Stove or NO stove - Page 2

rockbender · 07-15-2014, 10:35 AM

The little butane stoves are handy and do a great job of boiling water or cooking up a quick simple meal inside, and double as an extra burner if you need it outside. We currently have take one of these that is easily accessed from the inside as well as a standard grill/stove combo for outside that stores under the rear '50' platform in back.

That being said, if/when we do another van that has propane anyway for a furnace, I would probably do a SMEV flush mount stove inside the van even if its only purpose was to make coffee in the morning. Right now we have a diesel furnace so it isn't worth the bother to do a permanent propane tank mount just for running a stove top.

86Scotty · 07-15-2014, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockbender

That being said, if/when we do another van that has propane anyway for a furnace, I would probably do a SMEV flush mount stove inside the van even if its only purpose was to make coffee in the morning. Right now we have a diesel furnace so it isn't worth the bother to do a permanent propane tank mount just for running a stove top.

I 2nd that. Before you decide yay or nay on a stove I would definitely look at the SMEV stuff. It's very nice and the stove/sink combos may fit where you were just gonna put a sink. I would've loved one but couldn't afford it for my build.

Jeffrey · 07-15-2014, 04:06 PM

Can't tell you how happy I am that I did not get the built-in counter stove. That counter space is too valuable. Besides, I would never actually cook in my van. All my dinners are precooked and only require zapping in the microwave. I eat very well and even gourmet, I like to think. I don't eat meat or bird or eggs so anything like a frying pan or a BBQ is not a part of my life. And my van never stinks from cooking greasy animal flesh and fat. There are so many good and tasty dinners available at a good deli case, that I could live on that for weeks. I do have the small black
butane stovefor boiling water, which I do a few times a year for my coffee drinking friends.

Ocsmb · 07-15-2014, 07:03 PM

These past couple posts bring up a great question. 'What kind of meals are you planning on making when camping?' That's the key to your answer.

Me and the usual suspects I camp with are savage carnivores and cook everything right at camp. Its a big part of camping, labor of love and something I look forward to.

Foldable bbq/fire pit (pit-2-go) and butane single burner stove is how I cook 90% of my meals. Also, I love my huge fridge with freezer. Finally, I almost never use my microwave. Its weak and it takes forever to warm stuff. Contemplating yanking it as all its good for now is packing it with dry goods.

Pschitt · 07-15-2014, 07:19 PM

My two cents...

Since I'm planning to leave year round in VivaLaVida for several years at least, I couldn't imagine it without a stove. But I didn't want propane for two reasons :
- you have to install a propane tank which take quite a lot of space.
- when you change of country, the propane fittings usually change too!
That's why I went with a diesel glass stove which works great. Diesel comes directly from main tank, so it's never empty... I'm really happy with that setup.

**daveb** · 07-15-2014, 09:53 PM

I thought I'd never want the propane stove but ended up ditching the butane stove and going with the SMEV and I like it. I camp in cold weather a lot so it made sense. Coffee tea soup and boiling water is so much cleaner and easier to deal with. I hated messing with the butane stove and hauling fuel bottles. YMMV.
One thing about a propane system is if you want you can have a extenda stay hose connection set up so you can run a BBQ but I just carry a small 1 gallon tank for outside which gets 90% of the use along with the BBQ.
Worth it? Pure luxury and a little less operating hassle. I would have gone diesel but it was twice the cost.

4MacFam · 07-16-2014, 05:03 AM

How you gonna use your SMB and WHERE? Easy to cook outside in CA with no rain and mild temps. We camp year round, in the rain, in the snow, in the mosquitos, and sometimes good weather. We cook outside whenever we can, but I love the option of cooking inside and I would NOT want to set up any kind of stove inside the SMB instead of a built in. Try picturing all your camping locations and different weather conditions.

Are you gonna do any stealth camping, Walmart parking lot stays, waysides while traveling, etc. There could be situations that you can't set up your outside camp stove.

We also have a hot water heater and a furnace running off our propane system. Use them all. Can't imagine the $$$ of adding these after the build.

purana182 · 07-16-2014, 04:09 PM

Thank you all so much for the great info!

A little background on me: I am in So Cal, so I get the benefit of pretty good weather most of the time. However I do plan on Mountain camping, winter camping etc, so I am sure I will run in to some rainy days. I also plan on cooking 90% of my meals outdoors on my Camp Chef burners & BBQ. Lastly, I am not 100% positive yet, but I am leaning towards the EB SMB rather than the RB, so I will have a little extra space.

After reading most everyone's posts, I think it would be best for me to leave out the stove and just keep an extra butane stove in the van for the early morning coffee, the occasional rainy day and what not.

However, I guess the other things I need to figure out is if I am going to go with the propane system or not for the furnace and water heater. If I go with that, it seems like it would make the most since to just go ahead and get the flush mount stove, because why not, I already have the propane. Right.

At least that seems like the best way to think of it... I guess... decisions decisions....

86Scotty · 07-16-2014, 04:54 PM

I know, decisions, decisions...........BUT...........A mounted propane furnace is just awesome. Nothing compares when it's cold, and to me at least, I'd MUCH rather camp in the cold than in the heat. If you do go with propane for water or heat, I would at least just have them stub (plumb) in a line for a stove in the future. They can just cap a line and leave it behind the counter, then it's simple to add a stove later if you have the counter space.

Good luck

purana182 · 07-16-2014, 05:12 PM

yea, thats kind of what I meant. Was that it seems like the decision on the stove, for me at least, will be if I go with the propane system in general. If I do, then it doesn't really make sense to not get the stove. I'll just get the flush mount one and have it in there, seems to make the most sense. But if I end up not wanting/getting the propane system then I will obviously go without the stove too.