Stovetop oven cooking.

[Lydia W]

Bob...I haven't had good luck with dutch ovens and baking, so the Ovenette is a perfect solution for me. I love the fact that I can bake inside or outside the camper. Inside during colder weather makes the camper toasty (I don't have a furnace in my Scamp). A friend has a Camp Chef Ranger ll campstove which works great if baking outdoors. If you have mastered the art of baking in a dutch oven then my hat's off to you...stick with it! I'm horrible at it!

[k0wtz]

Lydia I am not the cook around here wifey does that and she is pretty much grounded on much cookin while camping! We just make do with what we have.

no chefing allowed while camping!!

bob

[LyleB]

I see on Ebay there are quite a few used electric Ovenettes listed. Might work ok if you have electricity, but then, why not just a toaster oven?

I think I'll get a Coleman eventually, use it on the portable propane stove in the Clam shelter, also known as the "summer kitchen".

[Randy P.]

This our Coleman oven in action a couple of weeks ago. We use unglazed clay tiles on the grate as a pizza stone. The whole oven folds down and fits in the box shown on the bench.

Overall it works very well but, as noted above, I would not even think of using it inside the trailer (notice the red glow at the bottom of the oven).

[Lydia W]

Looks GREAT, Randy P.!

[k0wtz]

somewhere on the A-Liner board someone posted a picture of their fiberglass counter top completely destroyed by a open burner wonder they didn't burn their whole trailer down.

yes you are right on inside cookin have to be careful

bob

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Lydia W

The Ovenette is placed directly on the stovetop burner and has a thermometer (approximate) on top so you can regulate "oven" temperature.

It is fun to come across a great vintage find like these little ovens. All the thrills rewards of treasure hunting and collecting

But it is also fun to DIY your own items.
There are lots of remote read thermometer units around for sensing oven temperature. The heat control is done with a vent that has a way to reduce or enlarge the amount of air that comes through. A very basic one is easy to make. Drill a hole in the lid. Cut a metal disc or a silicone rubber disc larger in diameter than the hole. At one edge of that disc put a small hole for a fastener to go through the lid. To let more heat out just rotate the disc so the opening is larger and to increase the temperature rotate the disc to close it. Just push on the edge of the disc with a spoon to move it back and forth, no need to get fancy and put on a handle.

[AeroNautiCal]

I have the English version of the West Bend Ovenette and am quite surprised that there doesn't seem to be much of a market for them.

Given that most campers only have two burner stoves without a grill, you'd think they'd be more demand for them.

[Iowa Dave]

I’ve got one of those Coleman ovens around here someplace.
When I worked for the Forest Service our Packer, named Al Maynard, was a total master on that model of oven. We would pick huckleberries late in the day and Al would make us a pie for dessert. He guided big game hunters in the Bitteroots in the Fall including Jack O’Conner of Outdoor Life fame. He did not have a very high opinion of O’Conner. Those ovens work but you have to understand them. I’ve seen a lot of picnic tables in my day with round burns on the wood and lately melted plastic on the web top models.
Iowa Dave

[Glenn Baglo]

Appears it would make a terrific portable crematorium.

[Casita Greg]

I have several pressure cookers, a plethora of cast iron pans, and more than a few enameled Dutch ovens, and I do take a pressure cooker, a large cast iron pan (12") with lid, and a 6 Qt. Dutch oven, that are always with me in the trailer when I travel, despite the added weight that some people would balk at. But I don't care. I like them, and it's not like I'm backpacking with them, the trailer carries them. That's why I bought a trailer. And if I have power available, (which is 99% of the time,) I use my Cuisinart Toaster Oven, set up on my outside slide-in baking sheet wheel well table. It offers infinitely better temperature control than any of those "stove top" wanna-be ovens. Any baking I do is always done outside. The trailer gets hot enough without baking indoors, whether in a Dutch oven or an electric toaster oven. And it sets up right next to my outside convenience outlet. Couldn't be easier or better IMO. If I'm cooking/baking in cast iron it is also done outside on my Camp Chef stove. Just the way I roll.

[k0wtz]

I know people barbecue on fiberglass boats the thought gives me the willies. I see you are very close to your fiberglass on the outside of your trailer.

Does that get hot back there? Just wondering now not argueing? LOL

I once read an article of those Coleman ovens and the back getting cheery red!

bob

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by k0wtz

I know people barbecue on fiberglass boats the thought gives me the willies. I see you are very close to your fiberglass on the outside of your trailer.

Does that get hot back there? Just wondering now not arguing? LOL

I once read an article of those Coleman ovens and the back getting cherry red!

bob

Not hot enough that I can't place my hand between the toaster oven and the trailer without needing to pull my hand out. Yes, it gets warm, but not hot. Probably not even as hot as the trailer itself gets just sitting out in the sun in the Nevada desert during our summer opal digging trips to the Virgin Valley.

And FWIW, I also had a boat. Actually several of them over the years, all of that some years ago now. Before I sold the boat, (post Cancer,) and bought my trailer, and for many years prior, (since I am still a 30+ year member of the local Yacht Club, but now "boatless,") where I had a nice fiberglass Flybridge Tolley-Craft cabin cruiser. It had a 3-burner propane range with oven, and I also installed a propane fired barbecue on it which I used all the time. Again, a little common sense, as in all things, goes a long way as to where and where not to install certain things. One appliance may be fine while another may do severe heat damage. You have to know your equipment. I also worked on a lot of boats for many years, some even had built in hot tubs and helicopter landing pads, (rich guys toys,) so you get the idea of some of the stuff I worked on. This was long before I ever had a travel trailer, so I can safely say that I know what I'm doing, and wouldn't install something that I even thought might not be a good idea.

[k0wtz]

I wasn't questioning your layout! You have had an interesting life! While somewhere in Europe we ran into a service type guy on one of those amazing boats. We saw a 100m one in France one time with an American flag on it. We met the chef coming of the boat and had an interesting conversation with her.

I spent my life in food service and got to know a few chefs in my time. Some of them very temperamental is all I can say but they are hard workers. I would not want to work for them is all I can say.

We took a cruise one time I snuck in the dining room while they were resetting everything. I heard things and again I wouldn't want to work for those people. The employees were all 3rd world country people

Saying this I wonder what this virus scare is going to do to many things in the entertainment business? I also wonder what you work life must have been?

thanks

bob

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Not hot enough that I can't place my hand between the toaster oven and the trailer without needing to pull my hand out. Yes, it gets warm, but not hot. Probably not even as hot as the trailer itself gets just sitting out in the sun in the Nevada desert during our summer opal digging trips to the Virgin Valley.

And FWIW, I also had a boat. Actually several of them over the years, all of that some years ago now. Before I sold the boat, (post Cancer,) and bought my trailer, and for many years prior, (since I am still a 30+ year member of the local Yacht Club, but now "boatless,") where I had a nice fiberglass Flybridge Tolley-Craft cabin cruiser. It had a 3-burner propane range with oven, and I also installed a propane fired barbecue on it which I used all the time. Again, a little common sense, as in all things, goes a long way as to where and where not to install certain things. One appliance may be fine while another may do severe heat damage. You have to know your equipment. I also worked on a lot of boats for many years, some even had built in hot tubs and helicopter landing pads, (rich guys toys,) so you get the idea of some of the stuff I worked on. This was long before I ever had a travel trailer, so I can safely say that I know what I'm doing, and wouldn't install something that I even thought might not be a good idea.

[Casita Greg]

Bob,
I too have a little culinary training and experience as well. After retiring, (for the 3rd and final time,) I was once again finding life a little bit boring. Since I've always enjoyed cooking, but had no "formal training" in the culinary field, I went through the two year Culinary Arts program at our local community college. I was fortunate to receive a full 50% scholarship from Anthony's Seafood Restaurants, which helped defray some of the expenses of the program. I did work for a short time at the local Elk's Lodge doing some cooking, but the standing on my tired old feet for 10-12 hours a day took it's toll on being a regular cook. I still enjoy cooking, I just can't do the hours anymore. But all's well, I just bought a brand new Oklahoma Joe Bronco Pro drum style barbecue smoker that I think I'm going to enjoy. I pulled a nice pork shoulder out of the freezer, and that will be my first endeavor with it. I'm also still a card carrying member of the ACF, (American Culinary Federation,) and have been for about a dozen years now.