Delia Smith...tut tut tut!!

black-saturn

I've got an egg boiler in a cupboard somewhere. You put eggs in a kind of hanger inside it and water in the bottom and it steams them. It was a novelty the first couple of times I used it but then I realised it was quicker to do them in a saucepan.

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

Holsale can you enlighten me about toaster ovens?Are they a useless gadget too?

i wouldn't bother unless you lived in a dorm room or a bedsit without a decent sized oven

they are rather antiquated these days to be honest

a grill is faster and you can't properly bake something in one


one thing i do have that i love and most people probably wouldn't bother with is a george forman rotisserie grill!

i got this about 4 months ago and it's the bees knees :T

it comes with a thing with two heavy guauge like skewers for roasts or you can use the 4 smaller skewers it came with for shish kebab etc and it has a basket for pork chops, chicken wings etc

rotisserie meat is gorgeous, just think of those suculent chickens you get at the grab and go counters

you can't cook a roast in your gf grill and whilst you can do it in your oven i could never get meat this juicy AND have it have all the excess grease drip off into a little pan in the bottom.

i make my own bbq sauce and i marinate skinned chicken wings in it (i don't remove the skin, my halal butcher kindly does it for me) then i cook those in the basket, just as good or better than any restaurant bought variety

i did our christmas goose in it this year mmmmmmmmm

we don't have a joint that often so i usually use the basket. if i've marinated the meat i'll cook it in the rotiserrie, otherwise i just use the gf grill for chops

chickens though, they're may favourite in it, i haven't tried marinated veg yet but i think that would come out quite nicely too

thriftlady_2

Sorry Holsale what I meant was 'what is a toaster oven? They seem to get mentioned on US TV programmes and in The TG.Are they like a Baby Belling?I don't want one,just curious about them.

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

Sorry Holsale what I meant was 'what is a toaster oven? They seem to get mentioned on US TV programmes and in The TG.Are they like a Baby Belling?I don't want one,just curious about them.

that's a new type of toaster oven

appearantly the new ones have convection ovens in them (this model does) the ones i'm familiar with didn't but they look like the image above

personally i don't see what one of these would have over a microwave or a regular oven with convection to be honest and i don't like cooking with convection ovens myself, they seem to be so hit and miss!

i really can't see the point accept perhaps in a caravan or a dorm room...

raeble

Sarahsaver wrote:

If a slow cooker is the equivalent of leaving a lightbulb switched on surely it must be cheaper than having the oven on?
Each to their own eh?

Why would you be having the oven on instead of a slow cooker? Most things I see people talking about appear to be things you'd cook on the hob. Are you using these things to bake fruit cakes or something? :huh:

I can see if you are using all four hobs you might be saving some energy if you use a slow cooker instead but I can't see how you are going to be saving anything if you were only going to use one pot for 45 minutes on the hob or less if you had a pressure cooker.

sashacat

I'm a recent convert to a slow cooker and I think it is great and totally different to a large saucepan left on a low hob. It is safe to leave it on all day, it is cheaper, and Delia is talking rubbish!
I also use my pressure cooker a lot too.

Sarahsaver

raeble wrote:

Why would you be having the oven on instead of a slow cooker? Most things I see people talking about appear to be things you'd cook on the hob. Are you using these things to bake fruit cakes or something? :huh:

I can see if you are using all four hobs you might be saving some energy if you use a slow cooker instead but I can't see how you are going to be saving anything if you were only going to use one pot for 45 minutes on the hob or less if you had a pressure cooker.

No because if I did not have a SC i would not do a casserole or a roast on the hob. An oven offers indirect heat to the dish whereas a hob is direct hence you get more risk of sticking and burning. Any stew that only took 45 minutes to cook IMHO would not be worth eating;)

maryb

I bought a slow cooker after everyone on this forum raved about it but on balance I would go for a pressure cooker.

Now the breadmaker really is an essential - gets used at least every other day, and every day in the school holidays

KatrinaC_2

raeble wrote:

Why would you be having the oven on instead of a slow cooker? Most things I see people talking about appear to be things you'd cook on the hob. Are you using these things to bake fruit cakes or something? :huh:

No, but I do cook joints of brisket and whole chickens in it! I've never managed that on the hob and had it turn out edible.

Kat

Queenie

There's an old style wisdom of using an oven that seems to have been overlooked during this thread.

To use an oven efficiently no self respecting cook would only put one item to cook in the oven. All 3 shelves would be utilised and the foods/menu planned accordingly. Hotpots, roasts, braised meats, meatloaves, jacket potatoes, roasted veggies would be accompanied by slower cooked puddings such as rice pudding and egg custards and fruit cakes.
Not so possible to cook a casserole, rice pudding and fruit cake in a slow cooker all at once , and yorkshire pudding isn't an option

I use my slow cooker regularly during the summer, because it would be unbearably hot to use the oven; the BBQ, while wonderful, isn't economical unless cooking for larger numbers.
In the colder months, I use the oven because it also heats up the kitchen (North facing, no sun) and means I can keep the thermostat down on the CH.

My kitchen is only 9ft x 7ft (3 doors!) so space really is an issue.

SnowyOwl wrote:

.... Hence my surprise at Delia not being a fan of slow cookers

Based on what I've read, I'm not sure it's accurate to say she isn't a fan of SC's In the context of the original quote, it was regarding the issue of "space"? In which case, I do agree with her. If space is at a premium, a SC isn't an essential. SC = cooking 1 dish at a time. Cooker = multifunctional.

SnowyOwl wrote:

]- they are so useful for people who don't have time to prepare a stew or whatever when they get in after an entire day out.

From the link raeble posted, Delia agrees

sarahsaver - I'm curious to understand your reasoning; you say you wouldn't feel safe leaving your gas oven on low while you are out. Do you have gas central heating? Do you leave that on while you are out? Do you feel that leaving anything electrical on (ie: SC) while you are out is safer than gas?

KatrinaC - :shhh: I've successfully cooked brisket and a whole chicken on the hob ... when I've made a pot roast :silenced:

Personally, if taken in context, I don't think Delia is talking "rubbish"; merely expressing her professional and personal opinion.

I'll merrily interchange oven, hob and SC cookery depending on needs, climate, recipe, time, budget, space etc..
If I had to choose between a SC or a microwave or a traditional cooker ... :think: ... traditional cooker gets my vote.