Pop-up with outdoor kitchen - design ideas!

[fireball]

Hello all,

While I love the extra space afforded by the pop-up, one of my biggest complaints is that when camping we will always cook outside. So many of the interior cooking features would be not needed, and quick and easy access to an exterior kitchen setup would be very important to us. I just realized that All Terrain Campers will do some custom work, so I've done a quick sketch of the following idea that would have a door offset to the right hand side, and an access door to a kitchen slide out.

My dimensions are based off the All Terrain Ocelot 78"W shell setup. The kitchen setup would be a on a set of Accuride 60" heavy duty slides. ARB fridge at the end with the 22" Partner stove on a fold down table. That would leave ~30" of space for another flip over table/cooking space. The area above the slide on the driver side of the camper would then be a bed area. The passenger side could be built out however would work best for myself, my wife, our 7 month old and our siberian husky.

For those of you who actually have pop-ups and have used them a fair bit, please let me know your thoughts on this design and how it might work in real life.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[fireball]

Better refined the slide out kitchen idea.... Will need some solid dividers to add strength, plus an aluminum/pole support on the top left corner. The tabletop will hinge down and should have enough space beside the fridge for the stove to reside there permanently if desired.

 

[elmo_4_vt]

We're huge fans of cooking outside and that was very important to us. The slide out is a pretty awesome idea, but it uses a lot of the interior space. If that's OK with you, then I'd say go for it. For us, we needed/wanted the interior space and then some, so we decided to pull a trailer with the outdoor kitchen and toys in it.

The only critique I'd have on your design is that it might be better to have the fridge closes to the truck when slid out. That way you'd have more room to work on the surface, even from both sides for prep. That was a big plus of my pull out kitchen on my old trailer, as it gave me room to prep stuff while my wife was manning the grill/stove or vice-versa.

Also, will the height of the slide out be an issue? Figure the base/lowest part of pull out will be at least 6-7" above the bed of the truck. That is based on the camper frame and the drawer slide height, which is pretty large on a high capacity 60" slide.

Don

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[fireball]

Don - thanks for your response! The outdoor kitchen on a slide out that you built was a huge inspiration for this. We met and spoke for a few minutes at the MAOF last fall - congrats on the new FWC, I saw some of the photos and it looks awesome!

I did think about putting the fridge closest to the truck but worry it might be a bit hectic to access the contents...quick drawing below swapping the fridge to sit next to the truck. The slide out will need enough structural integrity to support the drop down table, so would have to play around with that. The drawer slides are full extension, but there would still be a few inches of dead space needed to get the fridge out past the end of the camper to be able to open fully. As for the height, the top of the fridge will be no higher than the top of the sides of the truck bed so it should work out pretty well. Right now our fridge is sitting on top of a 10"H drawer setup in the back of the LC and which it's not perfect it is very manageable.



You are right that the slide will take up a lot of interior space, but I am OK with that. One thing I am waiting to find out from ATC is what the interior floorprint width is. I've got 48" b/w the wheel wells on the truck, so I'm thinking something like 45". I'm fine with the slide out taking up half the floor space, figuring the passenger side of the camper will likely have wall cabinetry only.

Here are some photos of a large cabinet I recently built for the back of a Troopy. This was my first time using the super long 60" Acccuride slides and I was very happy with how this turned out.






Could even build hinged panel to access the fridge and kitchen contents from inside the camper if need be....

 

[subterran]

Hi Fireball,
Nice drawings! May I ask what software you are using? Also, if you built those cabinets up there, please tell me what are your round drawer and cabinet pulls are and where I can find them. Thanks!

 

[Ozarker]

Check out Cabella's Camp Kitchen

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/camp-kitchens/_/N-1116241/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104248980

Can't beat it for the price, it's on sale. It can go in the open box to the left of your fridge.

I got one for my trailer, the center section will stay set up and the ends fold down, with the sink still in place. All I do is pull it out and flip up the ends and put the optional light poles up.

It is really nice, sturdy, great finish, hanging bags are heavy canvas and should last for years.

Also, check out Nexgrill at Home Depot, got that for the kitchen and was amazed at the quality stainless steel, 2 burners you can really cook on. No way to beat it for $99.00! It can all fit on a slide.

 

[fireball]

Hi Fireball,
Nice drawings! May I ask what software you are using? Also, if you built those cabinets up there, please tell me what are your round drawer and cabinet pulls are and where I can find them. Thanks!

Those drawings were done in Sketchup and are not very good at all, so thanks for the compliment! The hardware was purchased from Allegis Corp. I believe they sell direct to the public but not sure how their prices are....I own a construction company and we have a modest woodworking shop and an account and order a fair bit of cabinetry hardware from them. Very nice stuff, but can be a bit pricey. The customer for that project wanted locking hardware.

I just had a quick scan through your build thread and like what you did with the awning! Here is a link to the Shadow awning I just picked up that I'd like to use on the future camper:

 

[fireball]

Check out Cabella's Camp Kitchen

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/camp-kitchens/_/N-1116241/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104248980

Can't beat it for the price, it's on sale. It can go in the open box to the left of your fridge.

I got one for my trailer, the center section will stay set up and the ends fold down, with the sink still in place. All I do is pull it out and flip up the ends and put the optional light poles up.

It is really nice, sturdy, great finish, hanging bags are heavy canvas and should last for years.

Also, check out Nexgrill at Home Depot, got that for the kitchen and was amazed at the quality stainless steel, 2 burners you can really cook on. No way to beat it for $99.00! It can all fit on a slide.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have seen the camp kitchen and it looks like a nice unit. We are trying to find a cooking solution that is super quick and easy to setup. We were previously considering tear-drops because of the ease of taking all of 2 seconds to open that back hatch and start cooking. They just don't have enough room for 2 adults, an infant and a 100# dog! So the kitchen slide out I am designing is hopefully going to eliminate that issue, and be self-contained within the camper when not in use. On our long trips we seem to spend a good amount of time shuffling things around....setting up camp, bags being moved from here to there during the day, then before bed, then again in the morning, etc. So I'm hoping the pop up will give us enough space to avoid that hassle!

 

[gsanders]

It sounds like you already have an awning and a setup in mind, but I'll give you some input based on our real world experience.

We (myself, wife, toddler, two dogs) have a pop up with a built in fridge, stove, and sink with hot water. We purchased the camper used as a "test" of sorts to see what we like, what we don't, and then we could look for something more permanent in the future. We also have a whitewater raft. At this point, I have come to realize that the hot water heater (older model, not on-demand) is really not that great for us. In addition, the permanently mounted stove is not functional for cooking during good weather. The fridge is extremely useful, but we also usually carry a cooler for beverages, etc. We also usually grab everything we need from the fridge before cooking and pull it out in order to save energy, so we aren't constantly popping in and out of the fridge like at home. The sink is also useful, but sometimes dishes are done outside with a collapsible dish bucket from NRS.

All that being said, my future plans are to possibly look for a shell camper and build into it what we need, leaving either a cutout in the counter or some sort of latches that would secure a Partner Stove. The stove would hook up to a regulator in the counter area, and then I would have a 20' long hose stored with my LP tank that would allow me to cook outside. However, after using our camper, I don't see the need to have a fridge outside as you can just pull what you need and take it out with you. Same goes for a sink. So, my comments would be that you have a fantastic design idea, but I don't know that it actually will be needed. You could just as easily have a moveable stove that attachs to the side of your truck (using footman brackets perhaps) underneath a traditional awning, and then the customization is not needed. Counter space via a roll table or any number of fabbed pieces would be easy. If you carry MaxTrax or something similar they could also be rigged to be an easy stove support. Also, adding in a slide-out kitchen also provides another intrusion point for moisture as well as more maintenance.

The other downside to your design is that I don't know how it would operate if you wanted to cook inside the camper (and trust me, at some point you will). The advantage to a modular stove is that you could use it both inside and outside very easily. The other advantage for us is that we could use the stove on our raft trips as well, which would eliminate the need for our Coleman stove which we still have.

Those are some thoughts, I am not trying to rip apart your design, I am only trying to give some real world experience and some alternatives. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

[fireball]

Thank you very much, no offense taken this is exactly the kind of feedback I am looking for from folks who have camped in and used and have experience with them. I've spent about 2 hrs sitting in a few FWC models at a local event and at the local dealer, and a few more hours sitting at my computer reading.

I do like the idea of the stove being moved inside if needed. We already have the Partner stove which is why I wanted to use it for this application. Probably best to leave the stove loose and just put it on the drop down table, or be able to use it back inside if desired. I was not planning on any water system other than our current 5 gal jerry cans which have worked just fine. Trying to keep things simple yet functional!

One other consideration is a heater. We have been pretty happy with our Mr. Buddy heater in the tent, any reason why we'd want to spend big bucks on the built in unit? FWC shell model furnace setup is $1500. Mr. Buddy that we already have is free!

 

[romba]

Don - thanks for your response! The outdoor kitchen on a slide out that you built was a huge inspiration for this. We met and spoke for a few minutes at the MAOF last fall - congrats on the new FWC, I saw some of the photos and it looks awesome!

I did think about putting the fridge closest to the truck but worry it might be a bit hectic to access the contents...quick drawing below swapping the fridge to sit next to the truck. The slide out will need enough structural integrity to support the drop down table, so would have to play around with that. The drawer slides are full extension, but there would still be a few inches of dead space needed to get the fridge out past the end of the camper to be able to open fully. As for the height, the top of the fridge will be no higher than the top of the sides of the truck bed so it should work out pretty well. Right now our fridge is sitting on top of a 10"H drawer setup in the back of the LC and which it's not perfect it is very manageable.

View attachment 339042

You are right that the slide will take up a lot of interior space, but I am OK with that. One thing I am waiting to find out from ATC is what the interior floorprint width is. I've got 48" b/w the wheel wells on the truck, so I'm thinking something like 45". I'm fine with the slide out taking up half the floor space, figuring the passenger side of the camper will likely have wall cabinetry only.

Here are some photos of a large cabinet I recently built for the back of a Troopy. This was my first time using the super long 60" Acccuride slides and I was very happy with how this turned out.

View attachment 339043

View attachment 339044


Could even build hinged panel to access the fridge and kitchen contents from inside the camper if need be....

View attachment 339045

Thanks for your reply.
that was very helpful ♥

 

[Clutch]

I camp mostly in bear country, like to have the kitchen not attached to the truck. Setup my chuck box either on the back of my moto trailer or small table under an ez-up if the weather is foul. Like to have the truck at least 100 yards away from the kitchen.

 

[escadventure]

Our experience is in line with gsanders - We had a shell model built, specifically so we could use a 2-burner camp stove, a collapsable sink and a 3-gallon water can with a spigot for a water faucet. It all stores well in our "kitchen cabinet" and can be used inside or under the awning. Instead of extending a gas hose from our main tank for outside use, we just keep green bottles on hand.
It's easy to use and low tech, so if there is a problem with something it will be easy to deal with.