Cooking from the TaG galley

[Deleted User]

We have not used our new boondock yet. This may seem like a silly question but it's one I am serious about! Does everyone cook in the back of their trailer. I ask this because we had planned to cook in our Cabela's kitchen away from where we sleep. I'm wondering if this is a valid concern or just silly. How many of you cook in back? any of you that don't? My concern is bears of course. We'll be camping in bear country. Please share your thoughts.

(Title edited for search purposes.)

TomD

We cook in the galley all the time. If you handle your garbage appropriately the bears will behave appropriately. We don’t do greasy cooking stuff in the galley so no nasty build-up is present on the galley surfaces to entice the bears. Also, we never store food in the galley. Food’s either in a bear box/cannister or we move on. No food storage in the car either unless you want to replace your hatchback or passenger doors and widows. The bear will not be denied when it comes to treats

[Deleted User]

Thank you for the response Tom. To clarify...you don't cook things like bacon or use your galley cooler either? Linda

WilliamA

I use my galley for a kitchen constantly. I close it at night and take my trash to the dumpster. I live in bear country and haven't had a problem. I don't keep food inside but keep the galley stocked. I worry more about raccoons wrecking stuff and plan accordingly. Use the emergency horn button on your key fob if bears start skulking about. No, I don't pack a gun. I do, however, have a deadly ultralight fishing rod. The bass hate it...
WilliamA

[Deleted User]

Thank you William. Lol on the raccoons...we always put all our food away for the same reason, and would definitely close the galley at night. Great idea about the fob.

TomD

Roxrog... definitely no to the bacon. Even out of bear country we don’t cook this. We love bacon but the work involved managing the grease and cleanup negates the enjoyment for us. William is right on with his comments about the raccoons. You need to watch those guys. They don’t care what is going on anywhere

LuckyJ

You could prercook the bacon. Leave only a few minute cooking at camp. Their is always a way to have bacon!

mgreen2

It there is just two of us we cook in the clamshell using the 2 burners. We’ve done steaks, fish, everything on it we would do on a grill or large stove. It cleans up easily and we cook bacon in a large cast iron frying pan so minimal splatter. If we have others with us we have a 3 burner CampChef stove with a griddle and use it. It’s better for a big meal and with 3 burners there is plenty of room for all the chefs. I have an 10 ft LP line extension hose running from the front tank for the CampChef stove.

Dan_Ann

We cook in the back for all of our meals. We store most of the perishables in a cooler which is kept in the car. We use the Norcold mainly for drinks and items that will be used for the day. After use, we just clean up well, throw out the trash, lock everything up. No problems with critters!

WilliamA

@Dan_Ann said:
We cook in the back for all of our meals. We store most of the perishables in a cooler which is kept in the car. We use the Norcold mainly for drinks and items that will be used for the day. After use, we just clean up well, throw out the trash, lock everything up. No problems with critters!

Yeah...What Dan_Ann said.
As to dealing with bears, always try to camp next to someone who is slower than you....then don't worry about it...Plus, you can slip your bacon drippings in their trash...
WilliamA

Sparrow

I cook in the back all the time. My biggest issue was a racoon who wanted in on my food. But I locked everything up in the car at night. But I saute meat and made sauces and cooked ham and bacon and had no issues. But I wasn't in bear country either. Id like to hear more about that...

rich67

We have a Coleman 2 burner camp stove we set up on either the picnic table or our folding table and use that on occasion. We use the stove in the galley as well. The camp stove just gives us more options and it's great for bacon...no splatter on things that matter. We haven't used the camper in bear country yet, but the other suggestions above all are spot on. We have tent camped in those areas, and keeping food in the bear cans/containers and not in your car, trash always empty, etc. is the way to go. Keeping stuff in the fridge is questionable; I guess it depends on what it is.

TomD

We camp a lot in bear country. We transfer all the food, including the Norcold stuff, into an ice chest and store it in the provided bear box. We have seen too many videos and pictures of bears tearing everything up from RV’s to cars just to get at a bag of potato chips or box of cereal. We like to sleep at night

tagurit

We do bacon or sausage every morning on our Blackstone griddle, camping just isn't camping without the big breakfast! Clean up is easy, scrape the drippings into grease trap and wipe everything down with paper towels (I know the use of paper will get me hated but I can't do without them!) and wrap them up in a grocery bag (got to have them, too!) and put it in the bear-proof trash. Never have had a problem with critters but we do always have our dog with us.

LuckyJ

@tagurit said:
........(I know the use of paper will get me hated but I can't do without them!) and wrap them up in a grocery bag (got to have them, too!)......

As for the paper towel, as long as you have the one made from recycled fibers, then it is not too bad.

I am not a fan of the grocery bag, but if you used them for garbage bag, then you are trading one for the other. So I guess you are good to go as well.

But paper plates and trowable drinking container, really get me going.

Michigan_Mike

I’ve camped in bear country many times and have seen people do foolish things like leaving coolers and food out, etc. As noted above and if available use the provided food storage enclosures that the National Parks have on site, minimize scent, read up on the subject and also take the time to read bulletin boards in campgrounds, any alerts posted, sightings, etc. Practicing best food storage practices and eliminating scent, etc. will go a long way, but you can never be too safe. Bear are smart and they have become adept at breaking into cars, etc. I would never store food with scent in one of these trailers and would contain all food and juices or grease that come out of them. A trip to the trash dumpster each night will save you and any nearby bear dividends!

rickwe818

I always think the bears will come around when we cook bacon in the back of our Tag, but they never do. For the most part bears are solitary creatures, and shy away from humans. But, with bears you never know when one will show up. If you're concerned, I'd keep a can of bear spray next to your can of PAM. Enjoy the experience of cooking outside!

Michigan_Mike

True.... And follow the food safe handling and storage practices outlined by the National Parks Service as it's important. Bears are normally wanting to avoid humans, but that isn't always the case and they become acclimated, aggressive and invasive if they are allowed to eat human food. Their scent ability is over the top and this is why you always want to handle and store food properly when in bear country. They have been known to shred campers and vehicles in their quest for food.

BBsGarage

"acclimated, aggressive and invasive " sounds like my mother-in-law

willbingham1

I add to my TAG on rear cooking counter a small toaster oven and its great to cook toast, heat up precooked (home prepared) pasta meals, and especially my favorite the aluminum foil camp dinner with selected meat (like chicken breast, hamburger patty, or pork) with cut up onion, green pepper, cut up potato, carrots, and season to like. Cook the camp aluminum foil dinner about 1 hour at 350. Yum, yum! Then watch out for bears to compete with you! (Two and four legged kind) Yes carefully pack food items in bear country by running up on rope container on tree limb, or in those supplied bear proof containers--including your tooth paste! Did so while motorcycle camping in tent while in Yosemite a few years back. Bill

Squeezebox

I cook in mine alot. I am however going to add a back splash. Stove and sink tend to splash. Its hard on the wood. Cook away my dear!

Michigan_Mike

I found some diamond plate at Home Depot, used a small beveling style bit on it and used some wood screws to fasten it to the wall of my former 5-wide to create a nice back splash plate. I also added a small piece of diamond plate to the countertop to allow me to set hot pans on and it worked nicely. They also have some creative metal stick on wall tiles and such now that allow people to be more creative.

Good stuff for sure!

Somemedic

I do love to vintage metal signs found on Fleabay. They just seem to work

beaky

coffee, bacon and eggs, sautee veggies, and reheating risotto using boiling water and a strainer. everything else on a podunk Weber grill that barbeques flawlessly with a handful of charcoal, takes up zero space, and cleans in seconds. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/charcoal-grills/89670?store=14550&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_dWGBhDAARIsAMcYuJziSuzqeDHzlZUrmPxQT9P8o6c4x-IZHAg-hmz7BPdY-e0HbK80raMaAgnOEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

GigHarborTom

Coffee on the trailer stove. We cook everything else on an electric griddle, 2 burner Coleman, and/or Micro wave. The stove and griddle sit nicely under my bunk when under way. Along with , 12Gauge extension, other stuff. We do like the vintage sign back splash. Even so, wife hates to hide the wood.
Just for the fun of it, we picked up a beautiful thick steak, in CleElum WA last year. Cooked it on the electric griddle, and it turned out great to our surprise.

JamesDow

This is the grill that I use. A charcoal grill even at 15x21x12 it too large for me to want to carry in my Rav4. My griddle is cast iron and weighs more than I would like, but fits perfectly on my 2018 5w T@G stove. This size is not easy to come by. Reversible, so works for a lot of dishes. 2 1/2 years now and no complaints.

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HikinMike

Wow. I've been looking for that size. Thanks JamesDow

Yes, we cook in back. Never camped in bear country but have been around racoons. We are plant based so we dont have to deal with grease and stuff. Before we turn in for the evening, the galley is cleaned and scrubbed with everything locked away and all trash placed in the dumpsters.

GigHarborTom

Dang, just gave one of those away a couple months ago.

mgreen2

If it’s just 2 of us we cook everything on the T@G stove. If we are camping with friends we take a Camp Chef 3 burner stove. It’s heavy but worth it to do big meals.

Somemedic

I have 2 6in pans and an 8in that I can make most things with. I use the 8 as a lid sometimes.

I'm thinking about a small toaster oven tho. I'm not sure I may remove the microwave and retro fit a gas oven from Bontragers.

I like my biscuits n cornbread

Frogger

@ Somemedic...bet that corned beef is good long side some eggs & a bowl of grits...