oven use in travel trailer

Dick_B wrote:
Keep searching this Forum for `oven' and you will find very few people use it for cooking. We use it for storage. We use the toaster over frequently and cook pizza in a fry pan but after it has thawed.

Strange thing to say... Lots of us use all our capabilities and actually love our ovens.

We have used an Air Bake pan under whatever we're cooking for the last many years and can cook whatever we could at home.

pasusan wrote:
We have used an Air Bake pan under whatever we're cooking for the last many years and can cook whatever we could at home.

x2 on the Air Bake. They cut the direct bottom heat down. Pizzas come out perfect on one.

We've also baked cakes just fine rectangle pans directly on the rack.

DutchmenSport wrote:
After some time, my wife has become quite proficient with our oven in the trailer. First, the temperature setting on the knob mean nothing. They can be used as a reference point to know how far to turn the knob, but as far as actual temperature inside the oven, it mean absolutely nothing. That is the first rule. Ignore the numbers on the knob.

Second. Get an oven thermometer and test the inside temperature with it. Put the oven on any temperature, put the thermometer inside the oven, wait a few minutes and see what the temperature is. Eventually you'll find the 100 degree spots, 100, 200, 300, 400. Yes, this takes time.

Now that you have a feel for 350 degrees (lets say), for that yummy German Chocolate Cake from Great Grandma's ancient recipe, put the cake in the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes, then #4) turn the cake 180 degrees in the oven. After another 10 minutes, turn it again. After another 10, turn it again. Yes ... you MUST be meticulous and consistent with the time rotations. But this does work!

4th) don't put the baked item on the bottom or on the top. Keep it in the middle as much as possible.

5th) use a temperature about 25 degrees lower than the actual recipe call for. A slightly lower temperature will keep edges from burning and / or drying out.

6th) expect it to bake longer than what the recipe calls for too, since you are opening the door often and loosing heat, and using a lower temperature.

If you do these things, you'll have some magnificient baked items.

We bake all sorts of things, everything from Sugar Cookies to Cakes, from Roasts to baked chicken, baked potatoes to pizza.

Trial and error? Absolutely Yes! Start with simple toast. Bread is cheap! You'll get it figured out!

I just read this post to my DW and she said that is exactly what she does, rotate things often!

I just know she makes delicious stuff in our camper oven.

7 1/2 years fulltiming Friday is pizza night. Unglazed tiles on the lower rack, preheat oven I used the broil setting to heat up the stone. Propane is cheap compared to a properly cooked pizza. Pizza goes on upper rack on pizza tin. Now our pizza is just a cheese pizza dressed up with spices, mushrooms, diced green peppers, Bridgeport pepperoni and a mix of provalone and mozzarella to top it off. Even at the high temp it takes 20 minutes or till cheese starts to brown.
If you like thin crust I would suggest an air bake tin too be on the safe side.

As others have said, we use our oven regularly for all kinds of foods. After breaking a couple of pizza stones, we tried the air bake pan others have mentioned, and found it to be equally as effective in distributing the heat more evenly. And it doesn't break. We've even cooked an 18 lb turkey in our RV oven. Our visiting daughters didn't even realize we cooked one half at a time until one of them spotted the toothpicks we "stitched" it together with for serving. :)

lots of good comments on RV oven. One more I'll add. most Travel trailers have the smaller oven, something like 17" tall, while 5th wheel's have the taller 21" or so oven. the difference is amazing, and is definitely in favor of the 21".

While our TT oven was ok taking care, DW had me sell the 17" oven in our trailer, do a small mod and install the 21" oven. For her, the best mod ever.

I also took oven temps at 50 degree increases on the dial and then made a cheat sheet of desired vs knob temps for DW.

and our techniques are very similar to Dutchman Sports. TT oven just takes more care than a S&B oven.

My DW uses ours pretty often; and has over the years in several different rv’s. Her experience, as just told to me is, really no different than home. Wouldn’t hurt to have a thermometer (though get a small one....racks are pretty close together). Also, a pizza stone, air bake pan, or something similar can’t hurt.

Someone commented that most don’t use the oven....wouldn’t have an RV without one! Now the dishwasher... that’s a waste of good cabinet space, :B but you can store stuff in it. For example....that cast iron fry pan for corn bread! ;)

Terryallan wrote:
We use ours to cook cornbread in a cast iron pan. 450 degrees. Works great. We have heard IF you place a LARGE CERAMIC TILE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN. it disperses the heat more evenly

When I wrote my post...I thought I was going to be the only one who new about corn bread and cast iron! ;) Now you will really impress me if you “DO NOT” put sugar in your corn bread! :B

memtb wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
We use ours to cook cornbread in a cast iron pan. 450 degrees. Works great. We have heard IF you place a LARGE CERAMIC TILE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN. it disperses the heat more evenly

When I wrote my post...I thought I was going to be the only one who new about corn bread and cast iron! ;) Now you will really impress me if you “DO NOT” put sugar in your corn bread! :B

That's us! Exactly how my wife has been fixing cornbread for years - including in our TT.

Last Train wrote:

memtb wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
We use ours to cook cornbread in a cast iron pan. 450 degrees. Works great. We have heard IF you place a LARGE CERAMIC TILE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN. it disperses the heat more evenly

When I wrote my post...I thought I was going to be the only one who new about corn bread and cast iron! ;) Now you will really impress me if you “DO NOT” put sugar in your corn bread! :B

That's us! Exactly how my wife has been fixing cornbread for years - including in our TT.

It’s good to see some good “southern” folks here! Terry Allen must be from....”southern” North Carolina! :)