Have you stopped using your oven?

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fabindia
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Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by fabindia »

Back in our UK home, we have the typical family style kitchen oven. It is large, takes a while to heat up and therefore in this day and age is expensive to run.
Here in Thailand, like most homes, we don't have an oven in our kitchen. Like Indian food, most Thai food is cooked on the stove top or grilled over charcoal. Being British though we find an oven is essential!
Between UK and Thailand we have a range of appliances that can substitute for the energy hungry standard oven.
In UK we have an air-fryer that we use frequently but the real game changer is our electric pressure cooker. I say electric pressure cooker, it's a 'smart' cooker what Americans would call a 'one pot'. We use it for everything from frying, to making soups, cooking lentils and beetroot. It can be used as a slow-cooker too. I've also made yoghurt in it as it has a low temperature setting.
But baking bread is tricky. Our smart cooker does have a bread setting and indeed it will both prove the dough and then bake it. The big problem is; it doesn't brown the loaf, so I've found that I still had to switch the oven on to finish baking it.
I've also tried baking bread in our air-fryer. Some people appear to be able to do this successfully and whilst my bread was OK the size and shape of the air-fryer basket is rather limiting.
This year in Thailand, we bought a halogen oven, and I would certainly recommend getting one of these. We start baked potatoes in the microwave and then crisp them off in the halogen oven and these turn out as good, if not better, than oven baked. We roast all our vegetables in it. We make granola in it for a cost of next to nothing compared with shop bought granola.
And bread and cakes!
I can make a pretty decent loaf in it; both sourdough and yeast risen bread. Mrs Fab has made a variety of cakes in it too.
There is a potential pitfall however and that is if you are not careful you end up incinerating the top of what you are cooking. This is because the way this type of oven works is that it uses a halogen bulb ((equals intense heat) at the top along with a fan to distribute the heat in the glass bowl below. To get round this drawback, we do things like cover what we are cooking with aluminium foil.
The last consideration with all these things is cost versus savings. Our halogen oven cost less than £20 out here in Thailand but the same type are around £45 in UK. Our smart cooker cost about £100 four year or so ago.
The bottom line is that these will save you money if you are the sort of person that regularly cooks food from raw materials. If they just sit in the cupboard then they just become an expensive waste.
Michael
lancashire lass
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

fabindia wrote: 02 Mar 2023, 04:48 The bottom line is that these will save you money if you are the sort of person that regularly cooks food from raw materials. If they just sit in the cupboard then they just become an expensive waste.
so true. Although just sometimes they do occasionally see the light of day.
The main reason most end up in a cupboard is because they don't turn out as you had expected (the salesmanship implied better or easier cooking), or they are awkward to clean (especially if you have to pull it to pieces or can't just dunk it direct into washing up water) When something works well, then they can become a regular feature in the kitchen.
fabindia wrote: 02 Mar 2023, 04:48 the typical family style kitchen oven. It is large, takes a while to heat up and therefore in this day and age is expensive to run.
In my previous house, I had a gas cooker and it was brilliant. Didn't take long to heat up, cooked perfectly every time. However, in my current house the electric oven was built in and I quickly learned that it took far too long to heat up (I'm sure I could hear the wheels in the meter spinning round whenever I switched it on) Soon after I bought a combination oven (microwave & convection) which was ideal for me - it didn't take long to heat up (... okay, I didn't heat it up but did add a couple of minutes at the end of cooking) and it has a grill function as well. The downside is that combi ovens seem to have a finite life ... usually the day after the extended 3 year warranty. Touch wood, this latest one has been around the longest .....
I only used my main electric oven on Christmas day until one day (in 2007) ..... I broke the glass dooryike* As a built in piece of rubbish, I could not get a replacement door for it, and I could not afford a new oven. However, it was then I got a halogen oven (the big glass bowl with the halogen lamp / fan / timer lid) and discovered it cooked the best roast chicken ever. Yes, it cooks the turkey well too but the problem is that I like to put bacon on top of the breast (not only to add fat / protect it from drying out but the flavour is ... just not Christmas without it) To cook any bird properly in the halogen oven is that you should place it on its breast during the first phase of cooking and that makes the bacon job a problem. The only downside I found with the halogen oven is that my kitchen is really quite small with very little worktop space and I have nowhere to store it.
My recent purchase of the air fryer is one of my best ones and it does get used often. And I since added a rice cooker which is great for steaming as well. The 2 work well together - my glazed tray bake and rice is a firm weekly favourite. I still use my gas hob so pots and pans are still around ....
Spreckly
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Spreckly »

I bought an air fryer some months since and since the , have used my oven very little. I do cook a rice pudding in the oven still, unsure how the air fryer would turn one out. For potatoes in their jackets, I microwave for about ten minutes, then air fry for about a further ten minutes, depending on the size of the spud.
My bread I make in the bread mixer.
One of my sons cooks all his families' meals. He makes potato wedges by peeling, cutting to shape, coating with oil, and fancy flavourings. I have not tried this yet.
I shall continue to use my oven for cakes and bubs, etc.
fabindia
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by fabindia »

Lancashire Lass, Speckly,
You both seem to back up my point that these appliances are good - if you use them on a regular basis.
I guess many who are struggling with sky high food prices either can't afford the upfront cost of these things or even if they get them don't know/don't use them.
Speckly,
I hadn't thought about a bread making machine. We had one years ago but I didn't like the hole left in the bottom by the little paddle.
I am thinking we should invest in a halogen oven when we get back to UK - no point in trying to bring our Thailand one back. Then I can bake my sourdough loaves in it rather than put the big oven every few days.
Michael
fabindia
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by fabindia »

Here's a loaf I Knocked up this morning and baked in our halogen oven.
Image
Michael
Spreckly
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Spreckly »

Your loaf looks brilliant, Michael. How long did it take to bake? My breadmaker takes three hours for a white loaf, so rather a lot of electricity. I am not physically capable of hand kneading nowadays, and my big mixer with a dough hook expired several years since, after doing a weekly bake for a hungry husband and three growing lads.
lancashire lass
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

Spreckly wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 10:48 My breadmaker takes three hours for a white loaf, so rather a lot of electricity.
Most breadmakers have a 3 hour cycle, but bear in mind that the bulk of the electricity will only be when it is baking at the end. Before then, there is the initial mixing and after proofing, another mixing and allowing the dough to rise which don't use as much electricity as you might think. And because a breadmaker only bakes one loaf, it is not heating up a standard sized oven but just a small space. It's the same with the air fryer - instead of heating up a large oven, the air fryer only needs to heat up that little drawer space which is why the cost runs out cheaper.
lancashire lass
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

fabindia wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 05:17 I guess many who are struggling with sky high food prices either can't afford the upfront cost of these things or even if they get them don't know/don't use them.
If you are already financially struggling (to the point of going to a food bank) then investing in something like an air fryer would be difficult, but I think you hit the nail on the head when mentioning that some people don't know how to use them (properly) I was put off buying the rice cooker after reading the reviews and began to think of it as just another kitchen gadget to clutter up the already cluttered kitchen. A colleague at work pointed out to me that some people just don't read the instructions properly which I think is the reason why some people have problems. The one problem I first had with the rice cooker is that the minimum portion it can cook is 2 portions of rice (and the cooked portions seem bigger than I might actually serve myself) However, I use what I need for the meal intended and then the rest either goes in the fridge or freezer for another day to just reheat - as these do not use as much gas or electricity than the original cooking, it works out cheaper in the long run. I have yet to be more adventurous with the rice cooker as it does more than cook rice and other grains (I particularly liked how the bulger wheat turned out) - one day I will cook that frittata!
Going back to air fryers - unless you have a large family, then the cheaper tower type for a single person (or couple) are affordable. When I got mine, I wasn't too sure how they worked so the one I got is very basic (that is, not digital but a simple temperature setting which seems to be permanently on 220oC and a wind down timer) just in case I didn't get on with it. I think if you go for the ones with fancy turntables and rotisseries, then it is a much higher investment than most people could afford. The one thing I did give a lot of thought to was the drawer capacity - the smallest ones are about 1.5 - 2 L size but I learned a long time ago that it is worth going for something a little bigger and the 4L size works out perfectly for me (it's not as though the entire 4L drawer is filled to the top but it's the area (rather than volume) which is the thing to look out for)
What I would like to see are cooking instructions of food packets to include air frying. Yes, whatever you can cook in a conventional or combi oven can be cooked in an air fryer but not everything turns out right because the temperature or timing is not the same. Also I noticed that the fish fingers not only cooked quickly but were lovely and crispy on the outside and moist inside but the battered fish portions didn't turn out so well (so back to cooking them in the combi oven but not a problem because I can cook the potato chips in the air fryer at the same time) And as for reheating sausage rolls - so quick and pastry lovely and crispy .... hmmmm, I'm making myself hungry with this post! Time for me to go and do my weekly shop I think.
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Mo »

Never shop when you are hungry. You'll spend more.
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Trev62
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Trev62 »

Obviously we are well behind the times here as I had to look up what an air fryer is!
Although we have a small electric portable oven with a gas and electric ring on top the oven has not been used for years.
We tend to live and cook outside here so have petchkas (wood stoves) one inside and another for use outdoors. In conjunction with them we also cook over an outdoor fire pit. Cooking is mainly done using cast iron pans, Dutch ovens, tagines, sach dishes (flat clay plates) and Bulgarian clay pots.
My favorite is Dutch oven cooking when used in the fire pit. You can make a cracking Kozunak bread in them also a lovely chilli but best of all with this style of cooking, if using the inside petchka it heats the room/house and doing the old fashioned thing of keeping a pot of water and a kettle on top of it there is constant hot water available.
We regularly go out and collect the dead wood from the surrounding lands and burn corn cobs from when we go gleaning along with eco blocks made from the sunflower stems after harvesting the heads for seeds.
Rather than progressing and modernizing we have regressed to earlier times.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

Mo wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 13:20 Never shop when you are hungry. You'll spend more.
True though in this case I really did only buy what I needed rather than fancied (and the sausage rolls came out of the "essential" section so not expensive)
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

Trev62 wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 20:59 Rather than progressing and modernizing we have regressed to earlier times
I am in 2 minds about going back to earlier methods - on the one hand, in the event of catastrophic failure of mains electric or gas, then it goes without saying that burning materials to heat up ovens / BBQ are better than nothing. But I'm also against it for one reason: burning generates fine particle matter which causes so many respiratory illnesses and air pollution (such as countries such as India where air pollution can get so bad). I hate it when people burn their garden rubbish at home or have BBQs - I spend my summers with the doors and windows closed because it impacts my lungs and causes asthma but feel unable to complain.
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by lancashire lass »

Going back to the original topic - I forgot to mention the Slow Cooker which I do use particularly in winter for stews and casseroles. However, I never use them as originally intended (put the slow cooker on a low heat in the morning and come home from work to a ready cooked meal) because the meals never turned out like they should (vegetables either not cooked or tasted bitter) Instead, the slow cooker has replaced the use of the big oven and I actually cook it on "high" but still works out cheaper than using the big oven.
My fave dinner is a "meat and potato" pie - I cook the meat and veg in the slow cooker then transfer to a dish and put a suet crust on top and finish off in the combi oven. And that's exactly what I'll be having this weekend)t'
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Spreckly »

Trev{rofwl}
LL, I didn't realise that my bread maker is not using three hours worth of electricity, thanks for pointing that out. I have a slow cooker, must be almost thirty five years old now. I could try it for a rice pudding.
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Re: Have you stopped using your oven?

Post by Trev62 »

lancashire lass wrote: 04 Mar 2023, 09:31 I am in 2 minds about going back to earlier methods - on the one hand, in the event of catastrophic failure of mains electric or gas, then it goes without saying that burning materials to heat up ovens / BBQ are better than nothing. .
We lived off grid when we moved to our new property and have renovated it so we have as many options (as feasible) available to us in the future when (if) things take a turn for the worse and the main energy grids go down. Power and water outages are the normal for us in Bulgaria.
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