Oven decision…. Please advise.

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Ramdough

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Jan 30, 2024
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16
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Austin
We are days away from final configuration acceptance but are on the fence for the oven.

We want an oven. At home we have a really nice Breville toaster oven that we use all the time. Unless we are baking big things, we use the toaster oven.

We are trying to decide between the oven unit and just a burner with a toaster oven.

Can you all please provide suggestions on what you would do and why?

Thanks in advance!
 
Not sure ETI offers a toaster oven (is that a new option?) - maybe you mean to install one yourself. ETI offers a convection microwave. We thought of adding a toaster oven ourselves after delivery, but I was a bit concerned about the heat shielding in an enclosed area. The countertop units widely available are probably not rated for an enclosed space.

When we ordered our 21C last summer, we considered the cooking options - which seem closely tied with your personal preferences. The cook in our family decided that she didn't want to bake while we were traveling and opted for additional storage instead. Same with a three-burner stove - opting for additional counterspace instead. She's been happy with those choices but does regret not getting the larger sink.

We added our own microwave after delivery, but I'm not sure that was a good idea (we weren't sure we wanted one at the time of order). We can close the cabinet door and have some storage in front of the seldom used microwave, but I don't think it was cheaper. The question is whether you want to dedicate that whole cabinet to a microwave which probably depends on how often you plan to use it.
 
Before our 5.0, we had 11 previous campers with ovens that we used perhaps one out of 60 days camping. We ordered our 5.0 with only the cooktop and never missed the oven.

For items usually cooked in an oven Terry uses an Omnia Oven that she now can cook about anything we wish from an oven.

We took out the oven, cooktop and microwave in our current camper with only a larger single bowl Houzer sink cut into the countertop. Now she has two large drawers in the oven's place that store easily 3 times what that small oven held, plus a huge prep area for cooking.

Terry uses a induction plate and a butane plate, but so far never both, but she can if needed. When it's warm she cooks outside on our Camp Chef two burner cooktop.

The oven is really more of a toy than a good oven anyway. In six years, averaging 150 nights camping a year we've yet to miss the oven.

Food for thought,

Perry
 
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I wonder if Kathie Newlyn will respond to this thread. She uses the oven in their 21'C all the time! I love camping next to them. Of all the things I didn't get as an option, the stove with an oven is the one I regret the most. Sure, I can haul a toaster oven or some sort of contraption to 'bake' either outside or on the stove top, but that requires storage... more stuff to store and haul. The oven, just like the microwave doesn't need to remain empty. Store bread, crackers, extra paper plates in those 'holes' until needed. Do you bake at home? IF you don't, then don't bother. IF you do, I think you're going to miss it. But... it's not big enough to roast a large turkey, but perfect for 1-2-3 people food. Good luck on your decision. (y) Uuummmm fresh baked cinnamon rolls on a cold and rainy day......
 
Donna D. said:
I wonder if Kathie Newlyn will respond to this thread. She uses the oven in their 21'C all the time! I love camping next to them. Of all the things I didn't get as an option, the stove with an oven is the one I regret the most. Sure, I can haul a toaster oven or some sort of contraption to 'bake' either outside or on the stove top, but that requires storage... more stuff to store and haul. The oven, just like the microwave doesn't need to remain empty. Store bread, crackers, extra paper plates in those 'holes' until needed. Do you bake at home? IF you don't, then don't bother. IF you do, I think you're going to miss it. But... it's not big enough to roast a large turkey, but perfect for 1-2-3 people food. Good luck on your decision. (y) Uuummmm fresh baked cinnamon rolls on a cold and rainy day......
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Terry uses the oven a home all the time, and she can easily make cinnamon rolls in the Omnia Oven that takes up hardly any space, perhaps 1/10th the volume of the space remaining when stored. She doesn't miss that poor excuse for an oven though. BTDT.

We're all different though,

Perry
 
Barb bakes all the time at home, but she is on “vacation” in the trailer, so does very little baking. We have the Dickinson marine cooktop and the micro / convection underneath. It works well for us, but everyone prefers different things. She does use the convection oven around once a week when we are traveling. It seems to work well for her.
 
We're of the same mind as many here....on vacation we keep our cooking simple...so the stove top, microwave, grill or a campfire are more than sufficient to meet our camp cooking needs. (Typical dinner meals for us will be grilled chicken, fish or steak, burgers, salad and maybe some mac&cheese). We much prefer the extra cabinet space.
 
Perry Butler said:
Terry uses a induction plate and a butane plate, but so far never both, but she can if needed. When it's warm she cooks outside on our Camp Chef two burner cooktop.
Click to expand...

An in-expensive butane single burner stove works for us as well for frying smelly or greasy things prone to spatter - its small and helps keep the mess outside. But to each their own.
 
I use the oven in my propane stove/oven more than I use the cooktop. I use it for pizzas and other frozen meals, chicken, meatloaf, etc as well as over 40 blueberry pies. I did add a large pizza stone to help even out the heat.

For awhile I carried a toaster oven large enough to bake a 12" pizza or pie, but it was more than my 1500 watt inverter could deal with, and it took up an entire shelf in the closet. I still carry a smaller 4 slice toaster oven / air frier that I use for some frozen meals and bagels, particularly when I have hookups..
 
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Ramdough said:
At home we have a really nice Breville toaster oven that we use all the time. Unless we are baking big things, we use the toaster oven.
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At home we replaced a large microwave convection with a Breville. I thought, ho humm, just another toaster oven. The stuff my wife does with it is amazing. If we were campsites with power people it'd travel with us.

Good luck on your decision.

Ron
 
We are getting the 23 so we will have more space than others.

We definitely plan to bake, so we need an oven.

I have heard mixed opinions on the gas oven.

We have a nice Breville convection toaster oven we really like. With the 23, we will have a bigger inverter plus we will have more battery than stock and I do have a 3000 Honda generator so power when not plugged in for short periods is not an issue.

In reality, it would live in a cabinet so the Change in space would only affect us compared to the gas one. We would haul it out onto the counter to use.

So really, it comes down to which is better and and why.
 
Ramdough said:
We are days away from final configuration acceptance but are on the fence for the oven.

We want an oven. At home we have a really nice Breville toaster oven that we use all the time. Unless we are baking big things, we use the toaster oven.

We are trying to decide between the oven unit and just a burner with a toaster oven.

Can you all please provide suggestions on what you would do and why?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
We chose to have the stovetop/oven. We like to bake cookies at the end of the day and use them in previous campers. Also, we don't want to be tied to having to use electricity when we are boondocking.
 
Ramdough said:
In reality, it would live in a cabinet so the Change in space would only affect us compared to the gas one. We would haul it out onto the counter to use.
Click to expand...
Our Breville lives in the old open face cabinet that our convection microwave came out of. It's happy in the cabinet and I am too because I can easily see the yummy stuff in it. :)

Ron
 
We utilize our oven a fair bit but it helps that outdoor temps rarely get much past 70F where we normally travel so using it doesn't cause the trailer to get uncomfortably warm.
 
When we bought our trailer we originally wanted an oven. When we went to Escape and looked at the oven units we were pretty surprised that the inside cooking area was not very large. Wide yes…but not really tall enough to bake a chicken without it touching the roof. We opted for just a cooktop and later installed a toaster oven on a pull out drawer over at the microwave cabinet. For the limited amount we use it, that was a better solution, and also gives the option of taking the unit outside to bake/cook something in hotter weather.
 
caheaton said:
We're of the same mind as many here....on vacation we keep our cooking simple...so the stove top, microwave, grill or a campfire are more than sufficient to meet our camp cooking needs. (Typical dinner meals for us will be grilled chicken, fish or steak, burgers, salad and maybe some mac&cheese). We much prefer the extra cabinet space.
Click to expand...
Ditto.
 
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