My Tiny RV Kitchen – Convection Oven Cooking

Not everyone enjoys cooking but I don’t personally know anyone that doesn’t enjoy eating good food.

I happen to enjoy both immensely and according to Jason, I’m pretty good at it.  But then again I practice a lot, and this often surprises people considering we live in a small RV.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve come across that assume RV kitchens are small, ill equipped and not made for real cooking. I say hogwash!
I travel with a full array of kitchen gadgets that range from a bread maker to a food processor.  However, the beauty of most RV’s is they come standard with some pretty nifty gadgets that make cooking a snap…such as a convection oven.  If you don’t know what a convection oven is or how it works, watch this:

I don’t think I have used the microwave in our RV more than twice…but I use the convection oven all the time (when we’re plugged in and not Wild Camping).  But this wasn’t always the case.

In our first year (possibly even two) of RVing we had a different motorhome (2009 Damon Avanti) with a different brand of microwave/convection oven.  On this RV the convection oven settings were not as obvious as our Vesta or Excursion, so it wasn’t very easy to use (AKA I was too lazy to read the manual).  I only used the convection oven feature a few times, I thought it it used microwaves to cook the food, I wasn’t overly impressed with the results and I couldn’t figure out why I should even bother with it.  Of course, once I got a new RV and a much more intelligent oven (AKA I took the time to read the manual) I learned to let the oven pre-heat and I began using the correct type of bake ware.  Which totally explains why I wasn’t impressed with my first convection oven experience.  Once I learned more about how it worked and how to properly use it, I fell in love with this little cooking gadget!  In fact, I think it works better and I much prefer a convection oven over the propane ovens that come in some RV’s.

If you haven’t learned to love your convection oven yet, I think if you give it an honest chance, you will! Here is my quick list of reasons you should give it a try:

• It’s a microwave and an oven all in one
• I get nice even cooking. No hot spots, food stays moist inside and crisps up outside
• Typically it cooks faster (depending on the device, a higher wattage usually means higher power) so you may want to reduce your cooking temperatures and time by approximately 20%. Once you have used your oven a few times you will learn what works best for you in regards to temps and time.
• Convection ovens will brown and cook the outside of my foods penetrating heat all the way to the center (where as a Microwave will nuke food by emitting waves that bounce around causing water molecules to excite and generate heat which in turn “cooks” the food)
• Because convection ovens use a heating element and not microwaves you can use regular bake ware. But stick to shallow dishes that allow the air to circulate around the food.

I bake (and roast) vegetables, fish, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries and anything else that contains flour and sugar.  I love baking but I love eating baked goods even more!  A good bakery (or baker) is my ultimate weakness, in fact one of my best friends in Dallas is a four star pastry chef and her cupcakes have solidified our friendship forever.  But I digress…

The point is: A convection oven works great, even better than a regular oven in many cases, so don’t be afraid of it, whip up that batter, set your temp & time, then invite me over for a perfectly moist, freshly baked desert…I’ll bring the coffee!

In last month’s crowdsourced content poll, you voted to have us create a Cooking With An RV Convection Oven article. I hope I have covered everything you wanted to know.  If not, let me know your questions in the comment box below or share some of your convection oven cooking tips! Thanks so much for voting and make sure to cast your vote for this months topic!