We love our roasts and we especially love to have them when we’re on the road. Problem with cooking a roast is that, if you’re in a caravan park, you’re going to need to use the oven in your van. Do so means the smells of the roast will permeate throughout the van, something many owners don’t want to do. So cooking outside may be the only option. If your gas BBQ has a lid and can function as an oven all good, but if you’re at a caravan park and you’ve paid for a powered site, why not conserve your gas and use the power you’ve paid for. This is where a turbo convection oven can be a great appliance in your RV.

There are literally hundreds of different brands of convection ovens on the market and the prices range from around $40 up to over $200. They are all basically the same in design and operation. The capacity varies from 12 litres up to 20 litres. The glass bowl is usually made from tempered glass and is quite durable. The lid contains the timer, cooking element and a fan which is usually a bright light globe or an infrared element. The later are considered better but there is little difference between the two in actual use.

Operation is a simple matter of placing your food inside the bowl, placing the lid on top, setting the desired temperature and dialling in the timer. That’s it. Go and sit down and have a cold beverage.

In use, we have found that it takes about half the time to cook a roast as a conventional gas oven so if you normally cook a 1kg roast for an hour, in one of these it may take as little as 25 minutes depending on the model you choose. Roast potatoes take about 10 – 15 minutes. The fan forced heat ensures even cooking no matter how much food you stack in the bowl.

Cleaning is pretty simple, just had wash the bowl in hot soapy water. I wipe down the lid with a wet soapy cloth. Depending on the size of the unit you buy, you may find it difficult to fit the bowl in your van or camper kitchen sink.

If there is a drawback to these ovens, it’s that they are quite heavy. Also being glass, you need to be careful where you store it. We store ours under the bed and have kept the original box and foam packing to keep it safe.

I wouldn’t say these are perfect for the RV lifestyle, but they come close. As long as you can accept their extra weight and size and keep them safely pack away, they are a terrific appliance and they do make the best roasts.

3 Westies.