Your Redwood Kitchen

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

Originally Posted by Eric

We like our kitchen ! Coming from a non-slide work & play its a hell of an upgrade. I think my wife l loves it since I've done all of the cooking on the few trips we've take. So far we have plenty of space. We're not full-time yet but I'm working on it.

Eric,

I can't think of a better RV to full-time in...than Redwood. This is RV #5 for me...and I am living in the Taj Mahal now...compared to where I have come from. So I totally understand your statement.

Here's to your future full-timing! (mine would be a wine glass!)

Lady E Cooper

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

Originally Posted by Kev n JJ

Our 36FB is on order, so I can't rate the kitchen yet. We chose the FB for the bath - the separate w/c was a must-have. I think the kitchen will be ok - a bit tight between the counter and island, as we often cook together. I like the pantry space. We took the dish dividers out , as we felt it wasted an entire drawer. I'm hoping they can find a single bowl sink to fit because I think the bowls in the double are too small and I don't need two anyway. We also got the cooktop and convection/micro. We never ever used the oven in out TT. I'll probably get a portable induction burner. I think the large burner on the cooktop is the front one and our big skillet will hang out over the front of the cooktop just like on our TT.

I'll let you know what I really think after our first trip. We cook almost every meal, so it will get a workout.

JJ

Kev n JJ,

Oh, the 36FB is a real winner. I know you enjoy all the space. And the changes you made sound great. I, too, do not have a propane oven. That is the way I like it. I have been cooking with convection ovens for over 30 years. (wow, that sounds like a long time ) but it truly is a wonderful alternative to the traditional propane oven.

I really do like the fact that you are interested in Induction cooking. My personal feelings are...we will see this type of cooking ...more and more in the near future. Some of the really high end motorcoaches out there do have Induction cooking as standard or an option. (which I think is really cool) Cooks faster and produces less heat in the rig results in our A/C's working easier.

You are correct about the front burner being the one with the most BTU output. If your skillet is so large that it is hanging over the front....might I suggest an electric skillet. Yes, one more appliance but most of us have them anyway. And it is much safer than having that HOT skillet out there where somethone might possibly get burned.

LOVE the pantry!! Looking forward to hearing your updates!!

Lady E Cooper

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

Originally Posted by fathog99

Hi Evada from the Vineyards. I metyou and your husband a couple of weeks ago when you were here. I was working the gate and stopped by to ask Terry some questions about my door and another couple came up and you gave them a Redwood book. They came to our rig a few days later and we gave them a tour and happy to say last week at the Dallas RV show they committed to a 36RL. The kitchen was very important to our selection. The 36RL was perfect and that and the quality of the rig overall made up our minds.

Fathog99,

Yes, I do remember you. We enjoy our 3 week stay at the Vineyards RV Campground so much. A++ campground (my personal rating) . Say hi to Chuck Williams and his lovely wife. Great workamper's like yourself.

Thank you for taking good care of that sweet couple we all met that day.... with the tour of your rig. I am VERY happy that they are now a Redwood family member. Can't wait to see them on the forums.. as well as on the roads.

I know we will see you again soon. We are in Boerne, TX area right now but are relocating on Monday to the Carefree Treetops RV Resort in Arlington, TX .... the Professor is going to school on Tues. & Wed. of next week. (Dometic training) and then doing some training of his own...in a few of the Explore USA stores the remaining of the week.

Thank you for all that you do!!

Lady E Cooper

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

Originally Posted by RollsRoyce

Hey Evada, How are you and Mr. T........Terry and Evada came to our mini rally a few weeks ago in Canton, Texas She has a great magazine with lots of good tips for the RV and convection microwave cooking...At one of our group cookouts she brought over some special brownies..( NO.Marijuana) .She brouht them over after dark so we couldn't see them...They were burnt on the bottomJust kidding about being burnt...They were awsome and they were all gone when the party was over...The Professor was really helpful to us all and we had a greaat time. Evada does your website tell us how to get your cookbook? Back to the real subject we bought the FB becaause of the large tub and private stool area...We also love our kitchen and the island counter (except when the slides are in it's hard to get back and forth in that area) Bath is a 5 kitchen is a 4.8

RollsRoyce!!!

What a great time we all had in Canton, TX that first weekend of Feb. 6 Redwood's in attendance that weekend. The Professor and I are looking forward to the next one!! PLUS, I will be making a HUGE pan of brownies when we do get together next, so FAIR WARNING!!!. haha... Yes, I put the dish down ...loaded with sweet treats ...then next thing I knew, they were all gone. I believe that is called - 100% approval!

My cookbook is on my website, thank you for that question. (The RV Centennial Cookbook - Celebrating 100 Years of RVing) I am very proud to be a part of this wonderful industry.

I know you LOVE your RV kitchen. You and your lovely wife served up a great meal for us 'Family Members' while at our Mini Rally...we appreciate you both so much!!

Looking forward to our next visit!

Lady E Cooper

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

I do love reading all the great input about how your kitchen rates: Bill Wright, Dan, SueMar and mhs4771. COLJDM - I have never cooked on the GREEN EGG...but I look forward it doing just that. If you are going to be at the Redwood Rally in July....possibly you can give me a demonstration? I would like that.

And, Dave&Ginny: I find it exciting to think of the future of Redwood. They strive to make a superior product for all of us to enjoy. As from the beginning of RV's to now....kitchens have involved to be one of those things that makes me back up and say, "You've come along way, Baby!" ....and I am certainly they will continue to do so. I am glad that you are enjoying your kitchen and I KNOW ...Ginny sure does! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I really enjoy do reading all the posts on the whole forum. This is certainly a bunch of 'giving' people. I look forward to meeting you all on down the highway.

(I wish I could figure out how to post pictures!!) I may know my way around the kitchen but not so much the tech stuff here. lol...

Lady E Cooper

[JellyStonePark]

Thanks Lady E. Cooper, Yong and I (JellyStonePark) had the opportunity to look at the mobile kitchens you spoke of in your post and love the idea. Thanks again. I can hardly wait to order now. Seems we have so many things we would like to do to our unit and we don't even have it yet. Nothing like getting the cart before the horse. LOL

Darrell & Yong

[Kev n JJ]

If I get the portable induction burner, it won't matter about the skillet - I can put the burner wherever I want. I'll probably pass on the electric skillet - just one more appliance.

Induction cooking is great. I've been to several demos at the Viking Test Kitchen. They put identical pans of ice on various burners - standard electric, induction and high BTU gas - the induction brings it to a boil first. And you can turn off the burner and it responds immediately, just like gas. Also, it stops cooking as soon as the pan is removed (okay, someone in our house sometimes forgets to do that!).

I'd love to have a cooktop with one induction burner and one propane in the RV. We do mostly stir-fry, so that would suffice for us. We also have a generator, so we could use both when not on shore power.

RW has not found a single bowl sink for us, so we'll just have to make do with the smaller bowls in the double sink (it's that darn skillet again). I have found a website that shows how to make the modification to install an Elkay single bowl sink that is almost the same size. We can do that if the clearances work.

I haven't mentioned this to Kevin yet. It looks really easy on the website...but, then there's always that Murphy Law thing!!

[RollsRoyce]

Is the factory Rally really in July or August...Anyone got the true skinny

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

Originally Posted by RollsRoyce

Is the factory Rally really in July or August...Anyone got the true skinny

RollsRoyce,

I am just taking what I read on here....looks like July. We will be there this year!! (the Lord willing!) That is what I have on my calendar. If you find out anything different ....let me know.

It is travel day for us tomorrow. (Monday) We are staying in Arlington at Carefree Treetops RV Resort for this whole next week.

Lady E Cooper

[jlandon13399]

I understand the Redwood Rally is scheduled for July 19, 20, and 21. This information is from Bill Hodge in the service department.

[TXRVProfessor&LadyE]

I would like to bump this thread up since we haven't had a post since March.
With lots of new owners the last 3 months..there has to be many who can tell us how important the kitchen rated in importantance when making your decision to purchase your Redwood.
Thank you for your responce.

Lady E Cooper

[Bklamb]

Our new 31'RW is almost 1 month old! Kitchen ranked 1.5'tied with bath in our decision. We like to cook, so kept the oven instead of a dishwasher. The island was key to our choice. We want the ability for 2 people to move in&out of the kitchen without disturbing the other. I like the trashcan placement, sliding shelves, plate drawer, and plenty of storage. The granite countertop was too heavy for me, and I prefer the look of the standard countertop.

Bonnie from Monterey

[Kev n JJ]

The kitchen was not as important to us as the walk thru bath. That was the most important feature.

However, now that we have out 36FB, I have to say that the kitchen is terrific!! Although compact, it is very efficient. There's plenty of counter space and storage. Everything is convenient and easy to reach.

We have the dishwasher and love it!! Left out the oven and went for the convection/microwave, which has been just fine for us. We also got a single burner induction burner (Amazon) that we use for cooking when we have shore power. We REALLY like that much better than the propane cooktop. We mostly leave the countertop covers on the cooktop.

I would have preferred a large single bowl sink.

We left out the plate dividers - I get a lot more things in that drawer than 8 plates!!

I like the trash can set up - I can cut up veggies on the counter and just sweep the trimmings right into the trash can.

All in all, we are much more pleased with the kitchen than we thought we would be.

JJ

[TNTBaker]

Ok, this is a bit of rant, you have been warned;

I definitely have to comment on the kitchen! I have a very loud disagreement with Redwood on the COOKTOP!! I am a bit of a foodie, I admit (LadyE, love your work!) but do not expect an RV to have all the bells and whistles. THAT being said; it's just not a good idea that they go to the trouble to include a residential refrigerator, a residential dishwasher (both happen to be the SAME models I have in MY HOME) in this RESIDENTIAL RV and put a CAMPING cooktop in it with a <horrors> PIEZO ignitor! ICK!!

We just ordered ours, and of course I jettisoned the Atwood range (I have owned many over the years, and the oven is best used as pots and pans storage) and opted for the cooktop/drawers. I have tried valiantly to get them to sell me an upgraded cooktop and they act like I am asking them to install an ice rink. Most motor homes and very upscale fivers have residential style cooktops in them. They are already available. WHY does Redwood not recognize this huge problem?

Ok, I am done ranting now :-)

[johnboytoo]

The kitchen is a "decorative adornment" as my wife calls it but still she liked the kitchen, especially the two pantries...
We eat out all the time when we are rv'ing since we are camping not living in it...

Planning to get an inductive cooktop for the few times we don't use the microwave...

[mhs4771]

We have only used the cook top a few times (when dry camping and didn't want to fire off the Genny). We use the micro wave and convection all the time. For morning Tea we use a small electric hot pot, for bigger things we have an induction cook top, or for other things we use an electric frying pan, mid-sized George Forman, or the BBQ grill outside. So in reality we could just about do without the cook top.

[Oriana]

Glad to see we are not the only ones making tea in the morning - well actually we make it all day.

[sinder]

The kitchen needed to be functional for us during our purchase process. I do most of the cooking so I wanted counter space, microwave, stove top and oven. I also liked Redwoods pull out pantries and trash can. I agree with TNTBaker that the stove top and oven are really the weak spot in the Redwood kitchen. The stove top surface space is not big enough for a large and medium frying pan. There are much better technologies available now days than a piezo igniter. That being said I have cooked in the Redwood every meal I've made in our former sticks and bricks kitchen. You just have to be a little more creative. I do believe Redwood good continue to improve on items such as an integrated knife rack and spice rack. I would also like to see an improvement in the lighting over the stove top. The hood light is almost useless.

[Oriana]

I also do most of the cooking both at home and in the Redwood. When we started looking at RV's the 3 burner cooker was definitely as shock, but having now completed about 4 months in the RW, we are happy with what is available.

Most dinners include the BBQ, so the frequent in and out to the BBQ works up a good appetite for dinner.

So far I haven't found anything that we make at home that I wouldn't attempt in the Redwood. With the dishwasher, even clean up is easy.

[rcflame]

We bought an induction burner. Usually that is all we use for pans instead of the stove top. I can't remember the last time we had a burner lit. Microwave/convection oven and induction burner take care of our cooking needs.