Cooking in your bus

[Barn Owl]

I have been reluctant to admit it but I am a closet toaster oven fan myself. My Grandmother amazed me with how versital those little things are. I keep one in the bus and like the hobs it gets put away, out of the way, when not used which allows for a tidier, more efficient use of space.

[bobofthenorth]

Toaster ovens seem to last us 3 or 4 years so we have some experience with different ones.  I tend to favour the absolute cheapest Wallyworld model - I think our last one cost under $20.  Several years ago we had a Black and Decker model that came with brackets to hang it under a counter.  That worked so well that we have continued to do it that way in the bus.  It appears those brackets are no longer available - probably some safety nazi somewhere banned them because some fool set his house on fire with one.  The last time I mounted an oven that way I used 4 strips of 3/4 x 1/8 aluminum from Home Depot to hang it.  We've been using the same heat deflector since the B & D days so that's not an issue but if anyone else wanted to hang one under an overhead cabinet I would strongly recommend some kind of heat shield between the top of the oven and the underside of the cabinet.

[Uglydog56]

My old travel trailer I full-timed in had the stereotypical 3 burner cooktop/ propane oven in it.  I grew up on a cattle ranch with lpg appliances so i prefer them.  The cooktop was fine, however the oven I did not enjoy at all.  It would vary the temperature so much as outside temp or bottle pressure changed (if my water heater kicked on or off, for example) I could never regulate the cussed thing at all, and eventually it turned into pan stowage when I got tired of burning things.  In my bus I have a 2 burner propane cooktop and replaced the micro with a microwave/convection oven.  Haven't used it yet, but it can't be worse than the propane oven.

[TomC]

I had this discussion with my wife with the truck conversion (am building the kitchen now).  In the bus we have a 3 burner stove with oven, a microwave and a Black and Decker under cabinet toaster oven.  In the truck, we're going to go with anothr 3 burner stove with oven, maybe go with a microwave/convection, and take the toaster oven from the bus and re install it in the truck since they don't make the under counter toaster ovens anymore.  Our kitchen in the bus is nearly 9ft long and we can cook side by side.  In the truck, it is a bit smaller at 8ft.  My wife likes to bake, and she prefers a conventional oven powered by gas.  Good Luck, TomC

[thomasinnv]

My wife does a lot of baking, and she prefers the propane oven. She doesn't necessarily care for the unevenness of the heat in the rv type oven, but she wont have anything else. We had propane ovens in our houses for years, and that is her preference.

[Lin]

Thomas,

As mentioned earlier, we put 1/2" or so slate tiles above the burner, which helps make the temps in the oven more even.  I'm sure you could use something like clay tiles or firebricks to do the same thing.  See if your wife likes the change.  It can, however, rattle a little while traveling.

[Lin]

BTW, Someone had said the they do not make the under-the-counter toaster ovens anymore, but I found the Black and Decker still does.  They call them SpaceMakers.

[thomasinnv]

we put in an oven tile and it didn't seem to work at all. The tile fit the size of the oven from wall to wall, so i suspect enough heat was not being allowed to radiate past the edges and into the upper portion of the oven. I had contemplated trying a few smaller tiles, allowing for a few inches of space around them for the heat to move.

[Jerry32]

I bought a cheap micro convec oven and it didn't workj worth a darn. sdo took it out and got a better one and it does the work just fine.  I also use induction cookers instead of gas but have to have stainless steel or it wont't work. I also carry a crock pot and a rotissary broler that helps with cooking chores  Jerry

[thomasinnv]

we have an induction cook plate that a good friend gave us. The wife loves it.