Don’t Compromise Your Kitchen!

A bitchin’ kitchen was high on the priority list for my sprinter van conversion.  I love to eat well and I love to cook for myself and other people; I did not want to sacrifice this important part of my life when moving into a van.

I knew that if I did not build a fully functioning kitchen, I would be eating out far too often, compromising my bank account and my health.  Plus, the kitchen is the first thing people see when I open the sliding van door… might as well ball out.

Here is a list of details involving the kitchen area:

Water System:

This water system was already in place when I purchased the van.  I LOVE everything about it, especially the big, deep sink.  At first I thought this large sink may be overkill, however the size is great for dirty dishes, clearing the counter when I’m in a hurry to drive away, and washing my hair 😉 Water is pumped to the faucet from a 7 gallon jug with a 12v pump & accumulator tank which draws very little energy.  The accumulator tank essentially eliminates the few seconds of lag as the water enters the system when you turn the sink on… it has a small storage of pressurized water for immediate flow to the faucet.  The sink drains into a 7 gallon grey water jug.  I find they grey water becomes very smelly very fast, so I keep a large metal bowl in the sink and empty it outside almost every time I do dishes.  This bowl-in-the-sink system is MUCH easier than finding a place to drain a large, heavy, smelly jug of grey water all at once. I also keep a cute little compost bucket in the sink for food scraps, which helps keep my trash bin dry.  I fill the soap dispenser up at bulk stores such as Anamalia because it’s 2018 and who uses single-use plastics anymore?

Water System Hacks: 

• Fill jugs at any grocery store or your bff’s kitchen sink
• Keep a skateboard handy for ease of jug filling & transporting
• Pour 1 cup of white vinegar in grey water tank to reduce the smell
• IN THE WINTER: Be sure to drain the system after every use!! It takes my “pipes” only an hour or so to freeze
• No hot water heater? No problem! I heat water in the tea kettle to do dishes
• Add shredded cardboard from egg cartons and napkins to the compost and shake it daily to keep it from stinking up your space

Cooktop:

The battle between a portable Coleman stovetop, an electric/induction stovetop or a permanent stovetop was REAL.  I ultimately decided to permanently fix a 2 burner flame king stove into the counter top.  I am SO happy with this decision.  The flame king is sleek and works so well.   The lid closes and acts as extra counter space when the stovetop is not in use.  I already melted a knob while cooking on a hot summer day, and the company replaced it for free. 

Although I obviously cannot cook outside with this system, it is much more convenient than setting up a Coleman every time I want to cook, and much cheaper than replacing the small propane canisters.  Plus – I have so much room in my storage area that I can store an extra propane unit or dutch oven for instances where I want to cook outside.  I do not have enough a large enough solar/battery for an induction or electric, so I ruled that option out pretty fast.

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An 11 pound propane tank is mounted in the cabinet right below the stove.  When I burn propane I simply crack the ceiling fan or open the door.  Don’t worry, I have a CO2 detector in case the propane is not combusting properly  🙂

Shelving & Storage:

The shelf above the counter is a slab of white pine.  I kept reading about the woes of “no straight lines, no right angles” in sprinter vans; this REALLY resonated with me once we began hanging the shelves.  The concavity of the walls made it very difficult to use the right angle supports that my heart was so set on.  My dad and cousin ended up cutting custom shims (think door wedges) that slid behind the right angle supports and made up the difference of the concavity.  For added support, we strung 2 stainless steel cables through the shelf and into the ceiling.

The assorted boxes that sit on the shelf came from my childhood bedroom, which I secure by lining the shelf with rope from a friends garage and running a cam strap through the handles of the boxes.  This system has been working great so far! I decided to cut a hole in the shelf above the stovetop, to help hot rising air escape out of the ceiling vent.  I keep a cute wire basket in there with fruit, and remove the basket when cooking things that take a long time.

The cabinets are sectionals from Lowes, which were already installed in the van when I purchased it.  I simply painted them and screwed in some cute knobs given to me from a friend.

White Pine Countertop

I am eternally grateful that this slab of wood fell into my hands!  I called a friend’s father who is an Arborist, and happened to own a sawmill years ago.  We visited at an old barn where he kept these beautiful slabs of wood – they had been in storage so long that they were stained white with pigeon poop.  I brought them home, put on a buff and spent a couple of hours sanding the crap out of them – literally.

The white pine is too beautiful to be sealed under a thick layer of shiny shellack.  Although it would protect the counter from dings and scratches, shellack would completely destroy the integrity and rawness of the wood.  I decided to seal the counter with a mixture of beeswax from a local guy and walnut oil.  After 6 months of use, I can confidently say this blend keeps liquids from penetrating the wood.  And it smells phenomenal. 

Fridge/Freezer:

The thought of plucking soggy food out of a warm cooler of melted ice gives me the heeby geebies.  I fully respect people who stand by the traditional cooler method, but if I’m living out of my van for the foreseeable future, I need a more functional refrigeration method.

I SCORED and found a used Whynter Electric Cooler on eBay for half price.  I love this thing.  In fact, I drove all the way from Syracuse to Boston to pick it up.   Once the fridge reaches the desired temperature, it turns off to save power.  This specific Whynter can be either a fridge or a freezer, although I found the freezer has a much larger power draw.

The Whynter runs on AC or DC power, so essentially it can be hardwired into a battery bank OR plugged into a regular 120v outlet**.   To fasten the fridge down for when underway, we drilled a large eyelet into the frame of the van, and secure the fridge to the eyelet with cam straps.  This way, I can remove the cooler if need be to make more room for party bus occasions and slumber parties 🙂

**The fridge has a voltage meter and will not run when the voltage of the battery is too low, to protect the battery.  Running the fridge on AC through an inverter bypasses this volt meter.  I believe running the fridge on AC contributed greatly to my battery prematurely shitting the bed…  an EXPENSIVE mistake.  I highly recommend you hardwire this fridge directly into the battery (DC).

I can’t forget to mention my pride and joy… my copper backsplash.  This was a gift from my dad.  We took a trip to his friend’s fabrication shop, where they cut out a slab of copper to fit my kitchen and helped us install it.  There’s something about the rustic look and ever-evolving patina finish that never fails to put a smile on my face 🙂

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