What about a marine range?

[Globie64]

The backstory is this: I've been noodling around how get a high-functioning range in our Globetrotter. The original Magic Chef was great until it died an ugly death. After many attempts to get it fixed, I decided to get a new range. I bake and cook as part of our enjoying our Airstream, so a good range is important to me. The best bet seemed to be Atwood, but after a week of phoning them directly and to suppliers to try and find what I want, then finding what I want to be $900, I stalled. A post on the forum today led me down the rabbit hole to marine ranges, and I'm kind of into the Seward Princess

Seaward Princess Euro 3-Burner Propane Gas Built-In Stove

which can be had in stainless.

I'm curious if anyone here has experience with one of these, or any (constructive) thoughts. I'm going to see if I can find one in the flesh. From what I hear about the Atwoods, they're not super at baking, and the Seward's have great reviews. For a couple of hundred bucks more considering how much I cook and how much we're into the trailer for, it seems like could be money well spent. Thanks

[drboyd]

Generally, I have found marine products to be higher quality than RV products. If it fits and does what you want it to do, why not?

[Phoenix]

We have a 27-foot cabin cruiser, and I agree with Drboyd's comments, above. Most marine products are designed for saltwater use; and, in general, they are frequently corrosion resistant, heavy-duty, rich cousins to their RV equivalents. While most RV components are OK for "land yacht" applications, marine appliances would be preferred, especially if money is no object.

[Ridgerunner3]

I have sailed for several years on boats with gimbaled propane ranges. My experience has been that the marine stoves are higher quality than the typical rv range. The installation may be more complicated because the marine ranges that I have experienced are mounted on gimbals and have at least one aux gas shutoff solenoid. I don't know if the solenoid valves are a part of the marine range or a separate device installed on the gas line.

Long story short, my opinion is the marine range is better quality than the typical rv range.

[DKB_SATX]

So you were daunted by $900 but excited about $1125?

[SL4BLLT]

We replaced our radio (am/fm/mp3/.... WB) with a marine radio as it offered seven NOAA channels and some added padding to take the bumps in the road.

I think a sea worthy built range would also be in keeping with the nautical theme of Wally naming his travel trailers, like the Land Yacht, that just came up with some very nice upgrades. If that will help in soothing (justifying) the pain in the cost....

The items are certainly built to take the abuse on the water as even a "little" 2-foot swell can wreak havoc on a small craft.

Being from the great State of Maine, the systems on our old boats are still running and easy to get going after not being used for many months.

The comments above are very accurate with the quality as when you are out on the open ocean, there are no exits and things need to work.

I'll keep this in mind we when go to replace ours down the road. Not a bad thought and probably worth the investment if you plan on using it for many years to come.

Good luck with your decision.

SL4BLLT

[SmokelessJoe]

Agree with all the pro-marine comments here.

Almost everything produced for the marine industry will be better made than the junkier stuff sold in the RV world.


Sergei

[Globie64]

That's great, thanks for the feedback. That extra few hundred bucks seems to buy better quality. I don't know that I'd install it with the gimbal setup...

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Globie64

That's great, thanks for the feedback. That extra few hundred bucks seems to buy better quality. I don't know that I'd install it with the gimbal setup...

The unit you linked to is not the gimbaled set up. The gimbaled model costs $10 more from the same place (I'd expect more price difference, actually) and doesn't really buy you anything, since you won't be using it while the trailer is moving.

[lsbrodsky]

I also have about 20 years experience using marine oven/ranges, no experience on an RV range. They are built well and offer some nice features like infrared browning. But, I never found an oven that regulated temperature as well as an oven at home. That flaw was ok for normal oven cooking but a bit troublesome for delicate pastry baking.

Larry

[Bruce B]

If you are looking at marine ranges, I will put in a good word for Force 10 products.
FORCE 10 - Cooking Without Compromise
My experience has been nothing but great! Good company support, reliable and you can even order the products in polished Stainless.
There, $0.02.....
Bruce

[AirsDream]

Didn't see a top cover on the one you're looking at - did I miss it? ... for me that is just a necessity - it hides a dirty top when I haven't cleaned up in the past day or so, gives me an extra place to put my cutting board when I'm doing food prep, and usually houses a bowl of fruit when no cooking is going on ...

I'd also make sure of the BTU ratings of what you get. Seems as if these burners are all the same BTU rating (I think it was 7,000 BTU), while the factory unit in my coach has one higher-power output burner than the others (though it's possible that my "high power" burner has no more output than any of the ones on the range you're looking at!)

This unit sure looks nice. And easy to clean ... not that I ever spill or boil things over on my stove top!!!?? (see above comments on hiding a dirty top!)

[Globie64]

The top is a good point- we're both obsessive about cleaning and that's not an issue, but I do want a top for added space when it's not in use- I work with a fabricator and that's an option.

As for the gimbal, you can order them without it which is what I'd do.

Very interesting about the Force 10- I read one review which wasn't so great, about metal overheating and distorting, but mostly they're good. I kind of preferred the Seaward. I like that the two burners are on the front, one in back, the reverse of the Atwood units.

Funny about the regulation of temps- my Dacor at home is terrible, I have to pay attention to baking stuff. The Magic Chef in the AS was great, for tarts and stuff- a great way to make friends at a campsite, bake stuff. I want a decent oven but don't expect magic. I specify a lot of high end appliances for homes and do a lot of research, they all have short comings, even when you're spending 8k for a range.

In my experience the marine supply stuff is better, and I try to go that way when I can when working on the trailer. The quality is nice to live with and I figure it's good for the next person who gets it after us, whenever that may be.

[Phoenix]

Our Bambi is used as a camper (as opposed to being a mobile apartment); and we have an inexpensive Oster toaster/convection oven that we got at Costco for around $50. It makes surprisingly good pies, brownies, cakes, cookies, and even chicken, pork and beef roasts. The convection part seems to heat the insides very evenly, giving good baking results.

However, it's only useful when full hookups are available or when running the generator(s) to charge the batteries. So, our destination, stopovers and trip duration determine whether it gets stored in our trunk with the other stuff we usually forget we brought.

Otherwise, we're satisfied with the OEM burners and oven (which functions as a pantry for bread, chips crackers and store-bought cookies and snacks).

[Globie64]

Great point, Phoenix, and I'll be sure to hide it from my other half! Our existing stove is a hazard, so something has to be done. I am all over the simple solution, the 50 buck unit from Costco, and have been haunting Craigslist and ebay for some kind of used stove available locally. Thanks for the reality check.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Our Bambi is used as a camper (as opposed to being a mobile apartment); and we have an inexpensive Oster toaster/convection oven that we got at Costco for around $50. It makes surprisingly good pies, brownies, cakes, cookies, and even chicken, pork and beef roasts. The convection part seems to heat the insides very evenly, giving good baking results.

However, it's only useful when full hookups are available or when running the generator(s) to charge the batteries. So, our destination, stopovers and trip duration determine whether it gets stored in our trunk with the other stuff we usually forget we brought.

Otherwise, we're satisfied with the OEM burners and oven (which functions as a pantry for bread, chips crackers and store-bought cookies and snacks).

So you take along an electric toaster-oven and use the built-in oven (that can work without hookups) just for storage? Is something wrong with the gas oven?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Looks a lot like the Amana in our Classic.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?...0373&id=758412


Bob

[Phoenix]

Our oven probably works fine, but we just don't bake stuff while traveling (too messy and takes too much time). Also, the oven "pantry" makes up for a lack of storage for other things that usually get crushed (like bread and chips). Otherwise, it would probably contain pots and pans we don't use either.

Our microwave is really handy when stopover times justify getting it out and firing up the generator. (I should have mentioned that the Oster baking performance is mostly from home use, where we also do not use our big oven, except once or twice a year for big Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.)

[Globie64]

Robert Cross, that was one of the appeals of the Seaward, that it looks something like a more period piece. BTW, the Seaward weighs 93 pounds vs the Atwood at 63, if that doesn't suggest more substantial than I don't know what will.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Globie64

Robert Cross, that was one of the appeals of the Seaward, that it looks something like a more period piece. BTW, the Seaward weighs 93 pounds vs the Atwood at 63, if that doesn't suggest more substantial than I don't know what will.

But thats a case of Honey Brown, Blue Moon and eight bottles of Happy Camper....we must keep our priorities in order.

Bob