My wonderful wife, Peggy Sue, recently took it upon herself to prepare an entire Thanksgiving-style dinner in our RV, turkey and all. The only “cheat” in the equation was that we had full hook-ups over Christmas. So we brought our air fryer and that’s how we pulled off the turkey breast.
But as someone who thinks about baking in an RV more than any sane person should, I came across a video by Bob Wells from Cheap RV Living talking about a stovetop oven called the Omnia Stovetop Oven. As I mentioned, I think about this far too much, so I started looking around.
There’s are several Facebook Groups for this device and plenty of YouTube videos including a number of van lifers who prepared things in it that really surprised me. Included in the goodies I saw being made right before my eyes (via the magic of my MacBook Pro) were cinnamon rolls, cornbread and even a pizza! People baked meatloaf and entire dinners including a pork tenderloin and potatoes, all without the benefit of a proper oven.
Omnia Stovetop Oven
What this thing looks like is a large Bundt pan. In fact, I couldn’t blame you for initially wondering how it does a Bundt cake. Actually, that’s one of the few things I didn’t see anybody making. Strange.
There are multiple pieces and several options as well for this device. At the bottom is the main “dish” which is a circular metal ring with a hole in the middle. On top of this sits the main Bundt-cake-looking pan. Into that pan, you can place a circular grate that will dissipate some of the heat allowing you to bake on a stovetop. Or over a campfire or even in a fireplace. The folks in the Facebook Group are pretty creative.
There’s a silicone liner to go into the bigger Bundt-cake-looking pan and then a lid. There are also silicone pans that have shapes for muffins and cupcakes, as well. It seems there are a few options available for this device.
How does it work
What you do to start is place the metal base on the stovetop and get it good and hot. I’ve seen this used on portable single-burner stovetops, as well, including in several van lifer’s videos.
While the base is heating you prepare whatever is going in and put the larger Bundt-looking pan on the base and add the lid.
For baking, the grate helps dissipate heat and, of course, the optional silicone insert helps with cleanup, including using as little water as possible to accomplish this task.
Some of the beautiful images shared in the Omnia Facebook Group.
The results?
I am surprised, in a good way, by what can come out of this device. Cakes, muffins, crescent rolls, meat, meatloaf, and cinnamon rolls. Getting it to produce photo-ready results takes a bit of practice and fiddling but, overall, it’s a pretty good device.
The best thing is that it’s light and packs up into a nice bag. So it really is a good choice for RVers. This could also be good for some of the smaller travel trailers and Class B RVs that don’t have any provision to bake whatsoever.
In Bob Wells’ video, he prepared fish sticks, which he states are some of his favorite things. But he pondered preparing cornbread, another dish he says he enjoys and doesn’t really have provisions for baking in his RV. I’m sure he has since baked his share of cornbread in this Omnia. If not, I can attest to the fact that it makes great cornbread, even when using something as simple as the Jiffy mix in a box.
You can find this nifty little oven here for a great price.
##RVT1033
$67 for a tin pan, you can purchase a really good microwave oven for $50, a great toaster oven for $50, as a matter of principal….JUST NOOOOOO.
Yes, agree, if you have plenty of room for these. This takes up much less room and there’s nothing to fail.
I disagree. You can use this over a propane or wood fire so it works really well for those of us who want to boondock but may not have an oven and still prefer things like home-made breads and cakes and that sort of thing.
I’m not using my microwave when boondocking because I don’t want to use that much battery power. And I have a folding toaster that I can use on the propane stove as well.
Plus some RVs now aren’t coming with proper ovens any longer and some of us don’t want to microwave everything.
I have a microwave convection oven, but it is worthless when I am boondocking. This would be great for those weeks.
No one thing is right for everyone, knowing options is great. We have a microwave, but often don’t have power – and brownies “baked” in a microwave are not the same as baked in any form of dry-heat oven. Toaster oven also requires power – and space – we have a 17′ TT. We’ve tried taking the toaster oven, so what we do, the Omnia and Wonder Ovens work great, and save space. I’m even using the Omnia for some baking in the house over the off season.
Does it work with inductive cooktops? I’m all electric, no propane. A nice cake or some bread would be nice while camping.
No it does not, since it it isn’t magnetic. Some have reported it working with a plate that goes in the induction top, but that seems to be hit or miss.
Would it do anything that a Dutch oven couldn’t do? People use Dutch ovens for baking in coals when camping, and obviously they can be used on a range top, or inside an oven as well.
I have an Omnia, just got the larger pan for it, and a Wonder Pot. They work very well. We have a 17′ TT, and generally don’t have power, nor a generator, by choice. We tend to have an outside cooking area with a Coleman white gas camp stove, and a single burner Coleman LP stove too. We have a Coleman camp oven, used very little these days, and we have also used a backpacking oven, on the Coleman.
One thing that appealed to me about the Omnia and Wonder Ovens is that we could use either inside if the weather was bad – as in the snowstorm we were in last Oct. Another is that it’s compact. We never have a wood campfire, haven’t in over 30 years of camping, and we don’t bother with charcoal either, we often have fire bans anyway.
I have the Omnia inside for the off-season, and am actually using it instead of the home oven, so yes, it works well. Is it for everyone, nope, but no style of cooking/baking is.
I have one and they work great. We have a class A so have all the electric stuff, this is great when boon docking and one of the best benefits is that they take up very little room and are very light. Yes, they are expensive but are well made in Switzerland, and have been around for a long time. The thermometer would be helpful as you can’t really peek. Just took me a couple of tries to figure it out tho.
You can still buy a Coleman folding stove top oven for 35.00 up. However it takes a bit of trial and error to get the best results.
The up side is the Coleman is square and doesn’t have a hole in the middle 🤣
I have one and love it! I got it specifically for my beloved cornbread but it works for many recipes. My mini Toyota RV doesn’t have an oven and it is rare for me to camp with hookups. It is also very light ( important in my RV that hits weight limits quickly) and fits (nesting together in its own storage bag) in one of my oddly shaped narrow cupboards. I have the silicone liner and clean up is effortless.
Attractive but expensive. Have you tested the box oven made for coleman ranges ?