Things they didn't cover in orientation

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The things I learn as I RV.


Before we bought our rig I had done a good bit of research into RVing.  I knew the fundamentals and was looking forward to getting practical experience with the RV and it's systems as we traveled.

When we bought our rig the dealership had one of the techs show us around the rig.  He showed us how the main systems worked.  Water pump, tank drains, awning, water heater, etc.  It was time well spent and I learned some things I didn't know.

Fast forward two years and I'm still learning things.  There are countless tips you will pick up when camping.  Most campers are friendly folks and more than willing to share their experience with you, so don't be afraid to ask if you see something someone is doing and want to know why they're doing it.

Wow, that opens.


I was recently looking up into a vent on the camper and realized that it has two small levers that hold the vent flap closed.  I'd looked at this vent a dozen times over the years and it had never dawned on me that if I moved those levers down, that vent flap would open and the range hood would ACTUALLY vent air to the outside of the camper.

The range hood vent.  It can actually be made to open!

When I told my wife this she got a giggle and then said, "But how will I know when the toast is done."  Since we use a small camp toaster that she uses on the stove top.  Usually, when the smoke detector goes off it means the toast is done.  Now though, I can vent that smoke to the outside.

RV ovens are notoriously bad at making even heat.


We've only used the RV oven a few times.  My wife likes to bake and so on trips she might make a dozen cookies, or perhaps a cake.  You have to be mindful of the oven though, since they are really bad at heating, which is it's main job.


Cake!

There are two things you should have to make this problem manageable.  A pizza stone and a thermometer.  The pizza stone helps to maintain a fairly constant temperature in the oven, and the thermometer will help you know how close to your desired temperature your oven actually is.

We got a 13 inch stone that was part of a kit, so if we want we can indeed use it to make a pizza.  Make sure that you get one that will fit inside your oven.  I put ours under the oven rack so that it gets heated by the flame and then radiates that heat evenly.

Stone in the oven

We had cake this trip, and it came out very good, so I think the stone has really helped the oven perform better.


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