Vintage RVs aren't the best place to cook. Our kitchen works, but it's cramped. Vans are even more cramped. Most of the time we cook outside and if you're planning to do this I'd plan to cook outside as well. 

I end up cooking a few different ways. 

**Grilling**: Thanks to all the testing I've done for *Wired*, I've grilled on everything from the provided pit at state park campground to some fancy grills like the Green Egg. My favorite, and the one I actually own, is the Weber Smokey Joe portable grill. It's big enough to feed a family of five, but small enough to still be portable. I've customized and modified mine a bit, which you can read about in my [guide to grilling and smoking on the road]().

**Stovetop**: Again, I've tested just about every two-burner stove on the market, and at the end of the day the one I actually own in the Coleman two-burner propane stove. It's cheap, cooks well in wind, and it simmers. I have a small collection of cast iron pans, two pots, and that's it. Most of the time I use the pressure cooker.

**Pressure Cooker**: Pressure cookers I have not tested extensively. The one I own was recommended to me by someone I trust, and I love it. It's the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic (I have the 7.4-quart model). It was well worth the money, and I can't imagine anything that would make it better. A pressure cooker saves tons of time and fuel (once you get it pressurized it takes barely any heat to keep it there). I have a bunch of go-to recipes that involve nothing more than throwing stuff in the pressure cooker and turning it on. Some time later, dinner is served. Simple and sweet.

**Dutch Oven**: This is the latest one I've tackled. I haven't done a ton of dutch oven cooking yet, but what I have has been fun and not too difficult. The hardest part here is translating oven-based recipes to dutch oven with coals recipes. I'm still figuring out how many coals and at what stage of coal produces the best result. I also suspect that there is considerable variation between dutch ovens. Currently I have a [cheapo 10-inch Lodge dutch oven](https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L10CO3-Cast-Dutch-4-Quart/dp/B00008GKDV/?tag=lxf0d-20){: rel=nofollow}. It works fine, but does not fill me with joy. I'm on the hunt for an older, better model.