Kitchen set up.
I have found that how and what kind of food you are cooking and serving has the most to do with the fast set up and packing of the kitchen gear. The menu and the prep is what dictates how much time is spent on and in the kitchen. Late or early season trips makes it easy to do it fast. Paper plates and bowels save a ton of time (great to start a evening fire with, if scraped clean) no dish washing station to set up . I like to precook and freeze everything that is to be ate hot. Bacon, breakfast burritos, biscuits and sausage gravy (freeze in separate bags ;-) ) green chili, white chicken chili, red chili, stew, dinner burritos, prime rib, spaghetti sauce, steaks or hamburger patties all freeze well. The colder weather makes keeping frozen or nearly frozen easy. Buy yourself a couple of strainer stock pots to cook in. Heating your food in and serving from cooking bags means no scrubbing pots. Paper plates and bowels mean you only have eating & serving utensils to wash. This I do in the hand wash station to which I always add Steramine tablets to. When making chili, stews and etc. I put them in a 2+ gallon bag then in the strainer pot to freeze. After freezing I remove from strainer and keep frozen till I'm ready to start thawing to cook so they fit in the pot even if still mostly frozen on the river. Serving utensils, two pots, a griddle, a two gallon thermos, two burner stove, a table, trash container, hand wash station and you are good to go. Have everyone bring their own coffee/cocktail cup and silverware. I love to cook on the river but when circumstances dictate speed or convenience this is how I do it. I can be cooking in 10 minutes and packed in 10 with one persons help.
 
#36 ·
I haven't used a partner, but I've put my disco on many other stoves and they typically work fine. It is wobbly, and that is both a positive and a negative but in the long run you get used to holding it while stirring, scraping or whatever. They naturally balance themselves, so while they're tippy, they won't tip over.

They benefit from having a widely distributed heat source (wider the burner the better) other than that, they sit tolerably well on just about anything I've tried.

So what makes the disc special over a wok that's lighter and spring steel. Here is all the gear I take on my boat for a 4 day trip. My kitchen is in the little round bag next to my food in the black case
1-Because then you just have a wok, not a particularly interesting piece of river cookery.

2-I like making things myself so for me, the disc conversion is a win-win. I had fun finding the discs, messing around in the shop and they cost me nothing (ok, I think I bought a disc or 2, but usually farmers give them to me when I tell them what I'm doing with them).

3-People love hearing that it used to be a tool.

Another difference is discs are typically flatter than woks (though the one in your pic looks less dished than most). I like flatter discs because they still distribute heat up the sides (like a wok), while still allowing cooked food to be stored up on the sides with out sliding down. That's what I like about cooking on the disco - one pan and everything is done at once (with a little practice).

Edit:
Actually when I look at your picture close up greewall, the sides of that wok are way steeper than my disco (post #15). That would be a deal breaker for me and the Wok.
 
#19 ·
Here are some photos of our kitchen setup in action on the Selway last June. It's a Recretec clip-in aluminum kitchen box. Pretty much everything in the photo of the full kitchen (except the outfitter table and miscellaneous crap on it) nests together and fits inside the box.

On our last trip on the Deschutes I came back from setting up the tent and my wife had moved everything up from the boat and set it up by herself in about 15 minutes (taking the pieces up separately then carrying the empty aluminum box). Take down is the same once you know the secret to the puzzle for making it all fit.

Dishwashing is the three basin system of hot soapy, super hot rinse, and cold bleach sanitizing rinse, with everything drying in the hammock below the outfitter. We use a collapsible bucket to pre-wash the big chunks off. So simple a group of teenage kids can do it.
 

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#22 ·
Your kitchen set-up looks pretty much like ours. We love the Recretec Kitchen dry box. My buddy has the packing system on that box down to a science.
 
#23 ·
I am starting to think the standard kitchen setup, as posted by 90duck, is hard to improve upon. Just need to keep organized and have one person be the kitchen master....

I think I am goin to make an extra camp table or two this winter, cause counter space always gets cluttered up. Still need to find some ways to save daylight on those winter canyon trips without waking up in the dark to pack the kitchen up.

I have tried pushing the paper plates and bowls method in the past to save time on cleaning dishes. As well as premade food, or things that require almost no prep time, like canned soup. But I have always been met by resistance and caved, to the one or two picky vegan loving, fresh food only environmental fanatic everything has to be reusable people in my group that won't burn a single paper plate. I think I need new river mates. Ha.
 
#25 ·
I am starting to think the standard kitchen setup, as posted by 90duck, is hard to improve upon. Just need to keep organized and have one person be the kitchen master....
One of the keys to getting an earlier start in the mornings that we've figured out as "kitchen masters" is to not assign breakfast to us on moving days (layovers don't matter). That allows us to break down our tent and gather our other camp crap while breakfast is prepared, then the breakfast cooks can head off to break down their own camps after the dishes are done while we get the kitchen broken down. Doing both the cooking and kitchen breakdown in addition to all the other camp breakdown stuff is just way too much work to be fun, which, after all, is the point of all this.
 
#26 ·
Having one kitchen packing ninja is key to our success. My buddy has his system dialed and we know to stay away from the kitchen box in the morning. We break down the other kitchen items. The other key is getting stuff cleaned up and ready to be packed. Also getting people's misc. stuff (coffee mugs, water bottles, etc.) off the kitchen box so he can tip it over and set it on the ground to pack it. I agree about counter space. That's why the kitchen dry box comes in handy for an extra prep counter. Another thing we always have in the kitchen is one of those green pop-up garbage cans. Stick a heavy duty XL trash bag in it and you have an awesome trash can for the kitchen that stays upright and open. Tuck in the bag and zip up the top at night. We have never had a critter chew on the trash can.
 
#27 ·
Yeah buddy! Kitchen photos- send it!

I'll have to take a picture of my plastic box with some McDonalds napkins, a jetboil, small grilling grate, a few utensils including a can opener, a pan and some paper plates... or you could just imagine the awesome minimalistness.

Edit: just saw your most recent post Marko- you need old rivermates! I'll burn some paper plates with you any ol' time. Come on out to Colorado sometime!
 
#32 ·
No river kitchen is complete without a fire pan and some dutch oven deliciousness. Here's some fire pan & DO porn.
First up is my wonderful Partner Steel compact fire pan with legs. Love, Love, Love that fire pan. 15X13x3 compacted & weighs 15lb..

Next is my new toy from Partner Steel. It's their kayaker fire pan. 12X9X2 compacted. It weighs 5 lb. with two sections & 7 lb. with all three sections. I got it for kayak touring on lakes & rivers. It's light & will fit in the hatch of my touring kayak.

GreenWall - Nice mini kitchen. Kayak touring has taught me how to go light & minimalist on my kitchen. Cook pot, mini fry pan, MSR stove. But I still want the deluxe kitchen when I'm rafting.
 
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