Kitchens in rentals, Ubud Bali

A gas cooker fed by a bottle, and a microwave if you're posh. Now and again, a portable electric oven.

That's it for an average local kitchen.

Question is, do you really need much more, or is it just that you're used to it?

If by "long term accommodations" you mean taking a losmen, home stay, bungalow or hotel room on a long term basis, then yes...most will not have kitchens. 

In Bali, fire has a special religious (Bali Agama Hindu) significance, ergo, the space and location for cooking is regulated.   Thus, for the most part, you're only going to find complete kitchens in villa rentals intended for long term stays (leases).

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I would like a year lease but I have yet to see a normal kitchen. What am I going to do with one burner and no oven? What do the locals make every day for their families that they only need one burner and no oven? I would like to adapt, so I would need to know how they work it out...

LOL "if you're posh" 

StaceyMadeleine wrote:

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I would like a year lease but I have yet to see a normal kitchen. What am I going to do with one burner and no oven? What do the locals make every day for their families that they only need one burner and no oven? I would like to adapt, so I would need to know how they work it out...

Some have two burners - That's also posh.
Question is, what can you make for yourself that needs more than one burner and a rice cooker (I forgot that before)?
My wife is a spectacular cook able to make meals from what seems like bits left in the fridge, and she performs her magic with - yes, you've guessed it - one burner.

The trick here is getting away from the idea of a fitted kitchen, thinking more of easy everything and a bunch of plastic containers to keep stuff in. I was also shocked when I first saw Indonesian kitchens, but my surprised disappeared like a fart in the wind (Macbeth - Act 1, scene 2) after the first meal.

Here are a few ideas for one ring cooking (but you can buy a 2 ring if you want chips as well)

Buy 2 gas bottles - It's a right pain in the posterior if you run out of gas and the local warung is closed.

The things are cheap, easy to get home, easy to shift when it comes to moving house, and you get the advantages gas cooking offers when it comes to heat control.
You can buy electric versions, even induction rings, but they don't work very well in a power cut and a lot of places don't have a good enough electricity supply to handle one of them and an air conditioner.

All on one burner

The locals, and I'm talking about traditional Balinese in the Ubud area, still use wood in their kitchens.  As any of them will tell you, the food is better tasting when it's cooked with wood. 

As for fully equipped modern kitchens in long term lease properties...they are standard in upper mid price + range properties in the Ubud area.   

It's also worth noting that there are considerable differences in housing here in Bali than what is typically seen in Java.

Ubudian wrote:

The locals, and I'm talking about traditional Balinese in the Ubud area, still use wood in their kitchens.  As any of them will tell you, the food is better tasting when it's cooked with wood.  .

I don;t need them to tell me, I've tasted wood cooked food - Yummy