Using the oven while moving...

[AH64ID]

Does anyone use their oven while towing?

I'm not sure there is anything wrong with doing that, just wondering if I am missing something.

The thermocouple will shut down the gas on the odd event the flame goes out, and there is no additional fire risk that I can think of.

[ReneeG]

Another off topic reply on tow vehicles - when I was in junior high, I used to camp with a friend and her family - a widowed mother and brother. They had a Plymouth Fury and a 17' TT. This was back in the late 60's so you know that the TT was most likely heavy. Well, the mother would hook up that trailer herself and I remember some sort of bumper clamps in addition to the ball and hitch setup, but once we were on the road she had plenty of power up and over the mountains here in Idaho we would go to our camping spot by the lake.

[jaycocreek]

Yup, the good ole' days... That guy would be tarred and feathered here.:B

[westend]

hddecker wrote:

oughtsix wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:

oughtsix wrote:
My oven always has baking sheets and pans in it. Nothing has ever ome out in transit. Might as well put a pizza in there. I would guess you are thinking a take and bake?

Who is Lucile ball?




Just messing with you... I remember that movie from when I was a kid. The good old days when cars were big enough to pull a trailer!... imagine that!

Simply movie magic........trailer was just a shell for travel scenes and a tow dolly was used on front tongue to carry the weight.
Movie magic..plain and simple.

So what were big old trailers towed with in the old days? I figured they were towed with big block Cadilacs?

And Fords, Chevys, Dodges, etc, etc.

Had a neighbor that towed with a Ford Galaxy 396 CID.

The 1971 Starcraft Wanderstar manual has the cover page showing the trailer pulled by a Ford Galaxie station wagon.

Or, you could pull with your Mercury:

[JJBIRISH]

While I am not a RV oven expert I believe the thermocouple shuts down the gas to the main burner if the pilot goes out, but I am not so sure about the gas to the pilot itself… I do know if the knob is set to the pilot position the pilot gas will flow flame or no flame until the knob is manually turned to pilot off…

I have personally been in RV’s where they were left in the pilot position so the oven didn’t need relight it every time they wanted to use it, and when the tank was changed they forgot to relight the pilot or turn the knob off causing gas to build up slowly in a closed trailer over some time…

[JJBIRISH]

AH64ID wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

AH64ID wrote:
Yeah, "dry" items only. I figured that would be the unspoken rule, but you know what they say about common sense.

It seems people have done it without issue, or wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.... Kinda like towing with a 1/2 ton at max ratings 🙂

Curious as to what you were planning to bake?

Pizza? Frozen types 20-25 minutes, tops, not worth the hassle to stop somewhere to put it in the oven then travel for 15-20 minutes then stop to check if done.. Waste more time stopping and starting than worth..

Bread, buns, rolls and such, once again they take very little bake time compared to prep time baking time 15-20 minutes and you would want to check or monitor them to make sure they don't burn.. Not to mention many breads or anything the rises typically will fall with a lot of bumps and you will end up with hard hockey pucks.

We aren't planning on anything, just wondering who has done it and if there are any good reasons not to. So far I haven't seen any good reasons.

I don’t think anyone has provided a good reason for doing it either… so I think commonsense and gut reactions are as good of a reason as I need…

[myredracer]

oughtsix wrote:

So what were big old trailers towed with in the old days? I figured they were towed with big block Cadilacs?

Kinda off topic but an interesting question! In the "olden" days before WDHs, they had dual rubber wheels under the tongue to carry the weight, at least on heavier trailers. Sort of like the front wheels on a shopping cart. I tried to find a pic a while ago and couldn't find anything. Not sure what they called them but I have seen a few pics before. Maybe someone can find a pic.

[hddecker]

oughtsix wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:

oughtsix wrote:
My oven always has baking sheets and pans in it. Nothing has ever ome out in transit. Might as well put a pizza in there. I would guess you are thinking a take and bake?

Who is Lucile ball?




Just messing with you... I remember that movie from when I was a kid. The good old days when cars were big enough to pull a trailer!... imagine that!

Simply movie magic........trailer was just a shell for travel scenes and a tow dolly was used on front tongue to carry the weight.
Movie magic..plain and simple.

So what were big old trailers towed with in the old days? I figured they were towed with big block Cadilacs?

And Fords, Chevys, Dodges, etc, etc.

Had a neighbor that towed with a Ford Galaxy 396 CID.

[HGL]

someone made a comment about cooking on a boat. Yes, we cooked on the boat, when underway. Also my grandmother ended up with third degree burns down both legs while cooking underway and hit a wave and a pot on the stove slide off, even with the "railings" that were on the boats stove top to keep pans on the flames when rolling. Took 38 hours to get her to the hospital for treatment as we were off Vancouver Island and had to get a seaplane in to get her back out, during a storm that wouldn't allow for landing.

The difference with our boat and our TT, we could monitor in the boat at any point. In the TT we would have to pull over and then open the TT. If it was an RV I wouldn't think twice about cooking something in the over...with my TT where monitoring is next to impossible...we wouldn't take that risk. Good meal planning is used for making those slow cooking recipes.

[SkiingSixPack]

The single best day I have had in our motor home started with an "egg bake" cooking while in transit to little old WelchVillage ski area in Welch, MN. The egg bake was finished by the time we got to the MaddJaxx parking lot.

No spills - only good smells...

Went in to the bar, ordered a Bloody Mary and Screwdriver, went back out and had a great breakfast. Within 20 minutes of arriving, we were headed up our little hill and back down...

Just my $.02

[doxiluvr]

Doesn't make sense to me why anyone would even want to attempt this. If you need to have an oven made meal when you get to your camp, why not make it the day before you leave your present site and then heat it up in the microwave (or finish it off in the oven) when you get to your new site. I hardly use our oven (only when I have to) as mine recommends using the vent van while you are baking and I don't think we can do that while travelling down the road. Besides we would probably find a nice restaurant to eat at on the way (not necessarily fast food.) Also if I had to cook after getting to a new site, I think sandwiches and soup will suffice for one night. I worry about other drivers on the road more than what would be cooking in the oven.

[GrandpaKip]

AH64ID wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

AH64ID wrote:
Yeah, "dry" items only. I figured that would be the unspoken rule, but you know what they say about common sense.

It seems people have done it without issue, or wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.... Kinda like towing with a 1/2 ton at max ratings 🙂

Curious as to what you were planning to bake?

Pizza? Frozen types 20-25 minutes, tops, not worth the hassle to stop somewhere to put it in the oven then travel for 15-20 minutes then stop to check if done.. Waste more time stopping and starting than worth..

Bread, buns, rolls and such, once again they take very little bake time compared to prep time baking time 15-20 minutes and you would want to check or monitor them to make sure they don't burn.. Not to mention many breads or anything the rises typically will fall with a lot of bumps and you will end up with hard hockey pucks.

We aren't planning on anything, just wondering who has done it and if there are any good reasons not to. So far I haven't seen any good reasons.

Maybe not any good reasons other than my initial gut reaction that it just doesn't seem like a good idea. Think I'll stick with that.

[dadmomh]

I think I'm busy that day, but if someone else wants to try the experiment and report back, it'd be interesting.

Re the oven door opening while in transit - if there is nothing in there to slide around and into the door, then should be no problem. But if you've got a heavy pan with whatever loaded in it, and it slides against the door, wouldn't it make sense that with more pressure against it, the door could likely open?

Totally agree with the difference between a TT and MH....in a MH you're right there. Since we've never had a MH, would it be accurate to say that the smoothness of the ride in a MH would be much better than a TT? Just wondering, because we're not ever going to have a MH to compare. I just don't visualize us heading south through, let's say....Birmingham, with the roughest roads in this world and having a pan of something in the oven. We have to upright most every glass in the TT after we stop on that route. Think I'll still stick with my NO on this.

[Jack_Diane_Free]

outsix my dad towed a big trailer with a Pontiac Grande Parisienne Station Wagon with a 427 engine. No WD or Sway control. Towed at 75 mph.

[Gdetrailer]

Bonefish wrote:
You have some that worry about driving with the fridge on and fueling up! Hum! I know people with MH run the oven down the road. If it is summer just think how hot the camper would be.

Sharon

Motor home is a bit of a different "creature"..

With a Motor Home YOU are RIGHT THERE, only A FEW FEET away from the oven.. You can SMELL if the food is burning, you can SMELL if the food is cooking or not cooking (flame failure).. Not to mention you CAN get up and CHECK the food in the oven ANY TIME WITHOUT STOPPING!

A trailer or even a slide in camper, you simply can not smell, look at, or touch the food at any time while in transit.. That means you MUST stop to check on the food..

Then there is the "heat" factor.. My trailer while towing in the summer easily gets up to 90 degrees, running an oven is going to put that well over 100 degrees! You would HAVE to either eat outside or start a generator, wait 30 minutes to an hour then go in and eat..

Someone mentioned baked potatoes being better in the oven, I have ate baked potatoes prepared many different ways and I have NOT noticed ANY difference in flavor, texture or even how dry they are.. What I have noticed is how inexperienced the CHEF is by either overcooking them to death or undercooking them (raw in the center)..

2-3 minutes in the average microwave for an average size potato results in a very nicely done "baked" potato in a microwave. Just simply try 2 minutes and stab with a fork, if hard resistance is met you simply add a minute and try again.. Once the fork stabs easily into the potato it is done, cook no further..

By the way, MOST restaurants do not "bake" their potatoes in a regular oven, no, it would take too long.. Instead they use CONVECTION OVENS which means they can cook a large potato in about 10 minutes or less and at 12 minutes it is pretty much a over cooked rock..

We quit stopping at fast food joints years ago since the food was not "fast" and the quality was not good.. Typically spent 20-25 minutes standing in line before ever placing the order then another 10-15 minutes for them to "prepare" it.. then another 15 minutes gobbling it down.. All told we would spend an HOUR to get COLD and sloppy made food and the insult was we paid MORE for it than if we simply did our own cooking..