Competition is hotting up in the motorhome galley now that there are so many specialised lightweight camping cookware sets available. Will you go for a colourful range of pots and pans that cheer you up every time you look at them? Or are you more of a down-to-earth cook, prizing practicality above all else?

One of the most persuasive reasons to buy specialised camping cookware for your motorhome is to make the most of your ‘van’s storage space. The smaller the locker, the more vital it is to repeat to yourself that small really is beautiful.

Factor in your overall permitted payload in the motorhome and you’ll be glad to find lightweight sets of cooking pots that provide all you need. 

We have collected a selection of camping cookware sets for testing, to find out which are the best pan sets for motorhomes.

We tested the Kampa Feast at £33.99, the Kampa Chow at £23.99, The Outwell Feast cook set M at £34.20, the Lakeland My Kitchen five-piece pan set at £94.99, the Vango eight-person non-stick cook kit at £50, the Kampa Munch at £28.99, and the Vango one-person non-stick cook kit at £18. 

You might well wonder what we were looking for from our sets of pots and pans. We judged good value for money by looking at the overall price compared to the number of the pans and the quality of materials and design. We generally want just medium-sized or small saucepans and one bigger frying pan, so that we can use more than one at a time on a typical motorhome hob.

No heavy lifting is good, as far as we’re concerned, or at least not in the kitchen. So it’s a compromise between pans that are heavy enough to be stable on the hob and light pans that tip over too easily.

Lids are important, because food cooks more quickly and stays hotter for longer if you have one lid per pan.

Compact storage options demands that the pans should have good nesting abilities. We also like folding and detachable pan handles, which should of course be insulated and easy to grip. Removable handles can sometimes mean that the pan can be used in the oven for baking, and also that it might fit in the fridge once it has cooled down. 

In this review we’ll focus on the Kampa Munch, priced at £28.99. Munch is, in essence, an extended version of Kampa’s Chow set, now with four main pieces: 15cm, 17cm and 19cm saucepans, plus a 19.5cm frying pan. The pack size remains impressively compact at just 14cm high with a 21cm diameter.

Sadly, though, for the Kampa Munch set the excellent handle design we saw on Kampa Chow has been replaced by the fold-out handles seen on rival brand Vango’s one-person set. They work well enough, but the Chow’s are that bit easier in the hand.

Handles aside, Kampa Munch has a higher-quality finish than the cheaper set, with noticeably thicker walls and a sturdier feel.