cooking in the truck

Gotcha. I did buy another one. I'll replace the small fan and use it elsewhere. I didn't have time to fix it while I was home.

 

Way back when I ran local and went home every night I just brought leftovers in an aluminum pan and heated em in a lunchbox heater. Worked great! Never drove anyone elses truck for wages so can't comment on what works when yer hands are tied.

I've been cookin in the truck for years literally, and can tell ya that theres no problem using a butane/propane stove to cook with! Yer more likely to fall asleep at the wheel than ya are cookin dinner!

Here's something I've found that I like alot...NISSIN brand noodle meals that come in alota flavors. Get em at any "dollar general" for a buck each. Sometimes I dice a slab of "spam" in it and sometimes I thro a couple chicken fingers in. It's GREAT! Nothing needs to be refrigerated and all ya need is hot h2o.

A bag of "minute rice", a few chicken nuggets/fingers & a can of "campbells" condenced soup make a great meal and can be done with hot h2o only!

If you can heat water, you can eat pretty good! Use your imagination.

What I have is a toasteroven, m/wave, frypan, & fridge/freezer. This makes it easier for me. Generator runs all this stuff and as a company driver that's probably not an option unless ya drive for a REAL company that supplies you with an APU. A $100.00 office fridge from walmart and a 500 watt inverter will run the fridge, charge phone & computer batterys for several days w/o draining the batterys.

With fuel prices the way they are I don't understand how any o/o could not have a generator and cook in the truck.

 

I have a question. I've got 2 Mountain Dew mini fridges/heaters that can run off a cig lighter or 110 volts. Would having the two of them in a truck run the batteries down quickly?

 

With my Coleman and bunk heater fan running I get 5hrs tops and it is time to refire the truck as the low voltage alarm is going off!

 

I use a small bar fridge and an inverter with a low volt shut down. I also have a in cab switch to isolate 2 batteries. I can run my fridge or use microwave with no fear of not starting the truck. I started without the isolator but the shut down at 10.5 volts was high enough to prevent damage to battery but not enough to start truck in cold weather. I have a four battery system. It sounds expensive and complicated. Actually it all costs around 200 dollars and took me 3 hrs to rig up. Not much for a home away from home.

 

i had bout as small cooler that plugs in i spent $90 on that and $30 on a small warmer wife cooks up 3-4 meals to take with me i bout both theser at a pilot. i line the warmer with tin foil and st my food inside hotter then hell in about 15 min spray tin foil with pam first my first week eating out i spent 120 dollars eating at resteraunts i spend about 100 a month on grocerys last week i spent 12 dollars all week dont buy any more than you have to at truck stops they double the price take your 10 off in a wal mart parking lot and go grocery shopping cheaper and better for you

 

I had one of those lunch kit heaters. They do work good but sure don't make popcorn very well.

 

Just started reading this forum, but had to share this story. My wife and I got stuck in a little rest area just north of Colorado Springs right before Christmas in 2006. We had an unload in Boulder at 0800, and just had to get to the Springs to start a 5 day break with our Daughter.

Got to the Customer the night before, and settled in. Weather reports calling for heavy snow the next day. Customer woke us up the next morning at 7, and asked if we wanted to unload early. Great. It had just started snowing. Got unloaded, and headed straight over to 25 south. Snowing harder and harder.

Got through Denver rush hour traffic and was making steady time 35-40 MPH due to the driving snow. Just north of Larkspur there is a little rest area, and my wipers were so iced up, they weren't touching the windshield anymore. So I figured, a quick pit stop, knock off the ice, and back on the road.

Left there 30 hours later. As I was pulling in, I saw the trucks parked helter skelter in the rest area, and realized they were stuck, so I decided to not stop, and roll on through. lol.

Anyway, to got to cooking part. We were stuck but good, and the local sheriff came by on a snowcat to tell us the highway was closed, and they would transport anyone that wanted to get out of there, as there were some cars there as well, to the local high school gymnasium. All the truckers stayed. One of the Drivers got on the CB and said "I got a big stewpot, and some carrots and onions" Someone else had potatoes and herbs, etc, until we had us a stew/soup/goulash kinda thing going on. We all traded movies and had one of the best nights we ever had on the road.

The next day, the snowcat came back, and they had fresh water, and MREs for everyone to eat. They asked us if we wanted some MREs, and I had the guy jump in the truck. My wife asked him if he wanted some of the Maryland style crab cakes she was cooking in the electric skillet. He just started laughing, looked down at the MREs in his arms, and said, "I'll have just a taste if you don't mind".

note: just as the tow truck was pulling us clear, my Dispatcher called and asked if wanted to run out to grand Junction and grab a load. It still makes me laugh that he thought we might do that. Turned out to be a great Christmas, though.

 

I recently bought an electrical pot ( rice cooker/food steamer). It is a life saver! You can cook soups and stews, and also steam fresh vegetables.
I bought it from Sam's club, payed less that $40, and it is one of the most practical things ever! You can wash it easy too.
one of My favorite recipe:
sotee some mushrooms with salt and peper, potatoes, than add brocoli, caulieflower, carrots, and celary roots in the end. Once it's all half way done, stop the cooker, and add sowercream.
By not cooking the vegetables all the way, you still keep some vitamins in them.
You can aslo add mozzarella in the end and let it melt.
You can mix what ever vegetables you want. Good recipe site - allrecipes.com

 

I would need a 12V crock pot. Can't have that big of an inverter!