What I thought I needed in my skoolie kitchen vs what I actually use in my skoolie kitchen has changed since I wrote this article.  Today, I’m going to walk you through the top 10 most used items in our skoolie kitchen.  I did not include things like plats, silverware, knives, and utensils in this list.  I feel like those are givens!

The Green Strainer

Do you follow me on Instagram?  I only ask because I use my stories to talk about this green strainer way too much.  I’m obsessed though.  It snags the first spot on the list, because I am convinced that everyone needs this contraption in their life.  It bends so it can snap onto different size bowls and pots.  The fact that it basically folds in half means it also stores really well in small spaces.

Also, it has never malfunctioned. It stays on the bowl and the food stays in as well.  If you don’t listen to anything else I say here, get the strainer!

Chemex

When we moved into the bus, we brought 3 different coffee making methods with us.  We weren’t ready to let go of a conventional coffee maker and we weren’t sure what would be a good fit.  After a few months, we realized we chose the same method every day. We have loved our Chemex for a long time, but now it is the only coffee maker in our skoolie.

If you watch Youtube videos that walk you through the process, there is going to be a lot of precise measuring and watching the temperature.  We did that at first, then we just went crazy and started making it without putting so much effort into it.  Still tastes amazing every single time.

One of my biggest concerns about the Chemex was the fact that it is made from glass.  Is is skoolie safe?  So far, so good!

Collapsible Measuring Cups

These collapsible measuring cups store flat and don’t take up much space in our drawer.  They collapse easily.  Sometimes, we use them to hold snacks.  We also use them as little bowls for salsa or dips.  Ok, I might also use them as little bowls when I want to “sample” whatever is cooking.  Either way, we use these every day.

Stanley Thermal Thermos

We have the large thermos you see above and 2 individual sized insulated mugs.  I bought these 4 years ago because my dad carried the larger Stanley mug to work every day when I was a child.  Nostalgia is the culprit behind a lot of my purchases.  Once we moved into the bus, they stopped being an item that sat on our shelves and became something we use daily.  We are both slow coffee drinkers.  After we make the coffee in the Chemex, it goes into the Stanley thermos.  Hours into the day, one of us will take a sip and say, “Wow…I can’t believe this is still warm.  What time is it?”  The novelty doesn’t wear off.  And by novelty, I mean the fact that it does the very thing it is designed to do.  We might have bought it because of the memories, but we use it because it is amazing.

Mason Jars

I worried about having so much glass while we were traveling down the road, but so far we haven’t experienced any broken glass.  The great thing about mason jars is that you can have a variety of sizes of mason jars and most of them will still take the same size lid.  This allows us to keep very few plastic storage options on hand and we avoid the problem of having an assortment of plastic lids that don’t seem to match any of the plastic containers.  We use mason jars to hold dry goods, store our coffee, grow plants, and to drink from.  Scroll back up to see photos of mason jars.  Or you can scroll down and find them in those photos too.  They are everywhere in this bus!

Ninja Foodi

We don’t have an oven in our skoolie.  The Ninja Foodi can bake desserts, air fry, and pressure cook all of the basics.  When we aren’t hooked up to shore power, we run it on a generator.  It is used almost daily.  You can download our pressure cooker basic cheat sheet here.  We finally needed to come up with a solution that didn’t require one of us researching how long to cook staples every time we used the Foodi.

Ninja Blender

This doesn’t get used as much, but it still makes the list.  Other than the pressure cooker, it is the only other appliance we have in the bus.  That alone earns our Ninja blender a spot on the list.  It is small but mighty.  We all know what a blender does, so I will save you from that list.  I will just say, if the day comes when we get the chance to meet, you should ask me to make Black Bean Soup for you.  It is my specialty and the main reason this blender didn’t get sold when we were downsizing.

Kettle

If something in this skoolie kitchen deserves a vacation, it is the kettle.  It is used every single day without question or fail.  We heat the water for our coffee in it, so it is the first thing I use every morning.  When we are conserving water, we heat our dish water in the kettle.  Once our water heater kicks on, it takes around 3 gallons of water before it heats up.  If we only have 70 gallons on board, that is a lot of water to waste.  Heating up the water we need to wash dishes and just adding cold from the tap ensures we are making the most of our supply.  Skoolie life!

What we love about this one is that the thermometer is built into the lid.  After you have used it for a while, you know around how much time you have left until the water boils by looking at the temperature.  A great feature for us impatient people!

Cast Iron Skillet

If we aren’t cooking in the pressure cooker, we only have 2 other options and the one that is used the most is this cast iron skillet.  We carried it with us from home to home for years out of obligation.  It sat, at the bottom of our cabinet, and was rarely used.  A person can only see so many bits of Teflon flaking off in their food before they are ready for a change though.  We (mostly Chris) were determined to learn the fine art of cooking in cast iron and seasoning it.  It really does feel like an art form some days.  The only thing we still struggle with is perfecting scrambled eggs.  They burn more often than not and the smell of burned scrambled eggs makes me ill.  We will get it right though!  Send tips!!

Want to learn about more items that are used in our skoolie?  Check out our Shop Our Skoolie page to see our recommendations.

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You can see a full kitchen tour here!