This was second hand when my mother bought it for my sister who lived in a bed sit in London. I think in 1963 or 1964 my sister had got a flat with an oven so no longer needed it and I got it. I used to carry it on a motorcycle and cooked pies in it on a Primus 54 when the weather was bad It worked well but when you lifted the top to check the contents you also lifted the hot air from them. Provided you did not tilt the top the hot air went back on with the top.
Hi Bryan, I wouldn't venture a guess as to, globally, how many different stovetop oven models were made or even the many that are most similar to your example. It would be interesting, if possible, to know more of the origin of popular use of "Wonder" in naming many of these ovens? We have seen many examples such as Kerophile's example (link below), I "thought" most were where heat is directed up through the center and w/a vented cover. My impression, until now, was that center heat was essential to it's "Wonder" pot/oven lineage. Your example does not affirm this. I have a vintage US made exact copy?, I expect, of Kerophile's example. This US copy is center heated & top vented by the name NU-WONDER BAKER (24cm dia.). I also have another vintage example VERY much like yours, an Ovenette by West Bend (27cm dia) without center heat or vents and no mention of Wonder anything. kerophile wonderpot https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/wonderpot-stove-top-oven.21386/ thx omc
This is worth a read: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Pot https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-mini-oven-poor-mans-version.8244/#post-81562 Best Regards, Kerophile.
The concept of using a paraffin stove to power an oven did not start with the Wonder range of ovens. It was in use from at least the early 1900s and may be from even earlier https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1907-circa-primus-m-c-catalogue-no-157.8743/#post-85864 However what became known as Wonder ovens really advanced the idea so the ovens were portable rather than the heavy cast iron earlier ovens. They were then designed for gas stoves but were equally suitable for portable stoves. Apart from the Wonder type of oven there were Kubex ovens which were fairly common round about the 1950s
My mom had one of the WB Ovenettes when I was but a wee sprog. We lived in a town called Igloo, So. Dak. and Summers were Bloody Well HOT!! Dad built a lean-to kitchen off the back porch and bought mom a Sears and Roebuck kerosene three burner wick stove 'cause the wood/coal range in the house made the kitchen intolerable. He saw the Ovenette in the Coast to Coast Hardware store and bought it for her. She loved it and learned to make baking powder biscuits, tarts, cupcakes, cookies, pot pies, pasties, and all sorts of baked goodies in it. I think it was given away when we moved from Igloo to Seattle in '52 or thereabouts. I dunno what all y'all Europeans would call a biscuit, but ours are made of flour, mixed with milk, a pinch of salt, baking powder, and shortening (lard, bacon grease, margarine) rolled about 1/2" thick, cut 2" or so in diameter and baked in a hot (400F), oven for about 10 or 11 minutes or until golden brown. Easy to make and bake in an oven, dutch oven, reflector oven, couple of pie tins clamped with spring paper clips, or most any way of containing heat, If you do 'em right they get to about 2" high. For hiking, when I could do that, I had an old, disreputable tin reflector oven I found in a St. Vincent De Paul charity store in the mid '50s. The nun at the cash register figured I was a poor kid and sold it to me for half a dollar. I was a poor kid, but full willing and ready to pay the whole dollar it was marked at. I've still got that old tin reflector oven, a blue Optimus oven and a selection of cast iron dutch ovens, all of which I use on occasion. Gerry N.
Gerry N., Great remberances! Your mother makes me feel good about my purchase. Biscuits of the type you describe are what I plan to make first in my Ovenette. I've got a 16" Dutch Oven that I've done a lot of baking in. I've made pies, scones, cookies, cakes, cobblers, etc. It works great but it's pretty heavy. Ben
@Nordicthug What you call a biscuit, we would call a scone (sweet or savoury). What you call a cookie, we would call a biscuit (sweet; or savoury like your crackers). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit My mother used to make scones and biscuits regularly. Tony
Now that is interesting. Cookies are biscuits in England. However while scones are soft like American biscuits they're not the same. English scones are much richer and flakier than American biscuits owing to their greater fat content (shortening or butter). Scones are a favorite of mine with butter and jam. The one time I was in England they were served with something called "clotted cream" which isn't readily available in the colonies. Too bad because I really liked it. Ben
Hi Ben, you can impress your family and friends with clotted cream: http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Clotted-Cream Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thanks Kerophile! I wish I'd have known this last weekend. My wife and I took our grandson to visit friends who have a small farm 7 hours away. They have 4 milk cows which would have provided some fine unpasturized cream to clot. Now I'll have to wait until January when I go back to help slaughter hogs. By the way, my three year old grandson had a great time collecting eggs and drinking warm milk straight from the cows. Things kids rarely get to do these days. Ben
Pizza may be achievable in one my 111 wasted no time heating mine up and is maintaining temp on a low flame
A bit of research later I discover the american version was called west bend and before that Stanley stovette and the vintage caravan folk even have cooking contests with the things http://www.nationalserroscotty.org/fun/ovenette.html
I just picked up one of these Prestige ovens (thanks to @Rodger Willows). I will post it when I get it cleaned up and have a loaf to bake. Cheers Tony
Hi, @Tony Press . As you wait for your stove-top oven here is a recipe book to study, http://omniasweden.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cookery_book_080131.pdf There are some good recipes included and I have had good success with Jansson’s Temptation p.9 and the Rye bread, p.51. Soda bread recipes also work well: Traditional Irish Soda Bread https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/mini-oven-and-irish-oatmeal-soda-bread.8292/#post-82192 Irish soda bread Best Regards, Kerophile.
The 'Wonder Oven' shown in the first post of this thread now belongs to me. Bryan gifted me the stove and told me to enjoy using it. Bryan was a wonderful man. I insisted on paying for the oven but (typical Bryan) he refused.
