is it worth taking cooking gear?

[patpalloon]

Going on my first proper cycle tour with tent this summer. I can't really see much point in taking any cooking gear. For the extra weight it just doesn't seem worth it. Surely it's easier just to get brekkie from a café?

[Dean]

A stove is mainly a caffeine delivery system. How important is the kick start of coffee in the morning?

If you're not that fussed then you may be right.

(Obviously, if you're out in the boonies then you may have to cook your own).

[mercalia]

depends where you are going? if there is a cafe around. and you want to spend lots of money all the time. ( and they will let you in when they take a look at you ). and brekkie maybe but what about evening meal? With a single burner stove ( I have a colemans petrol ) you can make drinks, curries ( from tins ) and pasta dishes easy. As a kid when we went out for rides in the car ( those days was a real adventure ) used to stop at the side of the road and cooks some bangers - putinto some bread buns. Things can taste better in such conditions. Dont know about you I want some think to eat before I set off on bike. I also want the option of having nothing to do with anyone.....let the world go by for a little while. The extra weight need not be much, its more about bulk. But the food can weigh in. One of the places I stay at frequntly is near Dorking, south of London, but there is no cafe nearby and the shop is about 2 miles away. There is a pub though where you could get a meal ( in the evening)

[horizon]

Going on my first proper cycle tour with tent this summer. I can't really see much point in taking any cooking gear. For the extra weight it just doesn't seem worth it. Surely it's easier just to get brekkie from a café?

pat: what made you want to camp anyway? As therein might lie your answer.

[irc]

Most places it isn't essential. But the weight of a small pan and gas burner is so low that I think it is worth carrying. Coffee when required and the odd meal gives flexibility. Camp where you want.

At a minimum a titanium cup, gas burner, and small canister is 375g (200 of that is the canister). So less than a pound weight for hot drinks?.

[andrew_s]

depends where you are going? if there is a cafe around...

Cafes that serve breakfast are a lot thinner on the ground than pubs etc for an evening meal, especially outside of urban areas. The bulk of the customers for countryside cafes are motorists who have driven out after breakfast. If you try relying on cafes for breakfast in the UK, you'll fairly often have to ride until elevenses time when cafes open for the lunchtime trade.
France is a lot easier - there's a bar for morning coffee and a boulangerie for pastries in most villages of any size.

[FarOeuf]

depends where you are going? if there is a cafe around. and you want to spend lots of money all the time.

I think that's generally false. I would class decent food as fresh and containing some nutrition, and I think it's fairly hard to get that with a campstove; notably when travelling solo. I would not say tinned curry falls into the category of good food. It is possible to get good/fresh food in most places, for not a lot of money.

For example (for meat eaters) pretty much any kebab shop will do you a shish kebab (lumps of chicken/lamb/etc) bbq'd on a grill with a pile of salad in a pita bread, normally €5 (in the expensive western countries). If you leave out all the sauces, forget the frites and coke, you can negotiate more salad. Included in €5 will be some local banter, toilets, get your water topped up, sight-seeing tips, etc.

On a campstove €5 will buy you tinned tuna + pasta with some chilli powder thrown in (I'm talking something with some sort of nutrition, and the cost of fuel), possibly twice over. dehydrated powders and tinned foods are not what I'd call sustainable eating (for mind nor body). carrying fresh foods (veg, meats) if difficult and ends up spoilage unless you eat big portions or the same thing continually. Having said that, camp cooking when there's a few of you is more fun and easier to knock-up something good.

it's also fairly easy to construct a tapas style meal from cold foods bought from markets or local shops. some sliced ham, cheese and a piece of bread or something. you may be able to pick up some smoked/cooked fish, etc. nothing expensive, as it's raw foods and you don't need fuel.

it's a myth that you'll spend a lot more if you don't cook for yourself, though I don't doubt it does take a little practice. if you're travelling cheaply then you can't really pick and choose what you eat, you just eat what's cheapest in the place you are. the positive aspect of that is that you end up eating/discovering quite a lot of local variations on food themes.

cheers

EDIT: for clarity

[mercalia]

....

For example (for meat eaters) pretty much any kebab shop will do you a shish kebab (lumps of chicken/lamb/etc) bbq'd on a grill with a pile of salad in a pita bread, normally €5 (in the expensive western countries). If you leave out all the sauces, forget the frites and coke, you can negotiate more salad. Included in €5 will be some local banter, toilets, get your water topped up, sight-seeing tips, etc.
...

especially the toilets as you will need them after the bacteria laden (shish) kebab if its from the many fast food places u see in the UK.

[FarOeuf]

....

For example (for meat eaters) pretty much any kebab shop will do you a shish kebab (lumps of chicken/lamb/etc) bbq'd on a grill with a pile of salad in a pita bread, normally €5 (in the expensive western countries). If you leave out all the sauces, forget the frites and coke, you can negotiate more salad. Included in €5 will be some local banter, toilets, get your water topped up, sight-seeing tips, etc.
...

especially the toilets as you will need them after the bacteria laden (shish) kebab if its from the many fast food places u see in the UK.

utter prejudiced nonsense.

[gloomyandy]

In many of the wilder parts of Scotland any sort of place to eat (or even buy food) can be few and far between. You don't get many kebab places in the Hebrides! What you do get tends to be a hotel/bar which will probably have pretty expensive bar meals (if you are lucky) and these are often only available at night. I also find that having a stove with me means I can stop and make a brew in some wonderful isolated spots during the day. It takes longer than popping into a cafe, but there often isn't one and I enjoy taking a bit of time away from the bike. I also find that having the stove to make a brew can help pass the time when trapped in the tent on not so good days!

Having said all of that. If your tour is taking you mainly through villages and towns then I would tend to agree that you don't really need cooking gear. It is also nice to get to chat to people in the cafe (though again in some parts of Scotland chatting in some hotels seems almost forbidden! See Muriel Gray's wonderful description of a stay in a typical highland hotel in the first fifty). All depends what sort of tour you have planned.

[mercalia]

The cafe/pub idea is ok while on the move. But what happens when u get to your camp site where you may spend a couple of days? cycle to the nearest village cafe/pub to have your breakfast/evening meal? My fav place nr Dorking is hardly the outer Hebrides but I would have to cycle to Dorking ( about 4 miles ) to do that. And this part of UK is hardly wild.

[patpalloon]

I'm doing 2 tours. France and Spain, then Ireland and Scotland. There might be times when I might be a bit remote, but I don't think I could be bothered with cooking. Might get some cold stuff eg bread, cheese etc. I do like my morning caffeine shot though so might get stuff to make a brew with.

[Edwards]

I'm doing 2 tours. France and Spain, then Ireland and Scotland. There might be times when I might be a bit remote, but I don't think I could be bothered with cooking. Might get some cold stuff eg bread, cheese etc. I do like my morning caffeine shot though so might get stuff to make a brew with.

Do you mean a small stove and a pan? If so you could use these to cook some food. It is probably not a good idea to rely on using an open fire as the land owner or campsite do not normally like this, and is not recommended in woodland areas in dry spells.

[bigjim]

I took a small esbit stove last year. It weighs 11grams plus ebit tabs that weigh 5grams each. Two tabs are more than enough for a pan of water. that little kit works beautifully for what I wanted. A brew or porridge, etc. I never made a solid meal on it but it is possible I suppose. But great for breakfast and weighs next to nothing.
The year before I took a gas stove and that was good but I don't cook meals. I buy evening meals and use supermarkets for lunch. Plus eat wild food available along the road. See my blog.

[mercalia]

... I buy evening meals and use supermarkets for lunch. Plus eat wild food available along the road. See my blog.

oh raw slugs/snails/ car creamed snakes & hedgehogs?