My delimma, viewpoints requested.

I have an electric stove. I do not want an electric stove. I want propane. I have identified the following options:

1. I can buy a drop-in replacement by the same manufacturer as my electric stove. No corian cutting, no cabinet modifications, just a short propane connection to a tubing already nearby. The rub: cost of $450+ by the time I get it shipped. This is a very attractive glass top style mad by Princess.

2. I can buy a popular and less expensive gas top for a lot less, but then I have labor for corian mod, cabinet mod, and possibly a botched job.

3. Or I can go all the way to a complete range and really chop up my cabinets and corian.

I am leaning toward the expensive dropins, pictured below.

My current electric:
Electric

Dropin gas candisate 1:
Gas candidate #1

Dropin gas candidate 2:
Gas Candidate #2

Any suggestions, please? I am leaning toward the foolproff expensive dropin, as no mods should be required, even clears the drawer underneath it.

garryp

If you take the first choice (electric) you are not getting what you want - gas. If it were me, I would buy the gas stove; the ones in the links look good.

If you want to dry camp or boondock, you will want gas. Running a generator all the time is not practical or possible.

I would like to find a microwave that operated on propane - ha

Bill G

Our Breakaway was originally all electric. A prior owner removed the electric stove and replaced it was gas. Our stove is recessed so with the cover on it gives a lot of counter space. Anyway the replacement was a three burner from atwood. Originally the refig on operated on 120vac, but somewhere in the past someone wized up and allowed it to work on propane, maybe at the same time they decided an electric stove sucked. The biggest problem was they only installed a 10 gallon propane tank. But this is good for about 10 weeks.
We now have a Honda genset on gas and the furnaces use diesel fuel.

The hassle factor of the 2-burner drop-ins is low, the utilization factor high. As noted in another post, in nearly 40 years of RV-ing, we've never used more than 2 burners.

Ask the person who is going to cook how they will be using the area. If you love to cook two burner is too small.

Two burner, more counter space.

Three burner to four burner nice for someone who loves to cook and can not cook for two. Cook not happy, your not happy! We could not live with out the 4 burner unit, but we like to eat well and feed the neighbors.

If you go with a different size, have the location cut by a pro and you finish the job.

Consider also the resale scenario.

The prospective buyer's wife will have an opinion on the stove. Having more burners and an oven might not be important to you, but it could be a positive thing when you sell it. Or at least, it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

I had to promise to do a bunch of stuff to get Susan's approval to buy our Barth. Believe it or not, I had to promise to move the kitchen from left to right. Fortunately, she got to like it on the left.

Our 3 burner LP stovetop does fine, and I always have the Coleman outside for bacon and sausage or other smoky cooking, but the real treat that came in our coach was the Magic Chef microwave/ convection combo. We can bake the pizza or biscuits, or warm up anything else in the micro. No oven beneath the cooktop, but plenty of storage.

As an appliance servicer for 30 years, if I was going to replace the cooktop, I would modify the countertop or replace it if it needed it anyway and put a standard 30 inch cooktop in. it would give you more room for larger pots and if the cook is a chef, they will appreciate it. Most hoods would still be adequate. Only thing lost is 6" of countertop and the gains are an incredible selection of tops at far less than camper variety. As to rv codes the only thing different might be the btu rating of the burners and the clip on grates. Micro/convection is the only way to go for ovens as they are hardly used for regular oven cooking. We still use our Weber BabyQue for most of our meats.

This is an area of personal preferences where there is no answer for everyone. I would love a standard cooktop, but the counter width just isn't there. As for the oven, due to the fact that they require no generator, they are quieter and can be operated for late night bruschetta or clams on the half shell, etc. The panko crumbs on the clams or stuffed mushrooms just come out crispier in an oven than a microwave or convection. Garlic bread, same thing. We sometimes camp in no-generator areas, too.

Totally agree that RV vent hoods are almost useless. I put an 1100 CFM 12 volt fan in our Nutone. It is mounted on rubber isolators and the hood has anti-vibration soundproofing to keep things quiet. It is so quiet that Susan is happy with it on full speed, relieving me of the chore of designing a PWM circuit for speed control.

Good and interesting variation of perspectives in replies - thinking material. All good answers from personal needs/perspectives.

I boondock/primitive camp mostly.

I do not like gensets used by anybody, and most of all my own, because it is the closest to me. If wood paneling is not my next jpb, a new genset may be.

I have enough solar to keep me going except for the electric stove, and of course the a/c, which I manage by choice of location, trying to stay where a little heat at night is needed instead of cooling at day. It will run the morning coffee maker and toaster

Therefore I want gas.

I am not a gourmet cook so I do not need a sophisticated range. But I miss the oven for those baked dinners-in-a-box.

I do not want to do major cabinet surgery as a botched job or ill-conceived plan would be worse than what I have. i.e. I do not trust my decisions/craftsmanship

I have low clearance between stove top and microwave/convection, 15 inches, so I should not use high output burners on many of the stoves I find on the web.

And... I cannot second guess what a potential buyer might want in a coach. Sure as shootin' if I install a full range, a buyer will come along and say, "I wanted one of those little electric cook tops and more cabinet space."

So I am leaning toward the two-burner, sealed, drop-in gas replacement. I am going to lean on that decision and a while and see if it holds me up. If I had enough above-rangetop clearance, I might consider alternatives.

For those "baked dinners in a box," consider a toaster oven, though that requires juice.

Long ago, I saw an ad for a sheet metal contraption that sat atop two stove top burners, & purported to be an oven. I don't know if it worked, but it probably didn't sell, I haven't seen one for years. Might be a possibility for a creative DIYer.

Then there's the dutch oven. Never saw one used on an RV range, & they're probably too hot to use indoors unless the weather is cool.

Keep thinkin' about it.

Olroy, interesting thoughts!

I carry a toaster oven for those times I have electric. And that depends on what part of the US I am in, the East forcing me to stay in RV parks more often, but I do have electric there.

The stove top oven idea may still be alive and well. I will have to check it out as I did not give it much attention, but there is a coleman camping oven that I suspect is intended to be used on a coleman stove.

If I had such a contraption, and it worked, it would simply replace or join the electric toaster oven in my inventory.

I do carry the Rinnai gas cook top with me and use it extensively, but it has to sit on the dinning table as it has much too little clearance from the m-wave/overheads on the counter for a 18,000 btu burner.

Or so I think. How much clearance do I need over 18,000 btu?

A sudden thought.

I have the small Weber 100 gas grill. I removed the regulator so I can run it on low pressure.

I wonder why I could not use that as an oven.

Also, I wonder why it could not simply be set over an inside burner to become an oven (with a thermometer added of course.

Garry, I'm with you on the generator. There should be generator free campgrounds. There are several trends over the last few years.

1. RV gensets are getting quieter and better-insulated.

2. The market is being flooded with cheap loud portable generators.

#2 cancels out #1, so here comes #3:

3. Some of the events we attend offer generator-free dry camping areas. We just signed up for one and they said the response is so large that they are expanding that part of the camping area. So, now, we wear Birkenstocks and "Save the Whales" T-shirts. And hug trees.

But, to avoid thread drift, back on topic.....When we tent camped, we had a metal box with a thermometer that was sold to be used on a Coleman stove. It used just one burner, and warmed up a whole lot of Swanson Chicken Pies over the years. I don't know if they are still available, but you could make one just the right size with some metal and some piano hinges. You could even make it to break down flat. You could mount a barbecue lid thermometer or drill a tight hole for the probe of a digital cooking thermometer.

Yes, they are still available by coleman. They are also collabsable to small size. uses a burner on the stove. I am gonna look at one.

Coleman also has a small stand-alone oven using a bottle gas I think. All my stuff is low pressure, and coleman stuff cannot be converted because they do not use a conventional regulator. I tried once, then threw something away.

I converted a Weber 100 because it does have a conventioanl regulator which when removed, pernmits moho lo pressure gas to be used.

So my Wave heater, Rinnai stove and weber grill all can run from my low pressure quick disconnect. And I suspect that the weber grill can bake small things with a little mod to disperse the heat from direct.

There is a story behind the weber. I bought one for $100 incl overnight shipping from amazon and received it the day before I left home on this odyssey - brand new - good deal.

In a few minutes at Flagstaff I had it converted and hosed for my low pressure side propane.

The second time I used it, I connected hose to it, leaving it loose so the hose could twist, making it easier to rollout. Forgot to tighten the connction. Put on a burger. lit it. went to the next meal task.

When I went out to flip the burger I found a ball of fire around the loose connection, destroying handle, flame adjuster. Thank goodness the hose hsd not completely burned through, or it would have ben a torch!

I now have a new one, converted, and am much more careful! Moral is that connection to flex hose is not as idiot proof as screwing on a bottle, or perhaps I am a special case: not as garryp proof! So my $100 bargain is now $230, replaced from camping world.

The burger survived, however.

About the gen noise/fumes, I have noticed that National Parks now have fairly resrticted hours for gens, and I report folks not complying.

Yeah, I got a gen. Yeah, I occasionally use it. But, like I said, I hate it more then my neighbors gen, as it is closest. I just can't seem to get away from it. It follows me.

But right now what I need is some sort of storeable table because there are no picnic tables for outdoor cooking when boondocking!