We love cooking while camping but being short term campers weren’t worried about not being able to bake. However, we started seeing reviews of the Omnia Stovetop Oven all over our Instagram feed and got curious. And then I got one for my birthday in 2022 and we have been having fun ever since!
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As I love to say #icampforthefood but had limited our camping menus to pie irons, foil packets, and some Dutch oven recipes. This was never a problem because there are so many tasty things to make over the campfire. But what happens when you are on a fire ban? I can only handle so much cold food and then I want something warm.
We would use our camp stove for heating up some stuff (and for our coffee every morning!) but not everything we plan to cook can be done in a skillet on the camp stove. Plus, our Dutch oven is cast iron and way too heavy for me to be comfortable with it on top of the camp stove. Enter our Omnia Stovetop Oven. We got the Omnia Ultimate Starter Kit which came with some accessories and made it so we could start using it immediately.
They now sell the Omnia Super Kit which comes with even more accessories bundled together. Or they offer sets of accessories sold together to supplement your original purchase. Consider what items you will most likely use and choose accordingly!
What is an Omnia Stovetop Oven?
The Omnia Stovetop Oven is an oven from Sweden. It was originally created for kitchens on boats but campers all over the world have adopted it for smaller rvs that don’t have room for a traditional oven. We have used ours in both our Class B and Class C motorhomes as well as when we tent camp.
How does the Omnia Stovetop Oven work?
This lightweight oven made from aluminum and steel sits on a standard camp stove burner or other type of heat source such as a barbeque. The heat from the burner heats the steel base plate which heats the air trapped between the base plate and the baking pan. It also heats the air that goes up the chimney of the baking pan. Once the heat hits the lid, it bounces back down to heat the top of the pan. This mimics the action of a traditional oven in heating from all sides. The lid also has some air holes to allow the steam to escape so your food doesn’t become soggy.
Hints for using an Omnia Stovetop Oven:
- It gets hot. Really hot! We recommend using heat resistant gloves once the oven has heated.
- Remember to bake low and slow. While it isn’t such a big deal to have uneven heat when we are roasting vegetables or making nachos, it does bother me to burn the bottoms of my cakes. I mentioned it on Instagram and Omnia Sweden responded reminding me to lower the heat. Now I just need to remember this every time I bake.
- Don’t peek! If you have ever cooked in a slow cooker, you know that every time you lift the lid you add on cooking time because of all the heat you’ve lost. Same with the Omnia Stovetop Oven. (Technically, same with a traditional oven as well, but that doesn’t seem to add as much time to the end as I have noticed with my slow cookers and the Omnia.)
- Use your silicone liner(s)! The pan is made from aluminum and stuff will stick. Luckily there are silicone liners that fit directly inside the pan. This keeps our items from sticking to the pan but please note that your recipe will continue to bake after being removed due to the liner retaining heat. We recommend removing it early and let it finish baking off the heat. This saves on gas but don’t forget to take the lid off so it doesn’t steam.
- Preheat! We are believers in preheating the oven although not everyone agrees. It doesn’t take long to preheat the base so we figure why not?
Accessories available for the Omnia Stovetop Oven:
- Silicone Mold: We have multiple silicone liners because we use it for both savory and sweet items and don’t like to cross contaminate.
- Split Liners: They now offer a set of split liners in case you are cooking two items at the same time that can’t be combined. We aren’t sure we would ever use them, but it is a thought.
- Muffin Ring: We have purchased a set of silicone muffin molds that can be used if your oven kit doesn’t come with the muffin ring.
- Thermometer: I was tired of burning the bottoms of my food because I wouldn’t pay enough attention. This helps!
- Omnia Nonstick Pan: We have not used this, but the thought of a non-stick pan insert is appealing…
- Baking Grid: This allows you to raise your items off the bottom of the pan to help prevent burning and can also act as a steamer rack.
- Omnia Bamboo Trivet: This trivet is sized perfectly for the Omnia and will protect your table from the heat of the oven.
- Storage Bag: Our kit came with a storage bag and I love it for keeping the majority of our accessories contained with the oven.
- Protective Carrying Case: Another item we have not purchased because we have the storage bag. But if we didn’t, I would probably opt for this.
- Heat Resistant Gloves: This is not an accessory for the Omnia Stovetop Oven, but we won’t cook outdoors without them. The oven gets hot, and these gloves will help you keep from getting burnt.
Additional Frequently Asked Questions about the Omnia Stovetop Oven:
Q: What is the oven made from?
A: The oven itself is an aluminum baking pan and lid that sits on a steel base plate. It also includes a stainless-steel baking rack and has silicone pan liners for ease of use.
Q: What type of burners can be used with the oven?
A: It will work on any type of open flame or an electric cooktop, however it will not work on induction burners because of the aluminum. We typically use it on our gas cook stove. And we cook with it outdoors to keep from heating up the inside of our RV.
Q: Why not use a Dutch oven?
A: Don’t get us wrong. We love our Dutch oven but…sometimes we don’t want to or have the ability to build a fire. Additionally, we have a larger Dutch oven which makes larger portions and take longer to bake. So not only do we have to build the fire and wait for the charcoal to be ready, then we have to wait for a larger amount of food to cook. The Omnia Stovetop Oven preheats quickly, bakes evenly, and makes a perfect amount for our family of three.
Q: What can we bake in the oven?
A: Pretty much any recipe that can be baked in a traditional oven can be tried in the Omnia Stovetop Oven. However, we have found that “flat” items like pizza do not work because of the shape of the pan. Instead, we adapt and make calzones instead of pizza, brownies instead of cookies, etc.
Q: How do we know the temperature in the oven?
A: We try to always use low to medium heat underneath the Omnia Stovetop Oven but we still burnt too many recipes so we purchased the thermometer that can be inserted into one of the air holes of the lid. It allows us to monitor the temperature inside the oven.
Q: How do I get rid of the smell in my silicone liner?
A: Warm the silicone liner which will open the pores. Wash it with warm soapy water. Dry thoroughly. The smell should be gone. This actually works with all high-grade silicone products.
Some Favorite Ideas from our Omnia Stovetop Oven:
- Frittatas
- Sweet rolls
- Nachos
- Roasted vegetables
- Quick breads
One Fancy Recipe using our Omnia Stovetop Oven:
Aaron made the traditional British recipe Toad in a Hole which is sausages cooked in a Yorkshire pudding. We made them in our silicone baking cups and while our version wasn’t the prettiest…it was tasty, and we all cleaned our plates!
Want an oven for baking while camping?
We highly recommend the Omnia Stovetop Oven because it was designed for the job. It’s smaller and lighter than our cast iron Dutch oven. And it produces better results for the recipes we bake in it. If you also use the Omnia Stovetop Oven, tag us on instagram @campinganswer and tell us your favorite recipes! Or if you have any questions we haven’t answered, leave a comment and we will get back to you.