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Ovens in motorhomes


bendav

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We have not had much success with our gas oven in our Chasson motorhome, i.e. it takes ages to cook from frozen, we now defrost before trying to cook and even then it seems to take longer to cook , so have been looking for alternatives. We saw advertised an small electric cooker from a well known catalogue and decided to give it a try. We took off the front of a drawer and encased it with steel plate to deflect the heat and fitted it in. It is a vast improvement and cooks just as well as our home cooker. We know we will have to watch electric output on sites. Has anyone else tried this route? or have any comments on this.
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bendav - 2016-09-22 11:04 AM

 

We have not had much success with our gas oven in our Chasson motorhome, i.e. it takes ages to cook from frozen, we now defrost before trying to cook and even then it seems to take longer to cook , so have been looking for alternatives. We saw advertised an small electric cooker from a well known catalogue and decided to give it a try. We took off the front of a drawer and encased it with steel plate to deflect the heat and fitted it in. It is a vast improvement and cooks just as well as our home cooker. We know we will have to watch electric output on sites. Has anyone else tried this route? or have any comments on this.

 

You don't say what make/model of oven it is but we have tried both Smev and Thetford models. The Smev ones seemed to be the worst but our present Chausson has a Thetford Spinflo which we use all the time. It is not as good as our domestic oven at home and does need longer cooking times generally. I find you have to find the best place to position the shelves (we bought a second shelf) to match the temperature required but once used to these things it does the job perfectly well.

 

We will be cooking a full Christmas dinner again this year somewhere in Spain.

 

David

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Guest pelmetman

We find the only thing that affects our 26 year old oven, is the type of gas, ie if we're using the Spanish gas bottle then it takes longer when compared to our refillable.......its also the same with our hot water ;-) .......

 

But we do have a excellent 26 year old little Tefal electric cooker, for when the leccy is inclusive, and was also very useful recently, for bending the perspex windows for our overcab B-) ......

 

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pelmetman - 2016-09-22 2:59 PM .....But we do have a excellent 26 year old little Tefal electric cooker, for when the leccy is inclusive, and was also very useful recently, for bending the perspex windows for our overcab B-) ......

I suppose if you'd been both resouceful and a Devenport Rating you would have heated your Pasty at the same time too!

 

We have no gas oven but we carry a portable electric one too - light in weight, not too difficult to store away and I don't think it uses much electricity either.  Not sure I'd be allowed to use it to bend perspex though.

 

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The problem with any electric oven is the power drain. However in our caravan we use one of the following:

 

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/coopers-of-stortford-28l-mini-kitchen-prodst09876i/

 

They will work fine if it is 16 amps or even 10 amps but anything less and there are problems. Fortunately where we stay the supply is 16 amps and we use the oven outside, as it is hot and sunny. Although we are not into cooking roast dinners, it is after all 30 plus degrees, it is great for other things and stops the caravan from heating up. The rings are a bonus but often just use a Camping Gaz ring.

 

In our campervan we use one of the following:

 

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/coopers-of-stortford-express-multicooker-prodst09912i/

 

We have been pleasantly surprised at what it can do even although the dish part is quite shallow. However it will cook chicken legs in 30 minutes and baked potatoes can all go in as well provided you wrap them in foil. Again, the issue is power as it is rated at 1600 watts so 8 amps is needed. But it is light and compact and easily fits under a bed locker.

 

My old 1980's motorhome had a gas oven which was a total waste of space. Could not cook anything and rusted very quickly. As others have stated we used it for storage in the end as it was all built in.

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pelmetman - 2016-09-22 2:59 PM

 

We find the only thing that affects our 26 year old oven, is the type of gas, ie if we're using the Spanish gas bottle then it takes longer when compared to our refillable.......its also the same with our hot water ;-) .......

 

 

I believe that 'propane' cylinders actually contain a ratio of propane and butane and that the further south you travel the less 'propane' there is in the mixture so this would account for the longer cooking times as propane has a higher calorific value than butane so the more there is in the mixture the hotter it burns.

 

I could, of course, be entirely wrong but that's how I understand it!

 

David

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No, butane is denser than propane has a higher calorific value and burns hotter. It hardly needs any pressure to keep it in its liquid phase, especially in our cold country (pressure and temperature are relative). The common fossil fuels denser than butane in order of density are thinners, petrol, oil, grease, tar.
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Charles - 2016-09-22 10:35 PM

 

No, butane is denser than propane has a higher calorific value and burns hotter. It hardly needs any pressure to keep it in its liquid phase, especially in our cold country (pressure and temperature are relative). The common fossil fuels denser than butane in order of density are thinners, petrol, oil, grease, tar.

 

Oops, I had always thought, from reading information on this forum mainly, that the lower percentage of propane in the mixture as you go further south was because there was less likelihood of the higher butane portion freezing - or rather, not gassing due to the higher ambient temperature.

 

David

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david lloyd - 2016-09-23 7:51 AM

 

Charles - 2016-09-22 10:35 PM

 

No, butane is denser than propane has a higher calorific value and burns hotter. It hardly needs any pressure to keep it in its liquid phase, especially in our cold country (pressure and temperature are relative). The common fossil fuels denser than butane in order of density are thinners, petrol, oil, grease, tar.

 

Oops, I had always thought, from reading information on this forum mainly, that the lower percentage of propane in the mixture as you go further south was because there was less likelihood of the higher butane portion freezing - or rather, not gassing due to the higher ambient temperature.

 

David

 

It’s certainly the case that ‘autogas’ may contain a mixture of butane and propane gasses and that the butane/propane ratio varies from country to country and may alter from summer to winter. But (as far as I’m aware) if you buy a canister of propane anywhere it should just have propane in it, and if you buy a canister of butane anywhere it should just have butane in it.

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Hi again, interesting how we all learn to get round these problems, it is actually from Coopers that we got this from and it does not take too much electric either, but it is the one without the rings on top. Unfortunately we are not able to get to sunny spain for winter so we do use the motorhome all year round in the UK hence the need to have better cooking facilities.
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I just put the meat/fish and veg in the presure cooker and boil it all up together.

A full dinner in 10 minutes, only one pan to clean and you can be certain its all thouroghly cooked

0/10 for appearance, but 10/10 for nutritional quality because all the vitamins are kept instead of being flushed down the sink :-D

You can heat ready meals in small trays too if its stuff like pasta or curry that won't be spoiled by a bit of steam.

PS: I don't have a fridge either, just a well insulated cool box with a 12 volt cooler on the top which I rarely use.. I shop most days and buy frozen veg and ice cubes to put in it. I set off from home with those plastic milk bottles full of milk or water frozen solid (pour a little out before freezing them to stop the bottle splitting) It works. Days later, and without running the cooler, I still have lumps of ice in the milk when its 30 degrees in the van :-D

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Guest pelmetman
John52 - 2016-09-23 9:59 AM

 

I just put the meat/fish and veg in the presure cooker and boil it all up together.

A full dinner in 10 minutes, only one pan to clean and you can be certain its all thouroghly cooked

0/10 for appearance, but 10/10 for nutritional quality because all the vitamins are kept instead of being flushed down the sink :-D

You can heat ready meals in small trays too if its stuff like pasta or curry that won't be spoiled by a bit of steam.

 

We are currently living in our van......but I doubt if I could cope with out being able to cook a proper Sunday roast 8-) ....

 

P1010250.JPG.533d837bb5f459b4ca944c3e77e1aa72.JPG

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pelmetman - 2016-09-23 10:23 AM

 

John52 - 2016-09-23 9:59 AM

 

I just put the meat/fish and veg in the presure cooker and boil it all up together.

A full dinner in 10 minutes, only one pan to clean and you can be certain its all thouroghly cooked

0/10 for appearance, but 10/10 for nutritional quality because all the vitamins are kept instead of being flushed down the sink :-D

You can heat ready meals in small trays too if its stuff like pasta or curry that won't be spoiled by a bit of steam.

 

We are currently living in our van......but I doubt if I could cope with out being able to cook a proper Sunday roast 8-) ....

 

 

Each to their own, if I never eat another "sunday roast/xmas dinner" in my life, I've eaten enough.

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starvin marvin - 2016-09-27 10:26 PM

Each to their own, if I never eat another "sunday roast/xmas dinner" in my life, I've eaten enough.

 

Me too!!

 

And pressure cookers emit a lot of steam which can be interesting in a confined space especially on a cold wet day!

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Tracker - 2016-09-27 11:12 PM

And pressure cookers emit a lot of steam

Not if you use them properly. I turn it down/off as soon as it has boiled so, after the initial short hiss that lets me know its boiled, it does not emit any steam, unlike conventional pans. Thats another big advantage in a van :-D

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pelmetman - 2016-09-23 10:23 AM

 

We are currently living in our van......but I doubt if I could cope with out being able to cook a proper Sunday roast 8-) ....

 

 

Frankly yours looks a lot better on the plate, so you would have to do it that way to serve in a restaurant.

But when you are cooking for yourself, is the appearance worth all that extra time and work, washing up, steam in the van, fuel, and loss of vitamins in the water you boil the veg in poured down the sink?

I guess it all looks the same when you have swallowed it. :-S

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starvin marvin - 2016-09-27 10:26 PM

Each to their own, if I never eat another "sunday roast/xmas dinner" in my life, I've eaten enough.

But we have to have Christmas food like Turkey and Christmas pud every year to remind ourself we don't like it much, so we only eat it once a year ;-)

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pelmetman - 2016-09-23 10:23 AMWe are currently living in our van......but I doubt if I could cope with out being able to cook a proper Sunday roast 8-) ....

 

That looks like an amazing logistic achievement in any motorhome.  I'm afraid I'd be tempted to search out a carvery restaurant!

 

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StuartO - 2016-09-28 9:00 AM
pelmetman - 2016-09-23 10:23 AMWe are currently living in our van......but I doubt if I could cope with out being able to cook a proper Sunday roast 8-) ....

 

That looks like an amazing logistic achievement in any motorhome.  I'm afraid I'd be tempted to search out a carvery restaurant!

Not at all, but I've had a lot of practice ;-) .......Besides how do you know its Sunday unless you have a roast? :-S .......Most mornings I also have either boiled/poached eggs or scrambled eggs on "Toast", using the grill that no one else seems to manage 8-) ........I'm not adverse to fast food though.....as I often make my own gourmet burger served with hand cut Maris piper giant chips :D ..........

P1010257.JPG.2a4aa5a2d271eadb9b60204049de1b0c.JPG

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