Grill, Griddle, Smoke, Repeat: Confessions of an RV Grillaholic
Article by Steve Blume, Tiffin Ambassador
Between home and our Tiffin, I cook on six different grills. Three of them travel with me, tucked neatly onto basement storage trays. It’s not that I’m the best cook, it’s that I enjoy the process as much as the payoff of a tasty, well-prepared whatever. Yes, I admit it: I have a grilling problem.
Before we go any further, let me say this up front—this isn’t an endorsement of any particular grill. I’m not promoting anything. I’m just sharing my journey. Tiffin also offers some really nice built-in outdoor kitchens. In reality, I know most people don’t love to cook. Many cook only when they have to, and some probably think I’m a little nuts. That’s fair.
It didn’t start this way; it happened gradually. Looking back, the warning signs were there. When we were shopping for our Tiffin, I checked the basement storage space before I ever stepped inside. Some people measure a coach by how many slides it has—I measured mine by how many grills I could fit underneath.
Charcoal, lighter fluid, and learning the hard way
For me, cooking isn’t a chore—it’s entertainment, even if it’s just my wife and me. Dinner at our site is an event to be savored, just as important as a planned hike or scenic drive. Some people eat to live. I live to eat.
I’ve loved outdoor cooking since our pop-up camping days, when planning dinner was part of the adventure. Charcoal was how we cooked for years. I loved the ritual and the flavor, but it came with quirks. Sometimes the lighter fluid smell tainted the taste. Temperature control felt more like educated guessing. More than once, the fire mysteriously went out when the food was about 90 percent done. Then there were the ashes—lots of them—and waiting for everything to cool before dumping them was just part of the deal.
Keeping It Simple on the Road – Our Weber Q Portable Propane Grill
When we first hit the road in our Tiffin, simplicity mattered. That’s when the Weber Q portable propane grill came into the picture. It folded up neatly, fit underneath, lit instantly, and cleaned up easily. Temperature control was predictable; it did exactly what it was meant to do.
That Weber was the only grill we carried our first year—and I was perfectly content… until I wasn’t.
Breakfast Was the Gateway Drug – The Blackstone Griddle
I found myself wanting bacon, sausage, pancakes, and eggs going at the same time, and that’s when the Blackstone griddle entered the story. Griddle cooking is different from grilling, so I did what I always do when something new grabs my attention—I went to school. YouTube became my classroom, from Blackstone’s own channel to creators like The Hungry Hussey and Waltwins. The learning curve paid off. Massive breakfasts became easy. Smash burgers turned into a specialty. Fried rice, brussels sprouts with honey, toasted buns, and even steaks found their way onto the griddle. Friends once challenged me to cook thick, expensive filets on it, and the unanimous verdict was that it was restaurant-quality.
That’s when I realized something important. Once you understand a tool’s strengths, you stop fighting its weaknesses. But it was also the moment I admitted the truth—I hadn’t replaced a grill. I had added one.
The Blackstone was fantastic, but not perfect. Bone-in chicken doesn’t shine on a griddle. And griddle cooking comes with commitment. After dinner, while everyone else relaxed, I scraped, cleaned, oiled, and got the surface ready for next time. And if you’ve ever traveled with a greasy grill, you know how that story ends—eventually, everything nearby gets a little greasy too.
Smoke on the Road – The Pit Boss Tabletop Pellet Smoker
About two months into a long trip, I found myself missing ribs—the kind I cooked at home on my Big Green Egg. I briefly considered the mini version, but it was heavy and expensive. Then I noticed a Pit Boss tabletop pellet grill at a campground. It was light, portable, electric, and affordable. After doing my homework, I picked one up at Lowe’s, and just like that, grill number three joined the lineup. Traeger also makes a similar unit.
The pellet grill earned its keep quickly. Ribs, pork shoulder, and my “Over the Top” chili—where the meat smokes above the chili before being mixed in—won our RV resort’s chili cook-off. Cleanup was minimal, pellets were easy to find, and the smell alone drew neighbors over. But once again, it wasn’t an all-in-one solution. I love the smoky taste, but I don’t want it on everything. And at one campground, pellet grills were prohibited due to fire concerns—a reminder that rules matter when you travel. By this point, my outdoor kitchen looked less like an RV setup and more like a traveling barbecue team. Each grill had a role, and giving any one of them up felt impossible.
The All-Electric Experiment – Ninja Woodfire XL
That’s what makes my latest experiment different. This time, the goal wasn’t to add another grill—it was to replace the other three. Friends had won a Ninja Woodfire electric grill, and I initially dismissed it as gimmicky. But once I stopped thinking of it as a novelty and started evaluating it as a replacement, it checked a lot of boxes: Grill, smoker, griddle plate, air fryer—all electric. We always have power with our Tiffin, and the idea of eliminating propane tanks was appealing.
I chose the larger Woodfire XL for the extra cooking space, and added the optional griddle plate so I could keep my Blackstone recipes alive and sear my sous-vide steaks and chicken. Plug it in, add a small scoop of pellets, turn the dial, and walk away while it preheats. It even beeps when it’s time to add food. For the test, I spent a month at home using it exclusively, walking past my Big Green Egg and five-burner Blackstone to cook on this little guy sitting on a folding table—the same setup it would have on the road. Bacon and sausage go on the griddle plate. Chicken thighs get smoked, grilled, or air-fried depending on my mood. Same with salmon. My award-winning chili passed the test.
It’s stingy with pellets so that I can carry smaller bags. Also, I understand the tradeoffs. It doesn’t have the cooking surface of a Big Green Egg or Blackstone. It doesn’t smoke quite as heavily as my Pit Boss. But it’s big enough. And with a little more time under the hood, I can work around those limitations. This isn’t an ad for the Ninja Woodfire. It’s just where I am in my cooking journey right now.
Notes from a Grill Nerd – Why technique, temperature, and repeatability matter
One habit matters more than any grill I own. When I cook, I keep notes, and I’ve found the Notes app on my phone to be the perfect place to store them. I organize by type of food, with notes on prep, seasoning, internal temperatures, grill temperatures, and timing. I constantly update entries when something improves, and I’m just as careful to write down the “don’t do that again” moments.
My phone is an essential tool while cooking. I use my phone timer for everything, mostly a reminder to flip or check on something. Frequently, I need my phone’s flashlight to see the food or the numbers on my thermometer. My new temperature probe is Bluetooth-enabled, so I can check the temperature of my cooking from outside while inside my Tiffin.
Along with those notes, one tool never leaves my kit: an instant-read thermometer. It’s non-negotiable. Prices range from about $15 to well over $100, but the inexpensive ones work just fine, and I also keep a backup. Guessing doneness is a great way to ruin good meat – knowing the temperature is how you duplicate success.
The goal isn’t perfection, it’s repeatability. I want to be able to cook something six months later, in a different campground, and get the same result.
The Final Sizzle – Why versatility beats perfection in RV life
I don’t think the Ninja Woodfire is better than a pellet smoker or a Blackstone—it’s just different. In my RV, I’m replacing three grills with it, not because it outperforms each one, but because it does enough of everything in a small, easy package and eliminates my propane tanks. The Woodfire is kind of the platypus of grills—not the best at any one thing, but shockingly capable of a lot of things at once. And for RV life, that versatility matters more than perfection.
There’s an old saying about boats: you don’t want to own one, you want your friend to own one. Cooking might be the same way. You may not want to be the cook, but it sure is nice having a friend who is. Outdoor cooking isn’t just about feeding yourself. It’s about smoke drifting through the campground, neighbors wandering over with a drink in hand, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing dinner tastes a little better when it’s cooked under open sky.
Sure, I may have a cooking problem—but my wife doesn’t complain, since it keeps her out of the kitchen, and the neighbors must be okay with it – they keep wandering over.
About the Author:
Steve first lives it, then colorfully writes about it, especially his passion for the RV lifestyle. A retired entrepreneur, he and his wife spend half the year traveling the country in their Tiffin Allegro RED 38 KA and the other half at home in Brentwood, TN with family. Married for almost 50 years, once you meet them he and Nancy are easily remembered – he is 6’4″ and she is 4’7″. His articles on business, personal development, faith, fundraising and running have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines over the years.
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