Howdy all my wife & I are currently setting up our teardrop rental business & wanted to see what people were using for their pots & pans & what has worked or not worked. We have been looking @ nesting cook sets but like I said want to pick members brains to see what works. Thanks & look forward to your responses.
One biggish cast iron fry pan and a coffee pot. Along with a few telescopic hot dog roasting forks. Won't pass for rental but works for us. (So far)
-jim lee
-jim lee
Pathfinder I
I would not say cast iron though that is what most of my pots and pans are. They require being cared for so not for a rental. I use an MSR nesting set that I have had for 20+ years. It and a better frying pan, long hot dog roasting forks and a double cast iron sandwich toaster (for over the fire) should cover everything. I do not like the MSR lid that doubles as a frying pan, hence the better frying pan.
Off-Road Ranger I
As rentals they are going to get ruined... quickly. Seriously, right now you can not imagine the crazy things that will happen with them. My recommendation would be to find a restaurant supply store and buy a simple set of low cost pans with the plan to replace them after about 10-15 uses.
Pathfinder I
Rentals, I'd personally go with commercial grade aluminum riveted all metal pans with replaceable handle covers. I'd also ONLY outfit the campers with nonstick compatible cooking utensils. Be sure to have a laminated checklist, with a picture of everything the kitchen should contain to look over them as they come back.(I do the same thing with our scouts as they check in patrol chuck boxes after trips.) Don't be surprised if some renters throw away dirty/damaged stuff rather than clean and return it. All of the below can typically be found cheaper at local restaurant supply houses, it's here more as examples.
Link to a suitable 8" frying pan.(great for omelets)
http://a.co/d/jgLy2r4
Replacement handle cover you'll eventually need when someone gets a handle into the fire.
http://a.co/d/6mwIbY9
You could likely even go with a cheaper suitable handle cover.
http://a.co/d/4zF47ZQ
Utensils Perhaps some like these.
http://a.co/d/6ECdNQe
Link to a suitable 8" frying pan.(great for omelets)
http://a.co/d/jgLy2r4
Replacement handle cover you'll eventually need when someone gets a handle into the fire.
http://a.co/d/6mwIbY9
You could likely even go with a cheaper suitable handle cover.
http://a.co/d/4zF47ZQ
Utensils Perhaps some like these.
http://a.co/d/6ECdNQe
Member III
2nd Jedi & systemdelete. Whatever you provide will take a beating, and will need replaced in the best of circumstances. Utensils will vanish, too. Also, keep an eye to what you might provide for water and waste. If your teardrops have on-board tanks for potable and black water, plan on very little renter maintenance for those as well. Best of luck to you!
Mike thanks for the input greatly appreciated & will put that in my rental plan/ notes.
I’ve been using stainless steel plates, bowls, silverware and pots and pans. I’m an oz. counter and the stainless adds some extra weight, but you don’t have to worry about individuals scratching any coatings.
Forgot to mention the brand we use. Caveman Cups I believe. Originally purchased for camping but the usability and durability have been amazing. I’ve using them everyday with little kids for the past 2 years.
Enthusiast III
I love my nesting Magma pots and pans. Cooks evenly and fine control when cooking on my partner stove.
I’m the Parts and Service Writer at an RV Rental company. Been in busines 11 years, almost 40 rentals...
Buy cheap pots on sale at wal-mart, target, or kohls, and set them up as a rental set. Make people pay for them. We charge $40/set and include pots, pans, strainers, cooking utensils, cutting board, and a cutting knife.
Most people don’t rent them, but some do. When they pay for it, they care for it more.
Throwing it in free is wasting your money... we don’t throw them in free even on our $200k RVs.
Stick the set in a tupperware tub, and offer it as an option... same with bedding, toasters, coffee pots, etc...
*For our personal use we use MSR nesting cookware for 4, and we have a firepit camping grate to grill on, and a few orher things... no way would I give this setup to renters, and no way would I buy a commercial setup for them... you need to think in terms of loss, because they lose things. Would you rather them lose a $5 pot from wal-mart, and charge them $5 out of their deposit, or would you rather try to explain they lost a $45 pot... they simply won’t accept that and you’ll be fighting to be made whole again... think in terms of customer service, and profit, and ease...
James
Buy cheap pots on sale at wal-mart, target, or kohls, and set them up as a rental set. Make people pay for them. We charge $40/set and include pots, pans, strainers, cooking utensils, cutting board, and a cutting knife.
Most people don’t rent them, but some do. When they pay for it, they care for it more.
Throwing it in free is wasting your money... we don’t throw them in free even on our $200k RVs.
Stick the set in a tupperware tub, and offer it as an option... same with bedding, toasters, coffee pots, etc...
*For our personal use we use MSR nesting cookware for 4, and we have a firepit camping grate to grill on, and a few orher things... no way would I give this setup to renters, and no way would I buy a commercial setup for them... you need to think in terms of loss, because they lose things. Would you rather them lose a $5 pot from wal-mart, and charge them $5 out of their deposit, or would you rather try to explain they lost a $45 pot... they simply won’t accept that and you’ll be fighting to be made whole again... think in terms of customer service, and profit, and ease...
James
Enthusiast III
My wife and I finally upgraded to A brand called Magma. My only regret is that I wish we would've done it sooner. Don't waste your money as we did with REI and Cabela's pots and pans.
I do however still use are cast.
Can't figure out how to quote yet, but am basically following up on several other people's suggestions, so it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Personally, I have some heavier duty stuff for when it's not just me - a 16" carbon steel comal (sort of like a discada or griddle), cast iron fry pan, a cast dutch oven, and a commercial aluminum stock pot (whichever one fits the weekend), along with some smaller saute pans and a . All but the bigger stock pot fit in my 'gig box' (it's literally is a musician's gig box) with the rest of our kitchen. This is actually the kitchen we use with our Aliner pop-up camper, I just take out the microwave stuff and plates/such.
If it's just me, I use an expanded version of my backpacking set -- most of a small stanley nesting set plus an 8" carbon steel fry pan and a little MSR teakettle, plus a lexan french press for coffee (it's a mug as well as a french press)
That's not your question ultimately, so what we do for our beach house that is rented out on VRBO is probably of more interest.
We've used mid-priced cookware sets there - they eventually get ruined because of scrubbing with the wrong thing or overheating, accidentally knocked off the deck into the creek 25' below (no, I can't figure out why they had it on the deck, or how they knocked it off, but it happened and we found it) - it's relatively inexpensive to replace them as long as you aren't worried about matching sets - we've done that at places like TJ Maxx, where you can find random pieces for good prices (got a Le Crueset dutch oven for our personal use a month or so ago)
I've just put commercial aluminum saute pans in the house, thinking they'd have a longer lifespan than the teflon-ish frying pans that we started with. I'm not sure people know how to use anything that isn't non-stick though, so will have to let them go through a few rentals to tell you how that's working.
So far, nobody has ruined the 5 gallon commercial aluminum stock pot (maybe because they haven't used it - there's a 2 gallon non-stick stock pot as well), but we took the gas fish cooker out of the house after someone used it on the deck (instead of under the house), and melted the siding and caught deck boards on fire.
Utensils: I prefer a combination of stainless and mid-quality 'plastic' for rentals - spatulas, spoons, ladles. Wal-Mart and a few other places have inexpensive stainless tongs that I can never have enough of. Throw in a few BBQ utensils and I think anyone's good to go.
Personally, I have some heavier duty stuff for when it's not just me - a 16" carbon steel comal (sort of like a discada or griddle), cast iron fry pan, a cast dutch oven, and a commercial aluminum stock pot (whichever one fits the weekend), along with some smaller saute pans and a . All but the bigger stock pot fit in my 'gig box' (it's literally is a musician's gig box) with the rest of our kitchen. This is actually the kitchen we use with our Aliner pop-up camper, I just take out the microwave stuff and plates/such.
If it's just me, I use an expanded version of my backpacking set -- most of a small stanley nesting set plus an 8" carbon steel fry pan and a little MSR teakettle, plus a lexan french press for coffee (it's a mug as well as a french press)
That's not your question ultimately, so what we do for our beach house that is rented out on VRBO is probably of more interest.
We've used mid-priced cookware sets there - they eventually get ruined because of scrubbing with the wrong thing or overheating, accidentally knocked off the deck into the creek 25' below (no, I can't figure out why they had it on the deck, or how they knocked it off, but it happened and we found it) - it's relatively inexpensive to replace them as long as you aren't worried about matching sets - we've done that at places like TJ Maxx, where you can find random pieces for good prices (got a Le Crueset dutch oven for our personal use a month or so ago)
I've just put commercial aluminum saute pans in the house, thinking they'd have a longer lifespan than the teflon-ish frying pans that we started with. I'm not sure people know how to use anything that isn't non-stick though, so will have to let them go through a few rentals to tell you how that's working.
So far, nobody has ruined the 5 gallon commercial aluminum stock pot (maybe because they haven't used it - there's a 2 gallon non-stick stock pot as well), but we took the gas fish cooker out of the house after someone used it on the deck (instead of under the house), and melted the siding and caught deck boards on fire.
Utensils: I prefer a combination of stainless and mid-quality 'plastic' for rentals - spatulas, spoons, ladles. Wal-Mart and a few other places have inexpensive stainless tongs that I can never have enough of. Throw in a few BBQ utensils and I think anyone's good to go.
My thoughts, if you buy anything stacking and you lose one piece, then what. Can you get that one piece from the manufacture or suppler? Anything with a nonstick finish is going to get scratched quickly, not only is that unslightly, but here in the nation state of California you will get those that consider nonstick toxic, and then send you a bill for their whole body cleansing guru consultation.
I've read through James' comment a couple of times now, and bounced that idea off of a couple other people - I wouldn't have come up with it myself, as I'm thinking of a house rental where people really expect the house to be 'stocked'. The folks I talked to agreed with my change of mind - they all said they have their gear, so probably wouldn't expect it to be provided - so selling a basic kit would actually make a lot of sense.
Honestly, for camping, I think I'd do the same with linens - something else we provide in the house, but wouldn't expect in a rental camper (of this size -- maybe in a 100k RV, but not a teardrop)
Regarding bedding: We provide master bedding only (every RV is sold with master bedding anyway, so we leave it in there). Additional bedding is $10/kit. (Honestly most people bring sleeping bags for kids/family)
Thank you everyone for all the great information. You input is hugely appreciated.
Advocate I
That looks great. I have a GSI set that nests. It has the non-stick coating, but thinking of moving to something without the coating. That being said they are 10years old and holding up fine.
