Dinnerware And How To Store It?

Ben

Ben

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As I've put in my order and anxiously awaiting pickup this summer, now thoughts are on equipping the teardop. My past camping has been mostly tent camping without much in the way of storage. I'm curious as to how folks have tackled the issue of plates/bowls/silverware. I'm thinking that I'd like to go with something made of melamine - there are lots of choices. What sizes work best and what do you do for storage?
 
Handben said:
As I've put in my order and anxiously awaiting pickup this summer, now thoughts are on equipping the teardop. My past camping has been mostly tent camping without much in the way of storage. I'm curious as to how folks have tackled the issue of plates/bowls/silverware. I'm thinking that I'd like to go with something made of melamine - there are lots of choices. What sizes work best and what do you do for storage?
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You are in for a treat. There is tons of room for storage in the galley of your Camp-Inn. The silverware drawer has plenty of room for all manner of utensils and the under counter storage has dividers for plates, pans and other larger items such as cast iron and coffee pot. We have the recently added trays that fit on top of the under counter storage that makes even more convenient room for things. The only problem is that you start to get more and more stuff because you can! Have fun with your new camper. It's just like tent camping but you don't have to wait for it to dry to pack up camp.
 
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Keep it simple. The local thrift store is likely to have some great stuff, but there are endless options for buying new. Most everything but ceramics and china are sturdy enough for traveling.

We keep our two Camp Inn mugs, two bowls, two plates and a platter, plus our tea kettle, dog bowls and our linens in the cabinet to the right of the stove alcove. We find we use those things a lot, and it beats having to dig around for them in deep storage.

However you choose to organize, be assured that it will evolve over time. Everyone's priorities are different, and yours will dictate how you do things.
 
We picked up our 560 last April and have been enjoying it since. We went the melamine route for our plates and bowls. We bought random patterns, bought them individually just so they weren't all the same. As far a silverware, just a simple set from Walmart, nothing fancy. The rule for us is no glass containers in the trailer, just to be safe.

We have arranged and rearranged our gallery and now we have it the way that works for us. We use the top left shelf for everyday cooking items - cofffe, spices, condiments, oil, sugar, flour, pancake mix (coffee, flour etc are kept in plastic air tight containers). In the top right shelf, we store 6 plates, 4 bowls, 2 mugs, small camera, and 8 vintage aluminum cups. In the small cabinet under the top right shelf we keep insulated coffee mugs, French press, stove bic lighter, 2 plastic wine glasses, deck of cards, sandwhich bag with sweet & low packets, etc.

Over time you too will find your system and what works best for you. Enjoy and safe travels.
 
It will be individual, and you will have fun figuring it out. You will love your new kitchen. The storage space is incredible, and I always have to work to try to fill up the kitchen storage before a long drive - e.g. tucking extra rolls of paper towels in to take up extra space.

We also use what we used for tent camping. My husband loves cooking and cooks from scratch, so you may have a different idea of what kind of things are needed.

For cooking, we have our 25 year old nesting pans from MSR. These two nesting pans along with the heat exchanger fit inside of a pressure cooker. It gives us three pots, with one large enough to make soup or boil a bunch of water at once. We purchased the lodge cast iron griddle which stores on top of the stove. For plates we have the sea to summit plates - four.

This all goes (with other stuff, like laundry supplies, paper towels, go-cups for hot / cold beverages) in one bin under the counter. We use the other bin for non-kitchen stuff. Dog food, dog bowls....

We use the cabinet to the right of the stove for coffee and tea stuff, including a grinder and aero press.

We use the top two shelves for food. Here are the links to the things we have.

MSR® Heat Exchanger - Efficiency booster for MSR® pots

MSR® Alpine 2 stainless steel cookset

Amazon.com: Lodge LPGI3 Cast Iron Reversible Grill/Griddle, 20-inch x 10.44-inch, Black: Kitchen & Dining

Delta Plate | Sea to Summit

Duromatic® Stockpot 8.75" 8.4-qt | Kuhn Rikon
 
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@lorieandkeith Question about your MSR heat exchanger. We got one with our msr set of pots, bought 15 or so years ago. Since we haven't had an MSR or similar stove, we have never used it, as I understood it needed to be installed so it drops down over the MSR stove's burner. Have you used the heat exchanger with your MSR pots on the CI stove with good results? TIA :)
 
Our approach is similar to Doug and Amber.

One caution I have is storing any food items on the shelves that are on top of the left and right galley cabinets. I don't like to worry about whether the birds/etc. can get at that stuff when the galley is open. Not a big deal, of course.

Keep in mind that it can get hot in the galley when it's closed up. This probably damages things like oils and herbs and food stuffs. I know that it does a good job of destroying chocolate, as you'd guess.

We did put thin "rubbery" stuff on the shelves, to keep stuff from sliding.

Also, you don't need as much stuff if you only carry what you and your camping partner will need. If you don't care whether you have an "extra" mug/plate/silverware when a friend visits, then you don't need extras. But if you DO want to feed a friend....

We keep more stuff in our galley because we often camp with folks that don't have full galley setups. But only a couple of extras, actually. I'm sure I'd do things differently if I was on the road for extended periods.
 
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Dear Tom and Diana:

Hmm. You learn something new every day. We didn't know about the recommendation to drop the heat exchanger down over the stove. We have never had an MSR stove, and we have never dropped it down. Over the years we've had 2 or 3 stoves and just used it flush with the pan. It seems amazing in its capacity to increase the speed of heating whatever is in the pan. We've talked about getting one to put on the gas range in the house, purely to decrease our use of fuel.

We similarly use it on the CampInn stove. I noticed that there is a small section where the metal has been damaged by heat over the years. I showed it to Keith and neither of us seems to understand or be able to identify when it happened. But it is possible it happened when we were using the CampInn's powerful stove. I honestly don't know since we have had the pans and heat exchanger for so long.

I hope this is helpful.

Lorie
 
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I was given a set of Corelli dish ware when we got our tear so I made these bags to protect them. It works great and they are sure pretty on our picnic table. I put silicone coasters between plates so they don't rattle and the coasters are handy yo use to open jars, etc. and I always know where they are. If we are at a one night stop we put a paper plate on top to save clean up and the coaster keeps the paper plate secure in light breezes.
 
I've been slowly buying Gusto plates and bowls by Ekobo. Dinnerware - Plates - [ by EKOBO ]
They are non-breakable, stack and come in fun colors. The square shape helps them stack on shelves or in the storage bin without wasting space around them like a round plate would. Goal is to have a stack of 6 plates and small bowls on the right shelf. We have some of the small cups for juice. I have a couple of large stainless steel cups for ice tea, beer, etc.

While, I agree with the no glass rule for camping, since we have the luxury of a nice galley with the Camp-in, I do keep on rigid plastic box that fits in the left under counter bin. In it I keep two stemless wine glasses wrapped in bubble wrap. We have some other plastic wine glasses that we keep out/handy, but for a good bottle it's nice to have glass. Also a short stem or stemless is handy for windy days.
 
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I concur. Each solution fits specific needs and desires, and the needs and desires of each of us will constantly change. Find whatever works best for you at a given point in time, and expect to find that you will be either finding, or looking for, a better solution at some point down the road. Variables constantly change. To stay happy, you need to constantly change with them.
 
This will be our second season with our CI. We were also tent campers before we bought our camper. We simply used our dinnerware etc from camping last year. After a full season we decided the first thing we needed to replace was our cooking set so we bought a magma set. We currently have melamine plates, cups and bowls. They work very well. We have a set of four for each item. We find even if just the two of us we end up using the extras for prep or serving. It's also always great to be able to ask a new friend to join us!
 
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I have three corelle divided 10 inch dinner plates. They stack to less than an inch and a quarter. I carry them on edge in a small plastic silverware holder along with as many disposable plates as will fit. Only use them when I have steak to cut or things I don't want running together. mostly use disposable.
 
I got stainless steel plates and bowls, I like it a lot, but my wife not so mucho_O. Will have to get new ones at some point.:D
 
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