If you’ve ever cooked a pizza in your RV oven and ended up with a burnt crust but an undercooked top, you’re not alone.
That was exactly the problem we ran into after hitting the road full-time.
Our travel trailer oven worked surprisingly well overall, but it had one major flaw—a serious hot spot directly above the burner. No matter how much we adjusted the cooking temperature, the bottom of our food cooked much faster than everything else.
After trying several ideas and researching what other RV owners were doing, we found a simple, inexpensive solution that solved the problem.
The Problem
The first clue came while baking a frozen pizza.
The bottom crust burned long before the cheese and toppings were fully cooked.
We experimented with different temperatures and cooking times, but nothing really helped.
The problem wasn’t the recipe.
It was the oven itself.
Many RV ovens develop a hot spot because the burner sits directly beneath the center of the oven, allowing concentrated heat to rise into one area.
Common Solutions We Considered
Before finding our own solution, we looked at several popular recommendations.
Cast Iron
Many RV owners recommend placing a cast iron skillet or griddle on the bottom rack to help distribute heat.
While this probably works well, we decided against it.
Cast iron is heavy, and when you’re towing a travel trailer, every extra pound matters.
Pizza Stones
Another common recommendation is using a pizza stone.
We’ve used pizza stones in home ovens before, but they take a long time to preheat.
Since our RV oven runs on propane, we weren’t excited about using extra fuel every time we wanted to bake something.
We wanted something lighter, faster, and less expensive.
Our $10 Solution
While shopping at Walmart, we found a lightweight aluminum grill pan.
It happened to be almost the perfect size for the bottom of our RV oven.
We removed the handle, saved the screw so it could easily be reattached later, and simply placed the pan in the bottom of the oven.
Because it fit without blocking the oven’s ventilation openings, airflow wasn’t affected.
The thin aluminum helped spread the heat much more evenly across the bottom of the oven.
The next pizza came out beautifully.
Problem solved.
An Even Better Update
After using this setup for a while, we discovered something that worked even better.
Turn the aluminum pan upside down.
That slight change improved the heat distribution even more and produced even better baking results.
Sometimes the simplest adjustments make the biggest difference.
Another Quick RV Kitchen Upgrade
While we were improving the kitchen, we tackled another annoying problem.
Our range hood light had stopped working.
After spending more time troubleshooting than the fixture deserved, we decided on a much simpler solution.
We installed inexpensive battery-powered LED puck lights beneath the range hood.
They provide more usable light than the original fixture, they’re inexpensive, and installation took only a few minutes.
Sometimes it’s better to stop fighting a problem and simply find a better solution.
A Few Tips for Better RV Baking
If you’re still getting uneven results from your RV oven, here are a few things that have helped us:
- Use an oven thermometer to verify the actual temperature.
- Rotate pans halfway through baking.
- Avoid placing food directly over the hottest area of the oven.
- Preheat the oven completely before baking.
- Consider adding a lightweight heat diffuser like the one described above.
Every RV oven behaves a little differently, so a little experimentation goes a long way.
Final Thoughts
Living in an RV means learning the little quirks of every appliance.
Fortunately, many of those quirks have simple solutions.
For us, one inexpensive aluminum pan transformed an oven that constantly burned food into one that cooks much more evenly.
If your RV oven has a stubborn hot spot, this lightweight fix may be worth trying before investing in heavier or more expensive alternatives.
We hope it helps make your next pizza night a little more enjoyable!
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