Our RV Camp Kitchen That Changed Everything

If you think your RV camp kitchen setup is dialed in, this episode might make you rethink everything. We break down the real-world RV cooking gear, camp kitchen essentials, and outdoor cooking setups that have actually survived years of camping, road trips, and campground meals with our family of four.

From the truth about built-in RV outdoor kitchens to our experience with Blackstone griddles, cast iron cookware, hibachi charcoal cooking, and the surprisingly effective $20 electric griddle that completely changed our camping routine, this episode is packed with practical RV kitchen tips and honest gear insights for campers, RVers, and outdoor cooking enthusiasts alike.

We talk about what camp kitchen gear is truly worth packing, what ended up collecting dust, and how simplifying our setup made cooking at camp easier, lighter, and far more enjoyable. From travel trailers and fifth wheels to camper vans and motorhomes, this conversation will help you build a smarter, more functional RV outdoor kitchen setup for the way you camp.

If you love RV life, campground cooking, this episode is for you.

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Transcript

You think your camp kitchen is dialed in… until you hear this. From what to ditch, what actually works, and the one setup I keep coming back to after years on the road — this episode breaks it all down.

The campground begins to slow as the evening settles in. You can hear the soft crackle of a nearby campfire mixing with the sound of kids riding bikes down the loop and the distant slam of an RV door closing for the night. Pine trees sway overhead while the smell of charcoal, grilled onions, and sizzling burgers drifts through camp like an invitation to gather around the table. Somewhere nearby, someone is pouring a cold drink into a metal tumbler while another camper laughs under the glow of string lights. The air carries that familiar mix of smoke, fresh mountain air, and dinner cooking outside — the kind of smell that instantly tells you you’re away from home.

Standing at the camp kitchen, spatula in hand, there’s something simple and grounding about cooking outdoors. The sound of bacon sizzling on the flat top competes with birds settling into the trees for the evening while the last bit of daylight fades across the campsite. Steam rises from a pot beside you as lantern light flickers against the side of the RV. Every meal somehow tastes better out here — maybe it’s the fresh air, maybe it’s the slower pace, or maybe it’s just the feeling of being together after a full day of exploring. Around camp, dinner isn’t only about food. It becomes part of the experience, part of the story, and part of the memories people carry long after the trip is over.

Over the years, I’ve learned that a great RV camp kitchen isn’t about bringing every gadget you can fit into a storage bay — it’s about knowing which tools actually earn their keep. Some gear has become part of our daily rhythm on the road, while other items slowly collected dust until I finally pulled them out for good. Every trip taught us something new about cooking outside, staying organized, and making the most of a small space.

I’m breaking down our RV camp kitchen setup that we rely on today, how it’s changed through years of travel, and the gear that truly makes camp cooking simpler and more enjoyable. I’m going to chat about cutting unnecessary weight, avoiding clutter, and building an outdoor kitchen setup that works for the way you camp. If you’ve ever opened an RV compartment and wondered why you packed half of what’s inside, this conversation is for you.

When we first bought our travel trailer, we were moving from a pop up into our current 26 foot travel trailer with more amenities than we were used to at the time. One of the things I was most excited about was the outdoor kitchen feature with a two burner propane stove and sink.

The outdoor kitchen on our Jayco Jay Flight 267BHSW ended up being more decorative than functional for the way we camp. On paper, it looks like a great feature, but in real-world use it became more frustrating than useful. Depending on how level the campsite is, the pull-out shelf with the propane stove can sit awkwardly high, making it uncomfortable for some people to cook on. Then there’s the propane connection itself — once the hose is hooked up, you can’t simply slide the drawer back in, so every use turns into disconnecting and reconnecting the propane line. Over time, the poor build quality really started to show too. The drawer slides feel cheap and flimsy, and the outdoor sink became a constant source of slow leaks that we were always chasing. Eventually, we realized we were avoiding the outdoor kitchen altogether, and at this point we honestly haven’t used it in years.

Not long after buying our trailer and realizing the built-in outdoor kitchen wasn’t going to work for us, we did what so many campers were doing at the time — we jumped headfirst onto the Blackstone bandwagon. At first, I went big. I bought one of the larger portable griddles thinking more cooking space would automatically make camp cooking better. And while it cooked great, the reality was that it became one more bulky piece of gear to haul around. It lived in the bed of the truck during travel days, took up valuable space, and honestly, for a family of four, I rarely used even half of the cooking surface. Most meals didn’t require that much room, and over time I started realizing I was carrying around more griddle than we actually needed.

Eventually, I downsized and picked up the Adventure Ready size, and that became the sweet spot for our camping style. It was easier to transport, quicker to set up, and still gave us plenty of room to cook breakfast, burgers, fajitas, or just about anything else we wanted at camp. For years, that griddle became the centerpiece of our outdoor kitchen setup and handled countless campground meals without missing a beat. It felt like we had finally found the right balance between portability and functionality — at least until recently, when our setup evolved once again.

With all of that said, the centerpiece of our current setup might surprise you. It’s not the biggest grill, the fanciest smoker, or some elaborate outdoor kitchen system. In fact, the cooktop we rely on most became our favorite because of its simplicity, versatility, and how well it fits the way we actually camp. After years of trial and error, this is the one piece of gear that earned a permanent place in our RV life.

About a year ago over Memorial Day weekend, I made a pretty unexpected switch — I stepped away from the Blackstone Adventure Ready and went with something far more familiar and far less flashy: a cheap $20 electric griddle. You know the one. The same style so many of us grew up seeing in our Gen X households, pulled out on Sunday mornings for stacks of flapjacks, bacon, and scrambled eggs while the house slowly came to life. It’s nothing fancy, and it definitely doesn’t have the massive cooktop surface I was used to, but there was something oddly comforting about going back to basics.

The switch to an electric griddle wasn’t random — it came down to a few practical realities we kept running into at camp. It’s lightweight, incredibly compact, and fits cleanly into the outdoor kitchen storage without needing its own dedicated space or awkward hauling setup. For the way we camp now, that simplicity matters. Most of our trips are at full-hookup sites, so instead of burning through propane for cooking, I’m already paying for electricity at the pedestal. Plugging in just makes sense and quietly cuts down on fuel usage and refill trips, which adds up over time.

But honestly, the biggest reasons came down to size, weight, and ease of use. I wanted something that didn’t feel like a production just to cook breakfast or throw together dinner after a long day outside. No hauling, no setup hassle, no refilling tanks — just plug it in and start cooking. That shift simplified our entire camp routine, and it made outdoor meals feel less like a task and more like part of the rhythm of being out there.

After a full year of using it at camp, it’s proven to be more capable than I ever expected. For a family of four, it handles breakfast, grilled sandwiches, and quick dinners without issue, and it’s become one of the most consistent tools in our setup. It doesn’t try to be a showpiece, it doesn’t take up much space, and it just works. Sometimes simplifying the gear ends up making the whole camp cooking experience easier than chasing bigger, more complicated setups ever did.

As much as this little electric griddle has earned its place in our setup, there’s still something about camp cooking that it can’t fully replace. It handles the quick meals and the everyday rhythm of breakfast and dinner with ease, but it doesn’t quite capture that slower, more intentional side of cooking outside. The kind of cooking where you’re not plugged into anything, where the heat isn’t controlled with a dial, and where you work a little closer with the elements instead of just flipping a switch.

That’s where fire and coals come back into the picture. There’s a shift that happens when you move from a cooktop to open flame — the sound, the heat, the patience it demands. It pulls you into the moment in a different way, and suddenly dinner isn’t just about convenience anymore. It becomes an experience.

Cooking with cast iron brings a kind of simplicity and reliability that’s hard to match, especially when you’re out at camp or even just cooking at home. It holds heat evenly, moves effortlessly from stovetop to open fire, and only gets better the more you use it. That natural seasoning builds over time, creating a surface that’s not just functional but deeply personal to the meals you’ve made with it. There’s also something grounding about it — no coatings to worry about, no delicate surfaces, just solid cookware that can handle high heat, coals, and real use without flinching.

What makes cast iron special is how adaptable it is. It can sear a steak over a roaring fire, bake cornbread in an oven, or simmer a sauce on a camp griddle with the same confidence. For camping, it becomes one of the most dependable tools you can pack because it doesn’t rely on anything but heat. At home, it quietly outperforms most modern cookware when it comes to durability and heat retention. It’s one of those things that often gets overlooked for newer, lighter options, but once you start using it regularly, it’s hard to imagine cooking without it.

With the exception of boiling water for pasta, I exclusively cook in cast iron at home. We have three skillets, two griddles, two dutch ovens all of various sizes. Now, I do not take them all with me on a camping trip, at most I’ve taken three: skillet, griddle and a dutch oven. Over time though that has been whittled down to less and less. Honestly, I bring the dutch oven occasionally, but almost always I will throw a skillet into the camper.

A skillet is one of the most versatile tools you can bring into a camp kitchen because it adapts to almost any style of cooking you need on the road. It handles breakfast, lunch, and dinner without needing multiple pans or complicated setups — eggs in the morning, sandwiches at lunch, and seared meats or skillet dinners at night. Cast iron or heavy-duty nonstick versions both hold heat well, which is especially useful at camp where heat sources can vary between propane burners, electric cooktops, or open fire. That consistent heat makes it easier to get reliable results, even when conditions aren’t perfectly controlled.

What really makes a skillet stand out is its ability to transition between cooking methods without missing a beat. You can start something on a stove or griddle and finish it over coals, or move it straight into an oven if you’re cooking inside the RV. It also simplifies packing since one pan can replace several specialized pieces of cookware, saving both space and weight. For campers looking to streamline their kitchen setup without sacrificing meal options, a good skillet quietly becomes one of the most dependable and frequently used pieces of gear in the entire setup.

I’ve recently added a cast iron hibachi charcoal setup into our camp kitchen, and I’ve made a decision to really lean into it for the entire season. There’s something about the simplicity of charcoal cooking that feels like a step back in the best possible way — just fire, heat, and food. On our 2026 shakedown trip, I brought it along for its first real test run, and it didn’t take long before it became the center of camp cooking for the weekend. Lunch was simple hot dogs over the coals, and by dinner we were cooking both veggie and meat skewers, letting the open heat do all the work while everything picked up that smoky, fire-kissed flavor.

Right now, I’m genuinely enjoying this style of cooking more than I expected. The hibachi forces a slower pace and a bit more attention, but that’s part of the appeal — you’re engaged with the fire the entire time instead of just turning knobs or pressing buttons. It’s compact, straightforward, and brings a different energy to meal prep at camp. After just a couple uses, it already feels like it’s earned its spot in the rotation, and I’m curious to see how it holds up as we get deeper into the season.

With the cooktops, griddles, and fire setups dialed in, the next layer of the camp kitchen comes down to the tools that actually bring it all together. The utensils, gadgets, and knives are the quiet workhorses of every meal — the pieces you reach for without thinking, whether you’re flipping skewers over coals, slicing up vegetables, or plating dinner at the picnic table. Over time, I’ve learned that it’s not about having a massive collection of gear, but about carrying a tight, intentional kit that covers every task without cluttering drawers or slowing things down.

These are the items that stay within arm’s reach no matter what cooking method we’re using that day. A solid knife, a dependable set of tongs, a few multi-use tools — they don’t take up much space, but they carry a lot of responsibility in how smoothly camp meals come together. Once you strip everything else away, it’s these small essentials that end up defining how enjoyable and efficient the whole outdoor cooking experience really is.

When it comes to camp cooking, I’ve learned pretty quickly that the best tools aren’t the fancy ones — they’re the ones that can take a beating and keep working meal after meal. My go-to spatula came straight from a restaurant supply store, and it’s exactly what I want in a camp kitchen tool: long handle, wide surface, and built to handle real workload without flexing or giving out. It’s what I use for everything from smashing burgers on the griddle to flipping bigger items that lighter spatulas just can’t manage. Alongside that, a solid pair of tongs rounds out most of the daily cooking. They’re simple, but they’re essential — perfect for flipping bacon, turning wings over open heat, grabbing skewers off the hibachi, or just moving food around when things get busy at camp.

Beyond the hot-side tools, there are a few other essentials that quietly make everything easier. A decent, sharp knife is non-negotiable for me — it handles everything from chopping vegetables to slicing proteins and prepping ingredients without slowing down the flow of cooking. A collapsible colander also earns its spot, especially for draining pasta or rinsing fruit after a long day outside. And tucked into the kit is a simple meat thermometer, which has saved more than a few meals from guesswork, making sure everything is cooked safely without overdoing it. None of these tools are complicated on their own, but together they form the backbone of how I cook at camp every day.

At the end of the day, this is the setup that has added real value to our outdoor cooking experience. It’s not about having the most gear or the most complex system — it’s about having the right pieces that actually get used trip after trip. From the cooktops to the cast iron, from the hibachi to the simple electric griddle, and down to the handful of utensils that do the heavy lifting, everything in our camp kitchen has earned its place through real use on the road. Over time, it’s become less about collecting gear and more about refining what truly makes cooking outside easier, more enjoyable, and more consistent for our family.

And maybe this setup isn’t exactly what you use — and that’s completely fine. That’s the beauty of RV life. Everyone finds their own rhythm, their own tools, and their own way of making camp feel like home. What works for us might not work for you, and what works for you might look completely different from this. The only thing I’d really caution against is packing everything “just in case” and throwing the kitchen sink into your RV. That kind of weight and clutter adds up fast, and most of it ends up unused anyway. Keep what serves you, ditch what doesn’t, and build a kitchen that actually fits the way you travel.

Alright my friends, the conversation doesn’t have to end here. If anything we talked about sparked your curiosity, head over to RV Out West dot com and take a moment to check out the show notes. We’ve got links to everything we mentioned so you can dive deeper and explore more. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend or family member. 

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Next week on the show, we’re joined by Seattle author Langon Cook for a deep dive into the world of foraging and wild foods. If you’ve ever been curious about stepping off the trail and actually identifying what’s edible around you, this conversation opens the door in a way that feels approachable and grounded. From forest floors to shoreline finds, we talk about how people are reconnecting with food sources that don’t come from a grocery shelf.

If you’ve got any interest in finding your own food, cooking a wild foods meal at camp, or you’ve been even a little curious about mushrooms and what’s safe to harvest, you will not want to miss this episode. We cover it all — practical tips, safety, mindset, and how foraging can completely change the way you experience time outside.