Cooking - what do I need?

[RandomHouseRules]

We are going on our first proper family camping trips this year, have two trips booked: 2 nights and 5 nights. We had a couple of trial trips last year and borrowed one of those tiny stoves that runs off a canister, which was fine for a night but not for longer I don't think. There are 4 of us and we will definitely eat evening meals in pubs most some of the time but want to be able to drum up occasional meals, brekkies, boil the kettle etc and we like the romance (and warmth) of real fire (but worried about safety with young children). We have been searching the Internet for what we need and are baffled by the options. Please mumsnet, what do we need to get? Space is an issue as we have bought a mahusive tent and do not have a mahusive car! Budget flexible.

Tia for advice!

How young are the children? I only ask because we started camping 5 years ago when then kids were 5 & 2 and have always cooked on this supplemented by a single burner stove which is mainly used for the first teas and coffees of the day. We also have this for sites that don't allow fires but have never used it.

There is nothing quite like a real fire and cooking on it. Our 2 DCs can now both build and light the fire pretty confidently and under supervision.

We camp a lot. We have a fire box if we want a fire but I don't cook on a campfire that often. We are usually out for the whole day walking/canoeing/cycling and when we get back the last thing we want to do is to wait ages for food.

We have a camping two ring burner - very simple and cheap, we replaced our first one which was 25 years old two years ago - it still works fine but it had the grill which was always useless and a bit of rust so I bought a new one without the grill.

We also have a trangia stove for weekend camping which is tiny, includes pans and all sorts of things and uses meths rather than a gas bottle.

Both of our options are small in size, campingaz 904 bottles are small and one lasted us all year last year even though we camped for four months. We just use it for breakfast and probably eat dinner out half the time, unless the weather is grim when we eat out more.

From an ambience point of view, we have two Feuerhand Storm Lanterns which give a lovely light - we definitely light fewer fires since we bought them and I definitely look better in the light of a real flame, esp when camping!

Thanks for these responses. It is so co,,placated - everyone seems to have multiple options! For year one I think we can only buy one thing.

Kids are both under 6 HillBilly. The go anywhere weber looks good why didn't you use it?

So complicated!

I would just go for a cheap double burner for now, this sort of thing, better without the grill imo as they are rubbish (but then it could have changed in 25 years!):

www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-Camping-Chef-Tubing-Clips/dp/B0014BSDXU/ref=sr_1_3?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1423862074&sr=1-3&keywords=double+ring+gas+stove

You then just need a camping gaz bottle - if you have a camping gaz regulator you can use the small but still useful sized bottles but calor gas is cheaper so if you get a calor gas regulator you get to buy cheap gas but have to carry a bigger bottle.

Our first stove like the one is now in our house emergency/power cut stash. I don't think you can go wrong with something like that really, not many things last 25 years but this is still going strong.

We didn't use the weber because it is only a back up in case of damp wood or for a campsite that does not allow fires on the ground. We have just never needed to use it.

The other thing for us is that we just love a fire and really enjoy cooking on it and it's a big part of our camping experience. In fact we only go to sites that allow fires

I had a big weber bbq at home I was used to so bought the Weber Go Anywhere bbq last year. I took that and a one ring suitcase burner which takes the little cans that look like big deodorant spray bottles

The suitcase burner is great for a quick breakfast (one of kids pretty much only eats scrambled egg for breakfast), and the Weber for dinner - but you do need to allow time for the coals to get to the right temp.

Most of us don't need all the options we have, we just love campfire cooking paraphernalia

I would either invest in a trad two ring campingGaz stove, with the medium sized gas bottle, or buy two of the 'suitcase' single ring burners which run of the aerosol type cannisters. like this. In fact if you are only ever going to boil a kettle or fry in a frying pan at any one time you could manage with one. This will probably be more economical on space than a two-ring stove and a gas bottle.

Then once you are hooked you can decide between a Weber Go Anywhere BBQ or a Campfire Grill or get both like Hillbilly and I

I have a camping gaz stove that used to belong to my parents and has worked well for years. It has a little gauze thing that drops down over one of the rings to toast things on. The gas bottle lasts for ages.

I also have a cheap little bucket barbecue that does the job, and once we're done barbecuing we put a fire log in it for a mess-free camp fire.

I can't wait for warmer weather so I can get sizzling up my morning bacon in a dewy field again!

£40 but you need to buy regulator and re-fillable gas bottle hose and regulator full gas bottle Once empty you just swap it for a full one at your llocal supplier and just pay for the gas, usually about £25. Lasts for ages and ages. You must use the correct regulator for the gas. This regulator and gas combo is compatible.

We take a bbq for cooking and to have a fire in for the evening. We have a single gas burner for boiling kettle and making toast. we always camp with friends and they have burners too, so have a couple on the go if we want bacon/sausages in the morning. Some nights we do snacky stuff and dips.. pitta breads are great cooked on the bbq.

We have the Weber go anywhere but only because DH likes a barbie. We also have a single-ring gas stove (suitcase style like Blu linked to). This is fine for us.

I mainly came on to point you in the way of Decathlon. If you haven't been already then you must go, loads of camping gear and it is really cheap, but not nasty. Oh, and do invest in a proper stove-top kettle. I battled on for a couple of years with a tiny Trangia one and/or saucepan. Finally bought a kettle last year and it has made a massive difference!

You could get a collapsible kettle!

Though I have stainless steel with foldiing handle - I have an aversion to aluminium and am sure it makes my coffee taste not-good.

Wow. Great info and ideas, thanks. dH's birthday is soon and he wants some kit for camping. I think I will go with the single burner option and maybe a bbq for starters. I love the idea of a collapsible kettle too!

Is Decathlon better than Go Outdoors?

Thanks all!

I'm currently looking for a windscreen for my cooker. (The cheap type with 'aerosol' cartridges). Seen any?

I suspect that this is made for primus stoves, but would be good along the windward side of a single burner, I reckon.
Or this looks ideal.
Or this?

Thanks Bru. Second one looks perfect.

I'm gonna throw the Cadac safari into the mix, bit of a cross between the weber go anywhere and a one ring burner. It comes with a grill plate, barbecue and you can even use the lid to cook in so reduces my pan needs.
When we have a fire, it's great for kettles and the like but we ended up booked on a French campsite with no charcoal even. This ticked all the boxes, it's pretty compact and versatile.

I was just going to post about the cadac Safari too, we've owned ours for about 10 years and it is still going strong.

We use it as a gas burner to boil the kettle, the lid doubles as a wok or frying pan. It has a griddle plate that is great for burgers, bacon and sausages.
I even use it at home for cooking DH's veggie stuff when we are barbecuing.

oh this looks good. How well does it pack down? I have just done an audit of how much stuff we have to fit in the car and am starting to get worried about space!

It comes in a bag about 40cm diameter and 30cm deep. Mine has pockets for the gas bottle on the side too. We also take a camping saucepan, the handle folds over the lid and clips on, and a camp kettle but that generally does us for a weekend.

I think this is the answer. Thank you all. Now what other bits do I need? Hose, regulator, gas? Do shops ever sell bundles so you know you are getting all the right bits?

Got ours from here www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Cadac_Safari_Chef_Deluxe_L.P.html
You need a hose, blue regulator which you can buy from there too. Gas bottles need picking up as you can't ship them. You can either get campingaz (more expensive but able to swap in Europe) or calor gas (cheaper but UK only, 4.5kg was prob a third full after 2 week holiday using every day, all meals) you can also get a Low pressure to high pressure converter and use it with the tiny campingaz that fits in the bag pocket for a weekend.

Thanks so much.