Cooker confusion

[MotorhomeMoo]

Aloha MHF people,

If you are not already exhausted by answering all of the other threads here, can I please ask for some help?

Last weekend I brought my first motor home, a Talbot Express 1988. She is not glamorous or a real looker, shes a bit tired on the inside but has oodles of potential. The one thing that does need to be fixed/replaced is a cooker and hob. So I have a few questions..

Do people use cookers for meals these days or are there other options?
The vehicle has been fully converted to electric, it seems that this limits our options if we have a plug in hob top - is this true?
Can a 30 year old hob be reconnected to gas easily? Is gas considered dangerous on a camp site?

I'd love to hear all experiences, bear in mind that I am a newbie so do expect silly follow on comments; but I am a fast learner so you should only need to shout at me once

safe-happy motoring

 

[Hils and Glenns]

I mainly cook on a gas hob. If we have electric I sometimes use a Remoska or a halogen oven. If the weathers good a BBQ. I don't miss not having a proper oven. Gas should be safe on your van if its fitted correctly.

 

[Podney]

When we’re not eating popcorn we use the gas hob every day for kettle and stuff in saucepans. We use the gas oven a few times a week. We don’t have a charcoal bbq,instead we use an outside electric bbq when we are on hook up. Anything hot uses tons of leccie,so that’s why we use it when on site with ehu.
Have fun!

 

[Odd-no-more]

30 year old hob may be ok but will need a service and have it checked and connected by a Gas Safe engineer. Or get a single gas burner with its own gas from a camping shop

 

[pappajohn]

Is gas considered dangerous on a camp site?

Most certainly not.
The vast majority have gas heating for warmth and hot water, cooking and fridges..... One member even still has gas mantle lighting..... But you won't find him on a campsite in this country.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Graham of Madrid]

You really do need a fixed gas hob, unless you're planning to be on EHU all the time. It's just a matter of time before you get tired of dragging a portable single gas burner out of the cupboard whenever you want a cup of tea although its a good starting point. I'd certainly use one outdoors if I was cooking something like bacon and didn't want to stink the van out.

 

[Barclaybasher]

My 1991 Eriba has a gas hob and grill - never used the grill in over 4 years

My 2001 Mobilvetta has a gas hob and oven - never used the oven

I have an electric kettle - used only on ferries or EHU - not often

Fixed gas hob essential

 

[Reallyretired]

Always use gas for cooking.
You don't necessarily want to be tied to sites with ehu, and many sites have only 6A hookup which is about 1.5Kw, so not really enough to use for much more than fridge and battery charging.
We do have an electric kettle which runs off inverter when we stop en-route for a drink if its hot as it doesn't heat up the mh which we've just got cool on the aircon.

 

[Minxy]

I wonder why the gas has been disconnected? Best to get it connected up and checked by a fully qualified LPG gas safe engineer to be sure there aren't any issues with it as that may be why it was disconnected in the first place.

Alternative is to remove it and put in a new one (checked by a professional again) so you know that it's okay - they aren't expensive.

 

[Spriddler]

Gas is important for me for heating, cooking and the fridge when mains electricity is frequently not an option. Perfectly safe if installed correctly but as you realise it's not something to risk so whether recommissioning your disconnected gas cooker is practical and safe would require advice from someone qualified.
I have a gas hob, oven and grill but only use the hob to cook, the oven only for storage and occasionally to warm plates and the grill was only used once as it's rather small and not really very good. It's also a PITA to clean.
Many foreign m/h aren't fitted with an oven or grill at all on the basis that in fine weather folk use a BBQ or portable, free-standing oven.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Wellington]

A lot of this depends on what you want to eat, and how you like to cook. I hardly ever use my gas hob, became we mostly camp on ehu in this country. This year we’re going to go aboard, and I’m told the electric isn’t always good enough, and we’re going to want more flexibility anyway, so I expect to use it more. I used the oven precisely once last year (we spent about ten weeks in the van) but I carry a halogen oven, which I use to grill as well, and I used that most days for something or other.

I cooked a lot less in the van than I was expecting. Ymmv.

 

[Minxy]

Another thought ... do you have a 3-way fridge and 2-way boiler? If you do but they don't work on gas then I'd get the whole gas system checked out as it may not have been disconnected purely due to the hob but due to a fault that couldn't be easily found ... gas can be very dangerous so you need to make sure its totally safe.

 

[Chas17]

I use hob, oven and grill at some time while away. Hob mainly to boil a kettle and I’m a great fan of one pot cooking. Prone to fall back on the last resort of solo male Motorhomer and you need an oven for an FB pie.

 

[Mattbee]

We use our oven and hob loads. Basically cool the same sort of food when we are away as at home. Have done a Christmas dinner in the MoHo.
The electric job plate is mainly used for the kettle when we are on hookup, gas for everything else.

 

[Lenny HB]

The vehicle has been fully converted to electric, it seems that this limits our options if we have a plug in hob top - is this true?
Can a 30 year old hob be reconnected to gas easily? Is gas considered dangerous on a camp site?

Only electric very limiting, far better to have only gas.
As for a 30 year old gas hob, nothing really to go wrong with a gas hob I don't see any problems in reconnecting it.