Stove and Oven or Stove and Convection Microwave?

[John in Santa Cruz]

dont have a convection microwave, in fact, have never used one. hardly ever use our conventional microwave.

we mostly use the oven for things like baking sandwiches and casseroles. my wife will make a bunch of meatballs and package them 2 or 4 to the boiler-bag ('seal-a-meal') and deep freezing them along with plenty of her yummy homemade red sauce. we'll thaw a package of those, and make meatball sandwiches out of some french rolls we pick up at a market or bakery on the road. we'll use the oven to warm some danish pastries for breakfast that we picked up at a market or bakery. that sort of thing. frozen or ad hoc pizzas. it gets used justa bout as often as the stovetop, and in fact, half the time the stovetop is just being used to boil water.

Now we've started traveling with a Napolean propane bbq too, and thats taken on some of the oven duties if the weather is nice. my wife can do an awesome version of italian sausage, peppers, and onions on said BBQ, good either on a plate, or on a roll. we've even done pizza on the bbq instead of the oven (half the bbq usually has the griddle on it instead of the grill).

[Perry Butler]

Last winter, I finally talked Terry into an Omnia Oven. Previously she was using our Weber Q with decent results, but I didn’t like carrying the Weber. Only one failed recipe (don’t try popovers on the first try) and the rest have been perfect. It’s small and works great outside on our two-burner propane stove. We’ve had around ten campers in the last few decades with stove/ovens and the ovens were inaccurate, needed constant monitoring, and heated the camper too much. The last few campers we rarely used the oven, if at all. We also boondock most of the time, so electric is a no-go, even though we have 465 watts on the roof and 260 useable ah’s of batteries. Again, the Omnia is a great option.

https://www.omniasweden.com/us/

Enjoy,

Perry

[cpaharley2008]

After 5 Escapes I have learned what works best for us. No microwave and no oven. One of first Escapes had the oven and it was used to store pots/pans. These ovens use a lot of propane while in use. If I run out of propane, it will be one of those disposable ones I carry and use on the Blackstone which is used for every meal. In the winter we use a crockpot for soups and stews.

[Vermilye]

I use the oven in my 21C for everything I'd use an oven or even large toaster oven at home. Heat frozen meals, pizza (frozen & fresh), roasts, meatloaf, biscuits, and, of course, blueberry pies! I did add a close to full sized pizza tile in the bottom to help even the heating.

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, Jon's blueberry pies are legendary...

[davidmurphy02]

When we travel it's on longer trips, typically two months or so. Mary loves to bake, we have the oven and it's great for all kinds of baking - cookies, brownies, pies, etc. She doesn't do elaborate dinners in the oven - roast chicken, rack of lamb, etc. often but has on occasion. We have the standard small microwave, dual 6 volt batteries and a solar panel, and inverter and it's really nice to be able to run the microwave for short periods on the inverter when traveling or dry camping. Also, when dry camping in cool/cold weather it's nice to be able to heat up a frozen lasagna in the oven, helps keep the trailer warm and cozy.

A couple of other things to consider in your choice. Do you like to do much stove-top cooking, or anticipate doing that? I know some people set up an outdoor kitchen and cook mostly outside, but we do all our cooking in the trailer. With the three burner cooktop on top of the oven, and the large burner front and center, there is enough cooking area to easily accommodate just about any size skillet or big pot and still use another burner also. The small stand-alone 2 burner cooktops typically have a smaller size restriction on pans, I think 10" max, so check into that if you plan to use those burners often.

Even in convection mode, the convection/micro uses AC heating elements. That means that if you want to do anything in that oven while boondocking you might need to run the inverter quite a while, and I have no idea of what the voltage draw is for the convection oven but electric heat elements are typically pretty energy-hungry. Another factor is the space available in the convection oven for larger items, I have no idea what that is in the oven that ETI installs. We have a convection micro and home, pretty large one, and in convection mode there's a little platform on legs you have to use to elevate your pan so that air can circulate easily all around it. You might see if you could get someone who has that oven to put the little convection tray in and then measure the height available for larger items, may not be as much as you think.

The good news is that certainly plenty of wonderful loaves of bread have been baked in both types of ovens, so if you find yourself going back and forth on that choice don't sweat it too much, either can work well for you.

[SteveSgt]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

When we travel it's on longer trips, typically two months or so.

That's the kind of travel we're envisioning. Not so much "camping" as much as "home away from home for a several months" sort of style.

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

Mary loves to bake, we have the oven and it's great for all kinds of baking - cookies, brownies, pies, etc. She doesn't do elaborate dinners in the oven - roast chicken, rack of lamb, etc. often but has on occasion.

That sounds like some impressive accomplishments for a tight space.

We can probably do without the microwave more readily than the oven. Two burners would be workable, three would only be crucial occasionally (and an outdoor stove could do that duty). A 3 qt. Instant Pot would get a lot of use as well, even on battery (we even use the I.P. now when tent camping with a "solar generator").

Most of the small propane RV ovens look like they'd be OK for flat things, like my oat and einkorn breakfast rolls...


...but not so much for my "daily bread" (more like weekly bread) because of height.

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

You might see if you could get someone who has that oven to put the little convection tray in and then measure the height available for larger items, may not be as much as you think.

That's a helpful suggestion. Thanks!

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

The good news is that certainly plenty of wonderful loaves of bread have been baked in both types of ovens, so if you find yourself going back and forth on that choice don't sweat it too much, either can work well for you.

That's what I guessed, which is why I asked for some folks to relate their personal experiences.

[alanerickson]

Minor deviation here, but we've been using our Dutch oven along with parchment paper recently. Works great and there isn't much that it can't do well.

Only downside is that you have to mess around with coals, but I use my coal chimney and a burner and can get them ready in about 10 minutes. That and inclement weather puts a damper on things. On the flip side it's great cooking outside, works well, and is very forgiving.

[rmitch]

Originally Posted by alanerickson

Minor deviation here, but we've been using our Dutch oven along with parchment paper recently. Works great and there isn't much that it can't do well.

Only downside is that you have to mess around with coals, but I use my coal chimney and a burner and can get them ready in about 10 minutes. That and inclement weather puts a damper on things. On the flip side it's great cooking outside, works well, and is very forgiving.

I love cooking in the Dutch ovens.

[Ooshkaboo]

This does it all-definitely a needs shore power.
Does a great job on chicken and even steak.

I don’t do baked goods, but I do know it also works well for that.

Compact-14” high by 12/13-air fryer/oven.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by rmitch

I love cooking in the Dutch ovens.

That picture reminds me of a Dutch Oven water fall.....

[Treblemaker]

We use an Omnia oven for anything we would put in a regular oven. I can use it on the propane stove inside, my Coleman camp stove outside, or on a cheap electric coil when we have shore power. Weighs just over a pound and leaves lots of room for storage. We mainly cook outside. Our travels vary from a few days to 4 months in length. Depending on your needs, it could be an option. I even use it at home when I don’t want to heat my full size oven.

[bborzell]

We have the Eno 3 burner and microwave/convection oven. Totally satisfied with the combo. Cooktop offers wide BTU range and the M/C oven does great muffins. Have not done bread yet, but have no doubt that the design is easily up to the task.

[SteveSgt]

Originally Posted by bborzell

We have the Eno 3 burner and microwave/convection oven.

Thanks for the mini-review.

Is there a chance you could measure the interior dimensions of the convection oven, and the height of the baking riser, and report back here?

What's the largest pan you can use on the ENO cook top? Would my 10" (circa 1919) cast iron skillet be safely usable on it?

[bborzell]

Just hit the sack. Will measure in the am after I watch the Hungarian GP F1 race.

[WillyB]

We opted to not have an oven or a microwave in our upcoming 21C. We rarely use a microwave and didn't want to heat up the interior with an oven. We really went back and forth on the oven.

We ended up buying a Napoleon TravelQ and have really enjoyed cooking on it at home with the dual burners. So far we've cooked steaks, indirect chicken with one burner, grilled veggies, grilled salmon, halved Acorn squash between 2 burners and the same on indirect, brats, burgers and bacon & scrambled eggs using a cast iron skillet. I want to try cooking cornbread indirectly next.

On the other hand, our friends with the sticky routinely use their oven and microwave. It's not uncommon to have delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch when camping with them. They also make microwave eggs in a special dish for their egg sandwiches.

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by WillyB

We opted to not have an oven or a microwave in our upcoming 21C. We rarely use a microwave and didn't want to heat up the interior with an oven. We really went back and forth on the oven.

We ended up buying a Napoleon TravelQ and have really enjoyed cooking on it at home with the dual burners. So far we've cooked steaks, indirect chicken with one burner, grilled veggies, grilled salmon, halved Acorn squash between 2 burners and the same on indirect, brats, burgers and bacon & scrambled eggs using a cast iron skillet. I want to try cooking cornbread indirectly next.

On the other hand, our friends with the sticky routinely use their oven and microwave. It's not uncommon to have delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch when camping with them. They also make microwave eggs in a special dish for their egg sandwiches.

STOP IT! You’re kill’n me! I haven’t had breakfast yet!

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

STOP IT! You’re kill’n me! I haven’t had breakfast yet!

Just found a box of Famous Dave's Autumn Spice Cornbread in the pantry.

It's July 31st but I'm going to give it a try today indirect on the Napoleon TravelQ.

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by SteveSgt

Thanks for the mini-review.

Is there a chance you could measure the interior dimensions of the convection oven, and the height of the baking riser, and report back here?

What's the largest pan you can use on the ENO cook top? Would my 10" (circa 1919) cast iron skillet be safely usable on it?

Here are photos of the cooktop, the large burner with an 11” cast iron crepe pan on it, the interior height, interior width and the height of the baking riser. Obviously the rser can be flipped over.

I think the key to using a larger cast iron skillet on this cook top is a lower setting and gradually heating the skillet.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by WillyB

....We ended up buying a Napoleon TravelQ and have really enjoyed cooking on it at home with the dual burners. So far we've cooked steaks, indirect chicken with one burner, grilled veggies, grilled salmon, halved Acorn squash between 2 burners and the same on indirect, brats, burgers and bacon & scrambled eggs using a cast iron skillet. I want to try cooking cornbread indirectly next.

if you didn't get the griddle with it, I recommend it, we use it alot. in fact, we travel with the grill on one side, and the griddle on the other. griddle can make great pancakes, bacon, all sorts of stuff like that. good for heating pizza and stuff, my wife grills up a big batch of bell peppers onions on the griddle then does the italian sausage on the grill, put it all together, and yumyumyum.