Friends have diesel stove and oven in VW Motorhome - superior cooking to gas. no need to carry extra weight of gas bottles. Single fuel for MH - no requirements for gas certification.

Hi Stephen, welcome to the forum

Most ovens are gas, which (when new) are fairly expensive to buy, (from caravan places)

They also require a gas fitters certificate, after he installs it

Even a new gas cook top is fairly expensive, plus gas certificates etc

One cheap way, is an el-cheapo gas cannister type, single or double cook top

BUT...

You must never use a cannister type cook top, inside the vehicle

I carry one as a spare, (just in case I need it).

A lot of people on the road, (in the free camps), usually live outside their vehicle, under their awning, for shade

I have used my spare gas cannister, cook top, many times (outside the vehicle), to make a cuppa, and see no reason why I could not cook on it

I know nothing of diesel stoves or ovens

We are different from many of the more vocal (& knowledgeable) posters on the forum in that we use Caravan Parks or Showgrounds almost exclusively, never traveling on dirt roads.  Nor do we live full time in our Van.

Our cooking habits have evolved in that environment.

When we had the van made, the Cook decided that we had to have a gas oven, gas 4 burner cook top & a microwave.

As it turned out we cook & live outside of the van most of the time so the Gas oven & cooktop rarely ever get used and I do the cooking for about 90% of the time .. because I like cooking and it gives SWMBO a break as she does at least 90% of the cooking at home.

 

What do we use & what have we discarded ..

The Gas oven has been used only a handful of times over 20 years.  The gas cooktop gets used perhaps once a week mainly because it doesn't work too well & I am not keen on filling up the van with grease, steam & cooking odours.  We rarely travel in colder climates so cooking outside is mostly the preferred alternative.  But if the weather turns to ****e, we always have the indoor option.

We started out with a Coleman cooker with its own gas bottle.  That was quickly replaced with a single & then a double burner Propane cooker.  It does that vast majority of breakfasts and all grilling.  Always outside.   This is a much lighter option. I actually place this on top of my beaut 5 burner gas BBQ at home and use it to grill up whenever there is just the two of us .. using a couple of cast iron griddle plates at home.   I reckon that it is by far our most used cooker when on the road.

As we almost always have 240v available (despite having a solar system .. Just In Case I suppose) the Microwave gets a good workout as does a 240v portable hotplate to a lesser extent.  Surprising what you can do in a microwave & the hotplate is used for anything that takes a long time to cook, like corned meat or even pasta.

Also on the 240v appliance list is an pizza oven.  We like to have pizzas about fortnightly, with shop brought bases.  A bit heavy but a much appreciated indulgence.

As well, we have a sometime used banquet size electric frypan which is mostly used outside.  We used to hump around an electric sandwich/jaffle maker but it lives at home now as does a gifted George Foreman Grill (bloody heavy & bulky thing).

We once carried an electric breadmaker but that lasted one trip.  It's now used at home to make pizza bases.

I have been thinking about replacing my propane cooker with a Webber Baby Q but I don't think that I ever will mainly because of weight & storage issues & I just like to use the double Propane cooker.

I have tried a range of charcoal cookers but find it difficult to control their temperature & I'm too impatient.  Of course I have a Camp oven (sorry Dutch Oven) and a Bedourie oven but as we rarely bush camp I only consider them if going on a trip involving campfire cooking. I have long pondered fixing a bush oven made from an old gas bottle, on to my rear bumper, but again probably never will - weight issue & unlikely to use sufficiently. All this stuff lives happily in the back shed along with all the other stuff, like chairs, tables et al that I have tried over the years & discarded.

(Just remembered, I have a small lightweight wire grill along with a billycan that I can put on an open fire)

If I had my choice again I would invest in solar and an inverter. We currently have a pretty good system and bush camped on the long weekend with the use of an air fryer. We even did a turkey roast and vegetables. The plan was to use the Weber but as it was raining we went with air fryer.

Buzz Lightbulb wrote:

---

A long time ago I saw that a 12v microwave oven was developed. I've always though that if my caravan's microwave oven broke I would try to replace it with a combination microwave, grill, convection oven. 

---

 Good idea.  I have the same secret plan.  Wasn't aware that you could get a grill function included though.  But then we have never used the grill in our gas oven/grill.

 

edit .. a quick look on google showed -     

Kogan Convection Microwave Oven with Grill 32L 1000W Stainless Steel Kitchen

-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 16th of October 2021 10:34:00 AM

I'll investigate pulling out the gas oven & putting in a Convection oven/ Microwave/grill in that space.  That'll probably reduce weight when I throw out the existing Microwave, which will give a spot for wine storage.

All I need to do now is to convince SWMBO that its a good idea.

-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 16th of October 2021 10:41:12 AM

Buzz Lightbulb wrote:

---

Cupie wrote:

---

I'll investigate pulling out the gas oven & putting in a Convection oven/ Microwave/grill in that space.  That'll probably reduce weight when I throw out the existing Microwave, which will give a spot for wine storage.

All I need to do now is to convince SWMBO that its a good idea.

-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 16th of October 2021 10:41:12 AM

---

 What will you do if you don't have access to 240v AC? 

---

 

 

 

To easy, buy a generator