The Joy of Cooking — On the Road

If you want to add a touch of adventure to cooking outdoors, take a look at the Omnia Stovetop Oven, a clever — and simple — device conceived and built in Sweden that makes short work of preparing delicious meals and baked goods. And it takes up little space.

RVers love to eat and it’s no secret that they are generous consumers of barbecues and griddles that make it fun to cook outdoors. Over the years, there have been all kinds of inventions for cooking and preparing food; all you have to do is watch late-night infomercials on cable TV. And RV stores are chock full of products that claim to be RV-specific. In Sweden, the Omnia Stovetop Oven is super popular among caravanners (RVers), boaters and those who travel off grid — whether by vehicle or foot — and prefer not to eat food from a bag.

This cleverly designed, simple device will surprise you — and once you cook a few meals, you’ll be hooked. And, of course, it generates lively conversations from curious neighbors.

There’s nothing too exotic about the Omnia Stovetop Oven, since there are no batteries to insert, power plugs to connect or buttons to push. Its simplicity reminds one of the rugged old days and if this oven was around “way back when,” it would fit in perfectly with the accouterments found in a family’s covered wagon. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch since there is quite a bit of science behind the Omnia concept.

I found the Omnia cookbook indispensable. All the recipes are custom designed for the Omnia oven; the ones I tried were all delicious and cooked perfectly. Make sure you have a timer handy when cooking food.

The components are telltale of their simplicity. The cooking vessel is a mold-like pan made of aluminum; the base (called the “bowl”) is made to accept the pan mold and is made of stainless steel, and the ventilated aluminum lid covers the pan precisely. In use, the bowl conducts hot air from a stove burner around the underside and through the pan and the lid forces heat to the contents from above the pan. Heating is surprisingly even, and the Omnia can be used to heat up anything that can be cooked in a regular oven — in other words, it can heat, bake and cook.

Figure on feeding four people from contents prepared in the 10-inch pan; that’s two liters of food (whatever that means); you can opt for an even larger pan ($34.99) that will cook 50% more food.

All the components have specific “jobs” during the cooking process. A gas burner, like the one on my barbecue at my winter digs, works best as long as there’s enough heat to boil one liter of water in five minutes.

Although the bowl is made of stainless steel, the Omnia is not designed for induction cooktops (even though magnets will “stick”). That’s because the rounded shape doesn’t generate enough heat when on the flat induction cooktop surface. The Omnia really likes gas stoves, which is what most RVers are likely to use. We enjoy cooking outdoors and have elected to carry a portable single-burner gas stove that has gained “survival status” over time, especially for those who live in places where weather disasters strike or where electricity goes out at times. They are relatively cheap and can be found all over the Internet. We’ve used these stoves for years and at the time of this writing we ordered a new Camp Master 90019 Portable Butane Stove ($54.99 on Amazon) based on online reviews. This stove provides 15,000 Btus of heat and is a higher-grade product — and is in line with the heat-source requirements specified by Omnia. You can also use heat from a barbecue that can provide a high enough cooking temperature. Basically, if one liter of water in a saucepan comes to a boil in five minutes, there’s enough heat.

The ventilated lid makes it possible to direct heat into the contents in the pan from above. Cooking is amazingly even.

There are a number of options that can be purchased to complement the Omnia oven, but we found the cookbook ($29.99) to be indispensable. As a neophyte to this type of oven, the cookbook will guide you through a bunch of recipes that not only result in really tasty food but also provide a learning curve for this cooking technique. My first meal was the Pork Loin Casserole, which turned out to be delicious. The cookbook instructions were easy to follow and spot-on. Having a timer handy is critical to making sure the food is cooked properly. After that meal, a number of other recipes in the cookbook were followed — and each one provided an adventure in cooking and good-tasting food. While the process was easy, at first I found myself pouring some of the contents down the center hole, which found their way on to the burner and ensuing cleanup. A small potholder was used to cover the hole temporarily while adding food contents, but I suggested that the company consider designing something that works better.

It’s best to grease the pan, although I have also used a non-stick cooking spray before adding any ingredients and clean-up was fairly easy using cold water and soap (Omnia’s recommended procedure), after letting the pan soak for a while. A silicone mold is available as an option ($31.99), which is earmarked for baking and facilitates clean-up of the aluminum pan, and there’s also a silicone muffin ring ($29.99), again, for those who like to bake. Other options include an oven rack ($19.99) for keeping food off the bottom of the pan and storage bags ($25.99). You can even get foil baking dishes for reheating pre-cooked foods in the field for $18.99 (five pack). The basic kit, which includes the molded pan, bowl and lid, retails for $79.99. Camping World and Amazon are good sources for purchasing the Omnia Stovetop Oven and accessories.

There are a number of optional accessories that complement the basic kit. Silicone molds help prevent food from sticking and are easy to clean; one is even designed to bake muffins. Foil baking molds can be used for reheating pre-cooked foods in the field; all these items fit in a handy storage bag.

When the Omnia Stovetop Oven is paired with a portable gas burner, like this one from Chef Master, cooking in the field becomes more practical than ever. The combo is perfect for RV patio cooking and those owners without a standard LP-gas oven.

The Omnia oven adds a touch of adventure to your cooking and is perfect for two diners. If you don’t have an oven in your rig and rely only on the convection/microwave, you’ll really appreciate cooking meals on the Omnia — especially if you enjoy baking desserts.