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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Anderson
Posts: 2,581
M.O.C. #22835
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As mentioned above, RV ovens are not house-hold ovens.
First, they do not "Ping" when up to temperature. Once up to temperature reaches it's setting, the flame on the bottom goes out. The pilot light will stay on, but the burner will go out. Once the temperature drops inside the oven, the thermostat will turn the burner back on. This is exactly how every stove and oven works. Heat is controlled by the heat source kicking on an off at the desired "temperature".
So, in order to know when your oven truly pre-heated, just glance under the bottom shelf and see if the flame is burning. If it is, it's not up to temperature yet. if it's off, it's up to temperature.
Now... about the actual temperature. The knobs on your stove and oven mean ABSOLUTELY nothing. They are mass produced and stuck on every kind of oven imaginable. The temperature settings on them CAN be used as a reference point for setting the temperature the same or different, more or less. BUT THAT is about all. The numbers mean NOTHING... (shouting I know, but understand that, and you'll have success with the oven, instead of burned crispy critters all the time).
As suggested above, get an oven thermometer or a turkey thermometer and get the actual temperature inside the oven and THEN mark, or remember where the oven dial is set. You WILL find the dial can be off as much as 50 degrees from what is marked on it. Now you have a baseline for other settings. Find the baseline setting... 350 degrees and mark that on the dial. Then you can adjust up and down with the turkey thermometer. After using the oven about 3 times, you'll have 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 down pretty close.
Now, here is another ABSOLUTE tip for using your RV gas oven. At home, you set the dial, shove in the food, set the timer, when it beeps, take the food out and eat.
No, no, no, no.... not in an RV oven. There are reasons why so many people use pizza stones. But we've never used one, because the oven is so small to begin with, if we put one in, there would not be adequate distance to the top to fit a pan!
My wife as become quite the expert on using our oven, and this is how she uses it.
First, use a very low temperature. If you use the temperature required for the recipe or the package, the bottom will be burned and the top raw. So, rule number 1, if the package call for 350 degrees, achieve to reach temperature max about 290. (really! I'm not kidding). Everything has to be done with low heat, or the bottoms turn to nothing but black char.
Now, about every 5 - 7 minutes, you have to open the oven and rotate the pan. Yes, this is a real pain-in-the-neck, but if you don't rotate the pan ever few minutes, one part will be over cooked and another part will still be raw. Sorry, it's just the nature of these ovens.
If you fix your brownies, the brownie mix package directions probably say, 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes in an 8 inch round pan.
First, if you have 2 eight inch pans, bake them only 1 at a time.
Second, set your temperature about 290 degrees (way lower than your dial actually indicates if you have not calibrated the actual temperature to the dial yet).
Third, rotate the pan every 5-7 minutes.
Forth, it will take about 45 minutes actual time to back the brownies as expected.
End result: Bottom will not be burned, top and bottom will be cooked equally, and all spots will be cooked equally. Moist, tender, and yummy.
My wife and started by toasting a single piece of bread in the oven. Do so. it will teach you a lot!
We then moved to breakfast bisquits, like Pillsbury bisquits in one of those pop-open rolls. Yes, the bottoms got a little done the first couple times and she learned to turn the temperature down, down, down, and rotate, rotate, rotate. She then moved to cookies, browning, cakes, and fruit pies. We don't do meats in the oven, that's why we have a griddle and stuff to cook over a fire.
So, take this advise, start with making toast in the oven, learn the temperatures as they actually are, don't rely on the factory marking on the dial, be patient, be attenuative, baby everything that goes into the oven, and you'll have great success. My wife now does absolutely fantastic with it, comes up with some delightful surprises for me all the time now.
Good luck, and happy baking!
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2019 Montana High Country 375FL
2014 Chevy Silverado Duramax, 6.6L Dually
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Oven - How Does This Silly Thing Work?
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