cooking in my Tab

Tundra57

I am putting together what I need for my touring trip around the USA - when conditions allow. I have a two burner cooktop in my Tab400. Also a two burner with grill outdoor camping gas stove.

I bought the donut shaped oven for the gas ring and the plate with wires to support bread for toast.

I have a teeny one person slo cooker electric which with my 1200w inverter and 400W of solar should be usable.

 home I use a work top mini electric grill for cooking all my meat. I hardly ever fry anything. I think I will miss the grill and ny oven for baking. What other cooking add ons have you guys tried? I am hoping to seldom need shore power, but I do have a 2800i honda inverter generator just in case. I saw articles on recipes, but I did not see an article discussing add ons like non electric slow cookers, grill plates etc and how well they work.

Verna

Omnia Oven that I ordered from Amazon. (I tried putting a link here but it included my address, so I’ll let you search on Amazon.)

Be sure to get the oven, the wire rack, the silicone liner, maybe the silicon muffin holder and the cookbook is good. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s made in Sweden, like the Alde. It has been used by sailboat owners for years. 

You can bake breads and muffins from scratch, meats, or use the refrigerated rolls, cookies, etc. 

You place it on your cook top (inside or outside stove), and bake away. It’s looks like a Bundt pan. 

Tundra57

@Verna Yes i have that and all the bits you mention, but I have not used it yet. Got yhem from amazon too.

I saw some kind of hotplate you can put over both burners, but I can't imagine what I would cook on it and how much mess it would make in my Tab!

Also there are these slow cookers which are just insulated pots, but I dont know anyone who has used one to tell me if they really work.

falcon1970

@Verna
Looks like a handy gadget.  How do you control the baking temp--just by experience?  I tried making biscuits in a cast iron dutch given once.  Only took about three minutes to turn them into charcoal briquets!  I have never figured out how to determine the temp inside a dutch oven.  I suppose you just keep checking and poking?

Verna

@falcon1970, you add 3 or 4 minutes to the time specified on the package. If you use the wire rack+parchment paper, you’ll have no burnt rolls, muffins or cookies. Yes, then use a toothpick to see if the inside is done. Neat way to bake on the road. I never could sacrifice the space for a Dutch oven.

Homebodyatheart

I’ve got the Coleman folding oven and love it! I use it on my old Coleman propane stove outside as it gets quite hot. I did buy a silicone mesh sheet to help deflect heat inside, and so far so good. If you search the Forum for Baking With the Q you will find many great ideas on baking outside on a WeberQ. There’s a lot you can bake in all sorts of ways! Have fun with it! 

falcon1970

@Verna
yeah, the dutch oven is big and heavy.  Plus it takes forever to heat up and then cooks thing in a flash.  I guess I just never managed to master it's use.  I see there is a digital thermometer that fits through one of the vent holes in the amnia oven lid.  kinda pricey though

Verna

@falcon1970, the Omnia is not cheap, that’s for sure!  In a moment of weakness, I gave my first Omnia to a camping friend last spring who was experiencing a rough patch of finances. She was baking cakes, cookies, pies and selling them to be able to make her rent. The Omnia offered her a way to bake muffins and bread. I looked and looked for the Omnia after I unpacked everything for my new house, and finally remembered I donated the first. Amazon finally got the Omnia back in stock two weeks ago and I have all the parts again—Yippee!

@Tundra57, I had one of those Thermal Cookers, and about the only thing I was able to cook in it well was Chili. I don’t eat a lot of Oriental food and it works very well with many of the Oriental recipes. It didn’t stay hot enough to cook noodles for chicken and noodles, so I ended up having the cook the noodles separate from the chicken, without the flavor of the chicken. (Sure the chicken broth helped, but it wasn’t same😉). If you are a more inventive cook than me, it might be worth it. It was nice smelling the chili all day while on the passenger floorboard of the truck👍.  I always put it in a milk crate just in case I had to stop quickly. 

falcon1970

Well, @Verna, you've done it to me again!  I ordered an Omnia from Sea Dog boating Solutions, LLC.  I got the oven, the rack, and the silicon liner.  With $16.50(!!) shipping from Vermont (I think) it came to $109.89.  I'm gonna have to eat a lot of biscuits in the morning to amortize that.

Verna

@falcon1970, as long as you use it, it will be nice to have fresh biscuits for breakfast. I haven’t made bread for decades, but I intend to make some sourdough starter and then make some bread in the Omnia. I’ve found King Arthur flour has a lot of good recipes for many breads. 

falcon1970

@Verna
King Arthur is the best bread flour I have found.  AND it is now in grocery stores so you no longer have to order online.  As soon as mine shows up I'm gonna try making bread again.  I just can't find any good European bread here in Texas.  Mostly it is just white bread in a boule shape.  We are getting a Panera sometime--if they ever finish the store.

PNWtabber

@Verna I am intrigued by the thermal cookers (which I only learned about since joining this forum).  I don't personally know anyone who has used one, but I like the concept.  I have a variety of things I make at home in either a Dutch oven or a crockpot (slow cooker) -- stew-type things.  I realize I would have to initially bring the ingredients up to temperature on the stove, but then it could continue cooking in the thermal cooker while I am out exploring or driving?  

Verna

@PNWtabber, think of chili. In the am, brown your meat, add your ingredients, bring to a boil, then close the lid. I even wrapped the thermal cooker in a blanket. When I got to my campsite, I set up the campsite, set the table and served myself the chili, all done and ready to eat. 

PNWtabber

@Verna, I think it sounds awesome to have dinner ready upon arrival!  Which one do you have?  I was looking on Amazon, seems limited selection and more expensive than I would have thought.  Perhaps there is another place to purchase them?

Verna

@PNWtabber, sorry to burst your bubble, but I gave mine away. It seems that my food tastes are not conducive to being cooked in the thermal cooker. My chili worked well, but that was it for me. I can cook chili on the stove rather quickly , so it didn’t make sense to keep something that took up the space that a crockpot (I don’t travel with a crockpot either) takes up. Do a Google search of thermal pot recipes to see if the recipes are for meals that you would eat. 

Deb55

I have a thermal cooker, and I've used it for chili (and baked cornbread in the Omnia to go with it). I've also made a Cuban chicken stew with rice (using the larger pot for the stew, and the smaller pot for the rice). It works really well to precook chicken for grilling, or to precook russet potatoes to crisp up on the grill later with a steak. To do those, just put the chicken or whole potatoes in the large pot, cover fully with water, bring the water to a boil for 5 - 10 minutes, and latch the pot into the insulated pot. The chicken or potatoes will be done, but never overcooked. Then just throw them on the grill without worrying about too raw chicken or burning your BBQ dinner. I also made a homemade marinara once. I've enjoyed using it--it's nice to put something in in the morning, and have it ready for dinner later. If it cools down a little bit too much by dinner, you can fire up a propane burner and reheat the contents! 

PNWtabber

@Deb55 thanks.  I expect to be solo most of the time.  I found a 3.2L thermal cooker on Amazon and put it on my wish list.

Cheryl13

Thanks to you all, I bought an Omnia before our first big trip.  I love it!  I just use parchment paper (didn't buy the silcone liner) and have made cinnamon rolls, bisquits, cornbread, apple cake, banana bread, clafouti, and chocolate pumpkin cake.  I used a dutch oven tent camping for years, but this is Much easier.  As for other devices, we found very low wattage toaster and coffee pot for when on low power.  Otherwise, the 2 burners make for interesting shuffling sometimes, but have had some great meals over the last month.

Edited for photo size.