In light of the CO issue, how/ where do you cook?

[Heavymetalmater]

Really worried about the carbon monoxide issue and cooking when camping. Just wondering what your cooking setup is. Was planning on cooking near the tent protected by a windbreak but not sure what i will do if its raining. Dont dare cook in the canopy now.

We have that set-up and after a miserable fortnight of rain and we ended up spending fortune in eating out so have now plumped for camping in warmer countries.Have noticed lots of people have cooking are under a gazebo which is good idea.

With the door and all the vents open you should be fine. Just don't leave the cooker on for ages as a 'heater'.

We cook in our tent. We keep the front open, plus the vents by the cooker. We don't have a sewn in ground sheet.

If you go on a Keycamp / Eurocamp holidays the gas stoves are always in the tent. It must be ok so long as you have adequate ventilation.

We cook outside if it's fine and in the extension if it's wet, doesn't have a sewn in groundsheet. Problems come if you try to heat the tent using burners...don't do this!!!

We had a wee Coleman shelter which allows you to cook away from tent even in bad weather.

We have a separate tent which is actually supposed to be a toilet tent, and shut the gas off when not actively in use.

just heard on the news when got back from caping this weekend abot gthe latest tragic death, we've got an awning without a groundsheet that I cook in usually whether its wet or not as its where i set up the kitchen stuff, the door front dawn is always open though, now am not sure if this is suffcient precaution or if I'm taking a risk...............

Oh how horrendous, have just seen the story. We have cooked on a gas hob in our tent before, with hungry children, pouring rain etc it is very tempting. But we do not have a sewn in ground sheet, our tent is very drafty when not in the pods.

However I will not allow it now. Our friends had the wee Coleman tent and I think we will get one too and cook away from our tent.

Outside on a Trangia.
We have a big porch for our tent which has a six foot wide opening (the whole front is open). If it is chucking it down I put the Trangia just far enough inside that we don't get rain in the curry. There's no SIG and there's a big gap where the porch bit joins the tent. It feels very well ventilated when I cook there (as in I need a waterproof on).
I wouldn't ever use a heater in the tent. I hadn't thought about a BBQ next to but outside the tent though. I suppose ours is always miles away from the tent as I am worried about fire and reckless children.

Terribly sad news over the weekend.

I never cook or use anything that has to be lit in, or even under the porch of my tent. I'd rather be wet and cold, or go out for fish and chips than set fire to my tent, with or without my family inside, or risk CO poisoning. Why risk it?

My options are
Stove on little table on the ground with little wind shield (coat and umbrella if it's raining)
Kitchen/utility tent (no sig, door open, back window open, set well away from tent
Under the tarp +/- windbreak

We do occasionally use the gas stove to make tea inside the tent but only with the doors open. Otherwise we cook outside the tent, and well away from the tent if bbq due to the smell.

I do remember one memorable trip in Mull where DH and I wildcamped on a beautiful beach in the pissing rain with only bbq food for dinner and no shops open or even nearby. We waterproofed up and held a brolly over the fire. Grim.

We cook in the awning of our campervan with the door open etc. We also have a co monitor alarm thingy which stays in the van so that should anything happen it'd wake us.

We have a cheap gazebo from Wilkinsons, think it cost about £15 and has lasted for a couple of years in dubious summer weather conditions. We take a long piece of wood and two fold up trestles and make ourselves quite at home (unless the rain is coming horizontally ) With hindsight I would go for a gazebo with the rolly up and down sides so we could have a little protection from the pissing rain and near tornado conditions blazing British sunshine.
I have also glared enviously at seen a quite splendid kitchen tent which is definately on my ever expanding "must have" list

Outside, always. I'd never cook in or near the tent, to me it's just not worth the risk of either fire or CO poisoning. If we're car camping at a proper campsite we bring the gazebo, otherwise we've always just managed out in the open. If you've got a good campfire, and waterproofs on, the rain isn't that much of a problem IME.

Alternatively we go to the pub if there is one!

We cook outside (BBQ and gas stove) behind a windbreak. If it's raining we eat out or sandwiches in the tent.

Just cut and pasting the advice from the other thread. It seems it is never safe to cook in the tent. Also useful to know that CO monitors don't work properly in tents:

Safety Tips

Never take a barbecue into a tent, awning, caravan or motorhome. A warm, smouldering barbecue gives off plenty of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO), which can kill.

Never use a fuel-burning appliance to heat your tent or awning. Gas and kerosene heaters ? unless they are permanently fitted in a caravan or motorhome ? should only be used outside. Stoves and barbecues are designed for cooking not space heating.

Never run a gas-, petrol- or diesel-powered generator inside a caravan, motorhome, tent or awning.

Don?t cook inside your tent or awning, unless there?s an area specifically designed for this purpose and you?re sure there is adequate ventilation. To work safely gas, meths and petrol stoves need more ventilation than your tent or awning is designed to provide and there?s also the risk of fire.

Don?t use any other gas, charcoal or liquid fuel appliances inside a tent or awning. Gas-powered fridges and lamps, for example, also need plenty of ventilation to prevent them producing poisonous carbon monoxide. Tents and awnings aren?t generally designed with this in mind.

Don?t rely on a carbon monoxide (CO) detector to keep you safe in a tent or awning. They may be useful at home, in a caravan or in a motorhome, but they are not designed for the conditions found in a tent or awning.

Always have gas appliances in your caravan or motorhome serviced regularly.

I have a little 3 man tent which I used last year at Camp Bestival, I cooked outside the tent. When it rained, I think I may have had my little meths cooker under the door flap which was held out like an awning (big tent envy) but it was as far from the tent as possible to prevent the flap falling onto the cooker in event of it coming detached from the fishing rods holding it up.

Just wondering if that is classified as cooking in an awning...

We use windbreaks and have one that has a "roof" section to it. Many a time DH has stood in the rain under his huge umbrella! I have always refused to cook inside, but it was through fear of fire - I had never considered the Carbon Monoxide thing!

Happy to cook under an open sided gazebo though - and if our tent had had a big porch would have like that and probably used that too.

Fannybazaar I think an awning is more enclosed than that :)

I keep this in my tent which makes me feel much safer as it always reads zero. I tend to cook about 4-5 metres away from the tent under a gazebo if it is raining.

FannyBazaar - I think when they talk about awnings they mean the awnings you have on a caravan which are enclosed and like a tent attached to a caravan like this:

www.riverswayleisure.co.uk/acatalog/info_103654.html

Whereas what you describe is just like a tarp over the front of a tent and open on all sides so there is plenty of ventilation.