A Compact Galley That Works Hard
Preparing real food in a compact vehicle tests interior design more severely than sleeping. Cooking involves grease, heat, boiling water, pungent aromas, and dirty cutlery. If your kitchen layout forces you to balance cutting boards over a sink or store frying pans three compartments away, you will quickly resort to eating processed food from petrol stations.
The Sink: Depth Trumps Diameter
The most common rookie mistake is choosing a miniature, shallow round bowl (often 100 mm to 120 mm deep) in an effort to save counter width. The moment you rinse a coffee mug while parked on an uneven shoulder, water sloshes over the counter edges and drips into lower electrical conduits.
Always choose a basin with at least 180 mm to 220 mm of vertical depth. A deeper undermount stainless or granite-composite sink prevents water deflection, holds dirty cookware securely while driving, and allows you to drop in a flush-fitting hardwood chopping block that restores 100% of the counter area for meal assembly.
Cooking Heat: Gas vs Induction Reality
The Moisture Factor
Burning 1 kg of liquid petroleum gas (propane/butane) releases approximately 1.6 kg of water vapor straight into your living cabin. In cold weather, this vapor immediately condenses onto uninsulated metal ribs, rear window panes, and under mattress platforms, encouraging mildew.
Single or dual burner induction cooktops produce zero combustion moisture, offer instant temperature control, and cool down quickly so the surface can be wiped and reused as working space.
Refrigeration: Front-Opening vs Chest Cooler
The decision between a front-opening 12V upright fridge (such as Dometic CRX or Vitrifrigo) and a top-loading chest cooler (such as Engel or ARB) is defined by accessibility and energy conservation:
Upright Front-Opening
Pros: Immediate visual access, built-in appearance, integrated freezer compartment.
Cons: Cold air falls out whenever the door swings open; requires positive latching.
Top-Loading Chest
Pros: Superior thermal efficiency; cold air remains settled in the basket; virtually indestructible compressor.
Cons: Requires heavy-duty 100 kg drawer slides to pull out from cabinetry.
"A van kitchen is essentially a boat galley subject to potholes and sudden braking. Every olive oil bottle must have a fitted, felt-lined cradle, or it will become a projectile."
Fresh and Grey Water Management
A practical galley plumbing loop needs three non-negotiable items:
- Food-Grade PEX or Reinforced Braided Tubing: Avoid standard garden hoses that leach plastic taste into your drinking water under summer heat.
- Shurflo or Seaflo 12V Diaphragm Pump with Accumulator Tank: An inline pressure accumulator prevents the pump from rapidly pulsing and shuddering the entire cabinet wall every time you crack the tap.
- Straight-Drop Greywater Traps: Standard household P-traps bounce dry and rattle apart. Install waterless membrane valves (such as HepvO) that block sewer odors without holding stagnant water.