3 Steps to learning to cook in an RV Convection Microwave Oven

My first cookies in a Convection/Microwave

I have spent the better part of an hour trying to learn how to make cookies in the convection oven but I still don't have any cookies.
     First I forgot to take the microwave tray out of the bottom of the oven. Finally I figured out I needed to take that out and put the wire rack in. I did that, but cookies were still not getting done. I wondered what step I was missing. Then I took my half baked cookies out of my glass dish because I discovered that the sides were too tall.

Now I have my mushy squashed ugly cookies on a cookie sheet but they are not cooking. So I turned the oven off and resetting all of the settings.

I think they are starting to bake... Let me go check!  Yes!!! They are almost done.

They are done!

Boy, are they UGLY!

Wow, that was a lot of effort, for a batch of cookies.  But it was a great learning experience!

The second batch came out a lot better.

What did I learn?  

     It is not that easy to find the user Manuel.  When we bought our RV it had the installation instructions to the microwave but no user manual. I went online and hunted for my brand and then looked for the model. By the way, you can usually find the model number inside the microwave door.

When you do find the manual online, they assume that you have SOME knowledge of how to cook with a convection/microwave. Well, I don’t.
    
What I needed was a true beginners guide. Did I find one? Nope... so I wrote one. Short and sweet.

For those of you looking for a beginners guide, here it is!

Beginners Guide to RV Convection/Microwave cooking.

     1. IF you an find the user manual ... Read it! Mine was missing so I skipped this step.

     2. If you don't have a user manual you need to do the following;
          Take the microwave tray / plate out. Then insert the metal rack(s).
          Look for the setting that says Convection or Bake and punch that button
          Preheat the oven.      That was hard for me to figure out because there wasn't a count down like my full size oven. You might have to fiddle with it a bit to figure it out yourself. What worked for me was to realize it was getting hot and then wait for the microwave panel to flash.
           Use a dish, yes please use metal or an oven safe dish, that has the lowest sides you can get away with. For cookies use a cookie sheet. Even for meatloaf use a very short dish.
           After you have placed your dish on a rack in the oven start your oven.
           Mine requires that you push the start button every time the door is opened. I think that was why it took me so long to cook my first batch of cookies. I kept turning it off when I checked on the cookies.
         After your food is cooked remember to take the metal rack out and replace the rotating microwave tray and reset it to microwave cooking if your microwave oven requires this step.

     3. Practice, practice, practice. I can't stress this enough.

Start with something easy like cookies. I made cookies first and the next day I made meatloaf. I overcooked the meatloaf so I know it will take some tweaking.

I keep reminding myself that change is inevitable and I might as well view it as an adventure with a smile and a positive attitude. God is good to me.