Living in a motorhome affords you many conveniences. Sadly, space ain’t one of them. So when we started looking for a small trailer to pull behind our Jeep, we knew it had to be multipurpose.
Not only did we want to use a trailer for camping, we wanted the option of using it as a utility trailer as well. We also liked the idea of being able to back the trailer up to nice scenery and not lose the view to a rear kitchen. Oh, and there’s that whole business of needing to use it as a place to store our camping stuff, too.
Traditional teardrop trailers usually have a galley in the back. That’s handy when you camp a lot in cold, wet places because it keeps all your kitchen gear safe from the elements. Since the weather in Arizona is favorable 99.98% of the time, a wet kitchen wasn’t a big concern for us.
We ended up with an Intech Chase Flyer squaredrop trailer with doors on the back and decided to go with an outdoor kitchen. Since the kitchen would be exposed to sun and desert critters, we knew we needed to find camping gadgets that would stand up to abuse.
Our camp kitchen is made up of 5 main pieces:
- Propane camping stove
- Folding camp table
- A stackable toolbox with wheels
- Waterproof food box
- 12-volt refrigerator
Keep reading below for photos of our kitchen in action, more details on the gear we chose, and a video walkthrough of our outdoor camp kitchen.
We love this camp stove because it's tough and works darn near flawlessly in challenging conditions. It boils water in a hurry, the built-in igniter is handy, and the removable grates make cleanup easy.
We chose this 3 burner stove for its mega-BTU output. The two outside burners are oversized 25,000 B.T.U., and the center burner is 10,000 B.T.U.
The individual windscreens keep the flame going when the weather isn't cooperating, and the high altitude pressure regulator is nice when we're camping in the mountains.
This folding cook table holds our water cube and propane stove without breaking a sweat. We love the cup holders, shelves, and built-in sink. The handle on the side makes loading it in and out of the trailer a snap.
We chose this table because it has a good amount of storage, it's conveniently laid out, the lantern pole works great for cooking after dark, and it holds a lot of weight without being unstable.
This RIDGID toolbox holds all of our kitchen gear and does a great job of keeping it organized and safe.
The heavy-duty wheels take a beating and keep on going. We love the customizable storage bins and the additional accessories you can add to the stack of boxes.
This storage bin keeps our camping food organized and safe from critters, water, and dust.
The snapping lid makes sure what's outside the box stays there, and the sturdy plastic keeps food safe when the food box inevitably goes flying off the shelf in the trailer.
With this storage box, the only thing we have to worry about food-wise is...eating!
SetPower 12 volt refrigerators offer the convenience of having mobile food refrigeration without emptying your bank account. We have really nice coolers that keep ice for days on end, and saw no need to spend $900 on a 12-volt refrigerator.
We caught this fridge on sale for $230, and we're now 12-volt refrigerator converts. No more remembering to get ice at the store before a camping trip or struggling to keep food from being flooded in a cooler for us!
That’s pretty much it for our current outdoor camp kitchen setup. Every time we go camping, we learn a little more and get a bit more organized. So the camp kitchen is sure to evolve and change as we do.
We hope this post and the video walkthrough gives you some ideas for your outdoor camp kitchen setup. If you know of a cool piece of camping kit you think would fit well with our setup, let us know!
Artist & writer. Desert dweller. Web development nerd. Animal fawner-over. Always clowning, meme-ing, and using sarcasm. Probably camping.