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One of the first large purchases we made for our Toyota Coaster, was an order from Coast to Coast RV at the Caravan and Camping show in Sydney. In this order, we purchased our Thetford Caprice Mk3 duel fuel fan forced oven. Wow, what a mouthful! Now that we have been living in our motorhome for over a year, we thought it was time to give a proper product review.
So let’s start with the basics, and let’s be honest one of the most important things; how does it look?
The Thetford Caprice oven’s black glass lid, silver handles and brushed metal give it a sleek modern look.
It is one of the larger options available at 644H x 513W x 500D, and a net weight of 26.8kg. It has a 36 litre oven capacity, 23.7 litre grill, as well as 3 gas hotplates, and a larger electric one at the rear.
So yes, while it is larger than other ovens available, it is one of the only ones out there that has both a decent size oven, a grill and 4 hotplates. Not to mention a fan forced option. The fan forced model is particularly good for the cooking performance. It helps to spread the heat and give even temperature distribution.
The appearance was a huge appeal to us when we were looking for an oven. We wanted it to look good, but also be useful. So not only, is it physically attractive, but quite versatile with the tempered glass top which acts as additional bench space when closed. If you are not sure on the glass lid, you can also get a laminated lid option. It is a slide in insert which matches and blends in with the rest of your kitchen décor.
The oven is big enough for a couple or family with plenty of room to cook.
When considering the ovens size, one thing to keep in mind is that it does not fit into a traditional oven cabinet, and this may need to be a custom cabinet if you are looking at building your own kitchen.
So how much does it cost?
As it is an oven, grill, and cooktop, it is one of the pricier options available. If you shop around, you can get this oven with the fan forced option for around $1500.
Caravan RV Camping sell the Thetford Caprice oven at the time of writing for $1464.
Now, even though the oven itself costs that much, it is important to remember that being gas, this needs to be connected by a certified gas plumber. This is at an additional expense.
If you are having other gas appliances, such as hot water or heating, it is not such a big thing to have this connected as well, just something to keep in mind.
So now that we know the Thetford Caprice MK3 oven looks good and how much it costs , but what about how it works?
First things is starting it. It has a 12V ignition button and then it is as simple as pushing and turning the dial. It starts almost every go. We have found the only issues we have had is when we have been in extremely cold temperatures and had a little trouble with the gas. However, the amount of times this has happened could be counted on less than one hand.
The oven heats up quickly, cooks evenly and has low gas consumption. It has a light switch so you can see inside while things cook without having to open the door.
It also has a safety switch built in to the lid. So if you have any of the burners turned on and the lid is accidentally closed, it will automatically shut off all the burners. Very handy!
However, one thing I will say here is that it doesn’t have a temperature dial. Instead, it has a numbered one. For example, if you set it to number 5, and you have something on the middle shelf, this would be approximately 180° Celsius.
So when we first started using it and didn’t bring the instructions, we had absolutely no idea how hot we were setting it to!
Actually… we mostly just ended up guessing the entire time we used it. For this post though, I have attached a conversion so you get some sort of idea how the temperature works.
| Gas Mark | Temperature (based on the middle shelf) |
|---|---|
| ¼ – ½ | 110°C |
| 1 | 130°C |
| 2 | 140°C |
| 3 | 150°C |
| 4 | 160°C |
| 5 | 180°C |
| 6 | 190°C |
| 7 | 210°C |
| 8 | 220°C |
| 9 | 240°C |
Another thing is the tempered glass top. While you can use it as additional bench space, it is not scratch resistant. We have found after using ours it does have small scratches on the surface.
So it looks good and works well. What about noise?
The oven doesn’t make much noise at all, until the fan kicks in. The fan is surprisingly noisy. Not enough for it to be a deal breaker, but it is noticeable. Not only this, but the fan can stay on anywhere up to around half an hour after the oven has been turned off.
And cleaning and maintenance?
One thing we particularly like about the oven, is the option to remove the metal grate over the burners. This allows easy access to the brush metal underneath to clean as well as cleaning the grate. It simply lifts out, and pushes back in.
The oven door has a removable glass panel which protects the front of the oven. It slides out, can be cleaned and placed back in.
Being glass, and brushed metal means that it does mark easily. If you are like me, a little OCD when it comes to cleaning, this can be a little frustrating, again though, not enough to be a deal breaker. Streak free glass wipes became my best friends.
Regarding maintenance, the only thing we have had to do is replace the oven light globe. This was because Shane originally wired the oven up to 24v instead of 12v which blew the bulb the first time we tried to turn it on. It was easy to find a replacement at Bunnings, and as simple as changing a globe at home.
So that basically sums up our review of the Thetford Caprice MK3, dual fuel, fan forced oven.
Do we like it? Yes!
Would we buy it again? Yes! However, we have never used the electrical hot plate. Not once. So if we were to buy it again, we would have to decide if we would go gas only. The issue with this, is the only one that is fan forced is the dual fuel. So for us, we would need to decide if the fan forced option is worth sacrificing an additional gas hot plate.
There are a few small negatives about the oven, however nothing that is a deal breaker. The positives definitely outweigh the bad. We have used it every day consistently for over a year. We have cooked roasts, desserts, pastries, bakes and more without issue.
If you are a couple who like to cook, or a family looking for an all-rounder, this is definitely a good option to consider and a worthy investment.
If you are interested on the install process of the oven, check out our video here –
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