What do we keep in the teardrop galley?

The galley of a teardrop is what sets this type of trailer apart from every other trailer. The galley is usually small, but can be extremely efficient and well designed. While the Sunflower is a commercial trailer, I really like the galley. It's open and clean and I can see nearly everything. We don't keep very much in it as you can see below.



Our stove is a Coleman grill with one burner. We've cooked everything from steak and fish to pancakes and eggs. The little legs keep it wedged under the galley shelf during transportation. I do put little rubber skids under the legs to keep it from sliding.


This little sunflower is a wooden trivet that we use to put hot pans or pots on. Hot cast iron will burn or melt wood and plastic picnic tables.


Our cutting boards fit perfectly into the galley shelf. I've mentioned this before, but the smaller one is actually a divider that goes into a spiral binder.






Our various cups, plates and crockery are all plastic for travel reasons. Most of them I got from a thrift store, and we have enough to feed four to five people. The fish plates are used as serving plates, and they don't fit the Sunflower theme very well (I won them during a contest at a picnic).




In two blue toy boxes we carry olive oil, spray oil, salt, pepper, spices and some hot sauces.


We also carry a small spray bottle filled with soap and water to do quick dish washes while eating on the road.


Hot coffee on a cold morning while camping is very important to us. This French press by Thermos makes at least four small cups of coffee.



Two essential items on the shelf are paper towels and aluminum foil....


...and two spatulas—one plastic and one metal.


In our two red dishpans, we carry everyday kitchen items like...


...our cast iron pan which I rescued from a rust-covered life in someone's yard,


a small bag that holds plastic grocery bags for garbage,


our two oven mitts, 


an extra bottle of propane,


and some dish towels and rags for cleaning up.


The only (and very small) drawer holds not only our cutlery, but a few tools and odds and ends like...


...the dish soap and sponge,


various kitchen tools like a good knife, peeler, can opener, bottle opener and tongs.


Of course, we have enough spoons, forks and knives for several people including two grapefruit spoons.


We've also crammed in some lighters with fuel, scissors, a mesh strainer and a pen.


We also have some emergency matches, and a clothespin always seems to come in handy.


In our one cabinet (along with the battery) we have our various pots. Personally, I think we have too many, but they all serve different needs. This one is usually reserved for our shower setup.


This pot has a locking lid and holes for draining pasta and vegetables. We carry a measuring cup inside of it.


This pot has two lips for pouring out water or hot milk into coffee and hot chocolate.


This is a bowl we use for mixing breads and eggs or for holding a salad. It was left behind in a campground bear box.


This pot is primarily used for heating up water on the campfire. It's become a little black.


Last of all is our open storage area. This area holds the two dishpans, the main propane tank, a 2.5 gallon water container and a plastic bin for dry goods. The plastic bin is handy in that it can be taken out of the galley and moved to a picnic table for quick access.


The plastic bin (which we've had for nearly 13 years) usually carries coffee, hot chocolate, a container of sugar, honey, plastic bags, creamer, rice or pasta and some storage containers. On a short or long trip—this thing is stocked full.

Looking back at the photos—it seems like a lot of stuff! However, when they are neatly organized and stored away, all the items don't seem like too much to carry around in your own mobile kitchen.

8 comments:

  1. What is it that is fun about snooping in someone's kitchen? I love it. What gets me through the winter and no teardrop is looking around for more doodads for my camper. I have so many just-in-case things in my rig that I was pretty disgusted with myself when I needed to light a candle last summer and the only flame I had carried with me was one of those butane things that was out of fuel. Figures.

    I have so far been content to cook with an electric frying pan. You can wrap almost anything in foil and make a little oven out of it. I tend to camp where there's shore power, so the connection is not a problem for me. Campfire cooking is attractive to me, but since I fly solo, I can rarely rationalize the commitment to building one.

    You didn't talk about your refrigeration needs in this post, but I know that you've discussed your cooler in the past. Hubby bought me the cutest little dual-powered refrigerator that I test drove last year and was amazed at how quickly it got cool. It's really small, though would hold a few things for breakfast. I could keep it inside and enjoy breakfast in bed, especially if I'd thought to put some coffee in a thermos the night before.

    When I can figure out how to post a photo in your comments section, I will do that. My kitchen is a lot like yours. I like it a lot.

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    1. Thank you ML! Yes, it's better than snooping around a medicine cabinet. :-) I will probably do a future post on our cooler, it's nothing special, but we do have a special way of holding our food that people might find interesting. I would love to have a plugin-in refrigerator, but they don't hold very much.

      I would love to see your kitchen! You can send me a photo at christinatn(at)gmail(dot)com if you want.

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  2. Another great post! I am almost done restoring my vintage teardrop, and between that and this blog, I can barely wait until it is a bit warmer.

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    1. Thank you Stephanie. I would love to see photos of your teardrop when it's completed. Good for you!

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  3. Really enjoyed your post, so many great ideas, you definitely have camp cooking down to a science. When I tent camp I tend to bring everything, including the kitchen sink. Now that I have a teardrop, sans galley, I have pared everything down to fit in one small plastic storage tub. My goal is to make only one trip to the car before I go. Thanks for your terrific blog, with 7 feet of snow outside, it's nice to come here and be reminded of sunny camping days ahead.

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    1. Thank you Lid Lifter! Yes, even when we tent camped, we tried to keep everything organized in boxes, but still took a lot of trips back and forth to the car. I also have a goal of being ready to go for a teardrop trip in 30 minutes.

      Seriously, I wish we had seven feet of snow in our area. We need the water.

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  4. Very cool seeing inside and the efficiency that you two have created. Nice.

    Since we no longer have our 40ft 5th wheel, we think we want to get something small for outings.

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    1. Hi Jerry! I'm sorry we missed each other in Tahoe last summer. What have you been looking at getting?

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