Would you use an over???

[kimlouise]

Hi all,
We have just ordered a new 17.56-1 to be delivered in May for our Australian adventure in July. We still have time to add options and have been discussing the pros and cons of maybe getting an oven. We have 4 kids and will be away on this trip at least three months. Does anyone have an oven in their rig and do you use it??? Not sure either about how much storage space it would take away as I have not seen an expanda with one in it. Any ideas, suggestions and opinions would be greatly appreciated.
cheers

 

[mfexpanda]

no for us

 

[straydingo]

we half heartedly considered it....until they showed us how small it really is. We have three kids, and it wouldn't fit a 'family' meal in it, if that makes sense. You also have those cooking smells in the van afterwards for a while - we find that bad enough at home when cooking something greasy like a roast....

 

[Capt. Gadget]

an Over? :laugh:

 

[cancan]

Only if playing cricket

 

[kimlouise]

Yes...edited the post but did not realise the original one had still appeared.....I am not the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[Doogle]

we half heartedly considered it....until they showed us how small it really is. We have three kids, and it wouldn't fit a 'family' meal in it, if that makes sense. You also have those cooking smells in the van afterwards for a while - we find that bad enough at home when cooking something greasy like a roast....

We have 3 kids (admittedly youngsters) and we cooked a decent meal in it no problems.
It may look tiny but you can fit a reasonable amount in there (possibly no different to what you could fit in a Weber BabyQ)...though I haven't done a direct comparison.

As for smells, you will get this using the microwave, cooking on the stovetop etc. You could run the fan on the aircon unit and/or open a few canvas flaps to help the smells disipate. When we cooked inside the van there was a smell during and after we had cooked but it didn't linger for too long before it was barely noticable and then eventually gone. It would however last longer in bad weather when you're not so inclined to open doors, windows, canvas flaps etc.

If the smell issue bothers you then I would say don't consider the oven option, but if it doesn't I still think it is worth consideration (if you feel you will find it useful).

Horses for courses I guess

Dave

 

[Matty4]

We spent over 3 months in ours and we also have 3 kids. Not once did we wish we had one. It wasn't even a consideration at time of order.

 

[thechristelows]

Using the oven

A big yes for me/ My wife uses it to cook cakes and buscuits while we are travelling. We also use it for heating pies and sausage rolls etc. Has come in handy, people around us were very impressed in January when we walked out with a nice fresh banana cake cooked in the van.

 

[kimlouise]

A big yes for me/ My wife uses it to cook cakes and buscuits while we are travelling. We also use it for heating pies and sausage rolls etc. Has come in handy, people around us were very impressed in January when we walked out with a nice fresh banana cake cooked in the van.

Do you still have a microwave? Where is it in your van?

 

[Bank of Dad]

Kimlouise - have you ordered a 150 ltr fridge? If so you will find that to fit a microwave and oven in you will only be able to have a roof mounted aircon. The fridge goes where the standard 90 ltr goes, obviously taking up more room, the M/W goes above and to the right of the sink and the oven below the grill.

We didn't want the roof mounted aircon - about $1,000 more than the cabinet aircon plus it raises the roof profile and therefore increases drag (therefore fuel consumption when towing). Some say the roof aircons are better than the cabinet aircons and that may be true, but over xmas in Adelaide and Goolwa it was around the 40 deg C mark and our cabinet aircon coped fine.

Back to the oven, we also decided against it as they are small. We didn't wish we had it over xmas either - didn't miss what we didn't have!

Well done on the van - you'll love it!

 

[Eeram55]

Oven in van

We don't have an oven in our van- but we do carry an "Easy Cook" glass convection oven. They are fabulous little units, and I have cooked roasts in them, heated up party pies and even cooked chips in them. I think that it is a good alternative to the oven, as you can use it outside as well as inside if you wish. It can also be used to defrost things if you need to (if no microwave). The weight factor is not too bad, and we have kept the box it came in and pack it under the seat with bubble wrap around for extra insurance. Worth considering in my opinion.
Maree.

 

[gavin.davis59]

We too use the glass oven,have one in van and one at home.A cheap alternative for something that may not be used often.We cook,roast and bake in both almost daily.You can pick them up from places like Harris Scarfe,Big W etc.for $40-$60.

 

[kimlouise]

Yes we have ordered the 150 Ltr fridge. We wont be putting the ac on the roof precisely for the reasons you specified. I can't see us using the ac much at all. We never wished we had in the old eagle. I think we will have to visit the dealer next week and examine the space we have more closely. We are Very excited. We have 4 kids ranging from 1 -12 years. Now even rethinking whether or not to get the toilet model after reading the other threads and mainly planning to bush camp. Excited and confused...too much choice.

 

[kimlouise]

These sound excellent, but I take it that they run on standard electricity. I was thinking of the oven because it is gas and where we camp we are mainly running on our own solar batteries.

 

[mfexpanda]

We use a george forman oven or if we're free camping a cast iron camp oven

 

[TweedTravellers]

Does an oven heat the van up a lot?

Hi
We have also been debating whether to get the oven in our van due in May 2012. We have a Weber and don't want to lose the drawer where the oven goes. I am wondering if anyone with the oven would be able to tell me if the van gets very hot while the oven is in use.

 

[Doogle]

Hi
We have also been debating whether to get the oven in our van due in May 2012. We have a Weber and don't want to lose the drawer where the oven goes. I am wondering if anyone with the oven would be able to tell me if the van gets very hot while the oven is in use.

We didn't notice the van getting very hot when we used ours....in fact we were quite surprised that the outside glass of the oven door didn't seem that hot (I assume it has some sort of thermo-reflective coating from the inside)....as we were worried our 18mth old might touch the door.
Of course it was still too hot to burn little fingers.....but it wasn't ridiculously hot (or what you'd expect it to be).

Dave

 

[Moto Moto]

My in laws have one in their sterling and after seeing it I use I would definitely consider one if we ever ordered a new van again. They cooked up a storm in it!