Ovens in kitchens - RV-Dreams Community Forum

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ovens in kitchens

LibertyLinda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tropikat,

The microwave combined with the convection oven is the way to save space an oven would take up for the storage needed. Now, I will tell you I am NOT a baker or cook, but we searched for a rig without the oven. Going from 3 ovens to maybe one tiny one will be a challenge for you, but if you are talented to do that kind of baking/cooking, then try to transfer that to a RV lifestyle with what you have. Good luck. aww

-- Edited by Ann4now on Tuesday 15th of October 2013 07:42:04 PM

Tropikat · RV-Dreams Community Member

We are currently looking at Class A's and bus conversions and I am noticing that very few of either have traditional ovens in the kitchen. Why? Is it a space issue? I am a cook and love to get in the kitchen ( I have 3 ovens in my home kitchen) Do you folks out there miss having a oven or do you carry a good toaster type oven?

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Many of the newer RV's have convection/microwave ovens. These of course use electricity instead of propane, which is usually provided with the site fee. Space is also a consideration. My wife said she doesn't miss it, but she doesn't do much oven cooking either.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I removed the 2 drawers below the cooktop in my coach and put a stove oven combo in.....I liked the idea that if I needed an oven during boondocking or parking lot layovers that power or the generator was not an issue.

the loss of the 2 drawer space was minor in an overall storage area......besides did you ever try to bake bread , cookies or roast in a small micro/convection oven or toaster oven.....not so much fun and the heat and cooking process isnt even close..

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

As for the microwave/convection ovens, some of the newer ones do have the ability to broil. The one in our Mobile Suites is not one, so Jo is lusting after one that has the two shelf capability and the broil option. We ordered our trailer with the oven along with the cooktop, but Jo hasn't used it much because of the capability of the microwave/convection oven. However, the way ours works, once she has used the convection over for cooking something for some time, she has to wait for the oven to then cool down before she can use the microwave to cook things faster.

Terry

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have had 3 ovens in different RVs and they were all terrible if you are serious about baking. I cook from scratch. A good toaster oven is the way to go and that can also be put outside in order to keep the RV cooler on a warm day but pies/cakes will attract neighbors.

jimindenver · RV-Dreams Family Member

Personally I'd take out the microwave before the oven. We use the oven multiple times a trip The most we do with the micro is warm up some vegies or leftovers.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

I found once you calibrate the oven there is no problem after that......most rv ovens have operator errors.....the rack is not centered during baking.....a roaster pan was pushed in and knocked the Thermostat bulb loose or against the rear wall.......or the oven is adjusted to " your liking rather than the manufactures specs....

the sad part with most things in life is the first thing you hear about them are bad experiences.....

It wont do what I want it to do.!!......(But it will do what the manufacturer said it would do) I spent many years as a service Tech in both commercial and domestic fields....there are a million opinions on why things didnt work but the number one Fact was they never read the instructions and if they did, they didnt follow them.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

I used to be much more of a baker / cook than I am now. Life on the road has made me appreciate grilling 4-6 nights per week and since we eat out once a week or more, that leaves little time for complicated cooking.

Part of our decision to not use the oven as much has to do with the outside temps, the hook ups, etc. When we are following the sun and trying to stay above 70 degrees for outside temps, but we do not like the big, commercial, too close together RV parks, we're finding places where we only have 30 amp hook ups to be very common, sometimes 15 amps. I would much rather grill outside and have at least one of our two AC units running than use the oven. Of course, in my previous life, I tended to use the oven much more in colder weather, grill in warmer weather so now we find ourselves grillling most of the time.

Just our experience but life on the road tends to change a few old habits including how we cook. We have used our oven far less often than in the S&B, but we do use the microwave to warm up leftovers, defrost meat when I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer to grill, etc. We used to grill 3-5 times a week and now it's more like 4-6 times a week which leaves little time to bake, and I've yet to decide to buy a smaller crockpot, although that's still on the list "to consider".

We are finding more lifestyle changes than we expected given that we had extensive "part-time" experience before selling the house and going on the road.

Not sure if this helps much, but honestly, I'm about ready to donate more of the baking "stuff" I put in the kitchen but am holding off until we get through the holiday season to make sure I'm not being too hasty in ditching stuff and reducing our cargo weight, etc.

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is one of the things I am concerned about for me when we go out full-time. I love to cook! The kitchen in the 5er we are looking at is very nice, but the oven is SO TINY! No turkey or larger roast getting in there, not even sure about a roaster chicken! I do plan to bring my crock-pot, if there is space. I also bake a lot, but my large cookie sheets will have to go! I can get smaller cookie sheets though and I do plan to bring my mixer. We also do a lot of grilling, all year round, which will continue!

The biggest issue for me will be that hubby and I do a good bit of canning. There isn't a rig out there with a large enough space for our big stock pot or pressure cooker. We make chili, applesauce, raspberry jam, cranberry sauce, etc. every year (mostly in the fall) and I have my thinking cap on about how to translate that to RV living. One thing we are considering and needs more research is bringing along our turkey frier, which we used once for frying a turkey (didn't like it that way, I like a stuffed bird!), but we still have it. That is a HUGE burner and might work, but with space at a premium, hopefully we have space for it!

I am going to look in the kitchen section to see if there are any ideas there!

Loretta · RV-Dreams Family Member

I come from a big family and I cooked and baked all the time. I would change out the microwave to a micro/convection and leave the oven. That is next on our list. We boondock alot so it is nice to have something that works on propane. Like Ruth mentioned, this lifestyle is very different than in s/b. I will not be making a 30lb. turkey anytime soon so my crockpot will do nicely for a smaller one. As far as cakes and cookies, I make the one at a time cupcakes in the microwave and smaller cakes, like pineapple upside down, in my cast iron pan in the oven. I know our eating habits have changed dramatically with this lifestyle and we have both eat healthier and have lost weight.

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use both our convection and gas ovens, although the gas one doesn't get used as much.

And Terry, we bought two glass containers and use them for microwaving after the oven has been used for cooking. It works pretty well!

Terry and Jo wrote:
As for the microwave/convection ovens, some of the newer ones do have the ability to broil. The one in our Mobile Suites is not one, so Jo is lusting after one that has the two shelf capability and the broil option. We ordered our trailer with the oven along with the cooktop, but Jo hasn't used it much because of the capability of the microwave/convection oven. However, the way ours works, once she has used the convection over for cooking something for some time, she has to wait for the oven to then cool down before she can use the microwave to cook things faster.
Terry

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Kelly, there are 5th wheels that are large enough to do as you wish. With very nice kitchens. We carry large stock pots, large bread maker. two large crock pots, etc. No problem. But we also have a large and heavy trailer. Everything is a compromise.

If you want to see what we have take a look at our For Sale ad here, and general info here.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

soos wrote:
We use both our convection and gas ovens, although the gas one doesn't get used as much.
And Terry, we bought two glass containers and use them for microwaving after the oven has been used for cooking. It works pretty well!
Terry and Jo wrote:
As for the microwave/convection ovens, some of the newer ones do have the ability to broil. The one in our Mobile Suites is not one, so Jo is lusting after one that has the two shelf capability and the broil option. We ordered our trailer with the oven along with the cooktop, but Jo hasn't used it much because of the capability of the microwave/convection oven. However, the way ours works, once she has used the convection over for cooking something for some time, she has to wait for the oven to then cool down before she can use the microwave to cook things faster.
Terry

Thanks, Sue. I'll have to tell Jo about this. Are you able to immediately put the glass bowls with things in, or do you allow it to cool a bit? I know one would have to remove the metal platter and replace with the glass one. In afterthought, I think Jo doesn't always just do a side dish, but perhaps another meat item for some reason, I'm a real mess in that I don't like leftovers (except for her chili), so she sometimes has to fix me something and then throw in a leftover for herself to microwave.

OK, ladies. You can now pile on with the criticism.

Terry

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

No criticism- WE don't have to live with you

I put the rack in the sink till it cools and use the microwave right away. Any glass dish will do, just can't put plastic cover on it.

Sue

charles · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our oven is used for bread and pot storage.
We do have a microwave and a toaster oven both of which get heavy use.
YMMV
CCC