Anyone got a microwave / air fryer combi oven in their van?

Well finally got the 'air frier' oven installed but what a job!
Wanted the oven to be 'built in' to replace our old gas oven, well the Russell Hobbs jobbie wasn't really suitable 'as is' because both the base and rear of the oven get really hot because it's not insulated OR double skinned, yep the rear and the base are simply the metal oven!
I got it cheap so I thought I'd have a go at improving it with a layer of insulation, just like the original gas oven.
Casing removed and discarded, I used the old original gas oven insulating blanket and bought a bit extra to finish it off, all held in place with chicken wire taking care to avoid live connections with the foil and missing the fan and oven vent port.
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The underside and back done as well.
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Some Ali strips attached to the base so I could fix it in place and a piece of the discarded oven casing fitted against the internal cabinet near the vent port, plus a new 13A socket for it to plug into.
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A few alterations to the cabinetry and it fits nicely. Like most van conversions the galley is quite tight so I decided to mount the oven slightly recessed, the door handle now projects only about 20mm into the galley.
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Had it running at 220 for over an hour and the woodwork and hob above is considerably cooler than it was with the old gas oven. Because of the insulation the temp knob is well out of calibration hence the thermometer in the oven to see what's happening, set at 170 I get 220, I reckon I could fire pottery at full chat!
It seems very efficient, originally on the kitchen worktop the thermostat was clicking on for about 85%, off for 15%. Because of the better insulation it's now on for 30%, off for 70%.
Time will tell how it performs but bring on the crinkle chips😊
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Looks very nice. I'd be interested in a review a few months down the line to how it is performing.

PS. is that an external vent to the outside from the original oven? Is it typical to have that? I don't have any kind of venting on my gas cooker at all that I am aware off (and I am sure it could benefit from one!)
 
wildebus said:
Looks very nice. I'd be interested in a review a few months down the line to how it is performing.

PS. is that an external vent to the outside from the original oven? Is it typical to have that? I don't have any kind of venting on my gas cooker at all that I am aware off (and I am sure it could benefit from one!)
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Yes, that vent is original. There's also a vent slot in the shelf supporting the oven and a small floor vent to outside in the cupboard below. The gas oven was wrapped in insulation top, bottom and sides but the rear was left uninsulated, probably because there is a practical limit to just how low you can reliably have a gas flame go so they found it easier to bleed some heat away so they could have a higher 'minimum' flame. It was definitely needed in our case, the hob above used to get quite warm.
 
david asked for a review of merls fabrication so i thought i’d update my experience these are the microwave i installed in place of the original oven/grill above the fridge freezer and the multi function air fryer oven , firstly the microwave has been good but the oven has been fantastic when i first bought it i used it at home for a couple of weeks it was that good i bought the larger version for use at home and then took the smaller version in the van , it has a pair of elements at the bottom and another pair at the top plus a fan the program allows you to set various combinations to bake you use the bottom elements then air fry uses top two and the fan, but there is a program named toast that has all four elements running and the fan this will halve normal oven cooking times,
this is the one i bought for home it’s 1700w got a rotisserie etc the one i have in the van is only 1200W on toast setting uses about 1% a minute out of my 460 fogstar
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rugbyken said:
david asked for a review of merls fabrication so i thought i’d update my experience these are the microwave i installed in place of the original oven/grill above the fridge freezer and the multi function air fryer oven , firstly the microwave has been good but the oven has been fantastic when i first bought it i used it at home for a couple of weeks it was that good i bought the larger version for use at home and then took the smaller version in the van , it has a pair of elements at the bottom and another pair at the top plus a fan the program allows you to set various combinations to bake you use the bottom elements then air fry uses top two and the fan, but there is a program named toast that has all four elements running and the fan this will halve normal oven cooking times,
this is the one i bought for home it’s 1700w got a rotisserie etc the one i have in the van is only 1200W on toast setting uses about 1% a minute out of my 460 fogstar
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The way your oven works sound pretty similar to the Russell Hobbs.(I've actually tweaked the wiring on mine so that I can have control of the oven temperature AND have the fan running at the same time.
A couple of questions please Ken,
Have you got yours built in in your MH?
Is the underside and back covered/double skinned? because it's simply the exposed oven cavity on show with the RH.
 
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the oven isn’t built in the microwave is fitted in the cavity above the fridge freezer where the oven was fitted ! my van has a triangle behind a seat with hob on the right sink forward on left leaving a space clear by the seat backrest i have a restraint on it but not really needed
 
merl said:
I can feel a 'which chip' thread coming on Rob😲
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Justed mealed on re-fried (tight wad) chip shop chips from Adare chip shop on friday, massive portions so 4 portions for £13, not bad. Anything to save a penny!
 
JQB said:
Justed mealed on re-fried (tight wad) chip shop chips from Adare chip shop on friday, massive portions so 4 portions for £13, not bad. Anything to save a penny!
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Wow, £13 worth of chips and massive portions too....Must have used a wheel barrow 🤭
 
Robmac said:
Enough about chips already Merl!

I've just had the worst fish and chips I've ever had. :sick:
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What's funny is that you sat and ate them😂
"These fish and chips are horrible Julie, I reckon they'll make me ill... Chomp Chomp Chomp.
 
merl said:
What's funny is that you sat and ate them😂
"These fish and chips are horrible Julie, I reckon they'll make me ill... Chomp Chomp Chomp.
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Well, I was hungry Merl and I'd paid for them.

Even the dog didn't want them!
 
wildebus said:
For fast cooking in an Air Fryer (which when off-grid can be a big advantage), McCain do fast-cook French Fries that cook in around 5 minutes and are very tasty.

(these are different - and a bit more expensive - then their regular French Fries in a near-identical package).
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I’ll second that for the chips David as grandkids love them
 
Robmac said:
and I'd paid for them.
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🤣🤣🤣🤣
I remember back in the 80s we bought a massive demijohn of wine in Italy for 60p. It was disgusting but it had to be drunk for exactly the same reason as you. Drinking it morphed from am exercise in thrift to a challenge in human endeavour, we often laugh about it.
 
merl said:
Soooo, after much searching it seems a microwave with an air fryer function isn't easy to achieve, Toshiba used to do 3 models but they no longer class 2 of them as 'air fryer' and now call them 'grill' oven, must be something to do with the trades description act! The only Toshiba model left is a whopping 2700W so too much for off grid.
After talking to Bigshug I decided to get the same as him, Russel Hobbs combi oven, it claims the air fryer function and the cooking times and reviews seem to reflect that, it can be used as an ordinary oven/grill (I guess without the fan?)
Managed to pick one up cheap on Ebay via auction for just over £45 :whistle:
I'll add some piccies when I've got the old crappy gas oven out and the new one installed. 🤞
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Be interested to know of this is any good, I’m thinking of swapping our grill/oven combo out.
Excuse my ignorance but this being 1500w, would a 1500w inverter run it or would I need bigger to consider the start up of it? Does that make sense?
Cheers
D
 
Only had it in for a few days so just getting used to using it and it's quirks, David (wildbus) requested similar so I'll post again after I've used it for a while along with it's power consumption compared to our tower air fryer meal/meal.
It's a purely resistive load so there's no start up surge, I'm theory your existing inverter should cope but obviously you're right on the limit re it's output capability so a lot will depend on how sympathetic the manufacturers were with their rating. Heat is basically the enemy of electronics so if I were asked "what size inverter for a 1500w appliance" I'd double it and say 3kW ! Mines 2.5kW /5kW surge but I bought it before the oven. You could always try it and see how you go if you don't like living on the edge😉
 
merl said:
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I remember back in the 80s we bought a massive demijohn of wine in Italy for 60p. It was disgusting but it had to be drunk for exactly the same reason as you. Drinking it morphed from am exercise in thrift to a challenge in human endeavour, we often laugh about it.
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Late 80's we never used to spend more than a Franc on a bottle of red wine, some may say it was a bit rough but it did the job and didn't curdle with lots of Kronenberg 1669
 
I haven't really been following this thread but, every time I read the title on the home page, I am reminded of Nigella Lawson's pronunciation - 'mee cro wah vee'!

 
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