Halogen Ovens - worth the hype?

Mrs_Bucket

Am moving house soon and am thinking of getting a halogen oven to tide me over until such time as I get a new oven (grrrr - only a gas one in the new place!)
I like the idea of these halogen ovens and wondered whether you can replace the bulbs if/when they blow? If you can't replace them then it seems a shame and a waste of money......
Thanks for your input!

InaPickle

My mum has one and it's like having a UFO going off in the corner as the light they emit is BRIGHT and goes around and around and around and...

TBH I wouldn't waste my money. Use the gas oven until you get a new (electric?) one installed as at least you won't need to wear sunglasses while using it!

Mrs_Bucket

Thanks pickle, hope you are the Branston variety.
Interesting comment about the UFOs.......suffer from migraines so maybe not a good idea..........

InaPickle

Mrs_Bucket wrote: »

Thanks pickle, hope you are the Branston variety.
Interesting comment about the UFOs.......suffer from migraines so maybe not a good idea..........

Yup!

:rotfl:It's one thing you don't see on the adverts, that's for sure!

My mum was dying to get one of those last Christmas after seeing them advertised on TV all the time, and we stayed in a small cottage last Christmas and she used hers (a Christmas present) to heat up some food while we were watching TV with the lights off, all snuggled up, in the dark, and it was like having a wierd angel's halo going off in the corner. My brother and I just looked at each other and told mum that if we could get it on the roof people walking by would think it was a UFO! :rotfl:

Mrs_Bucket

Yes, just read the review by the Daily Mail from last year. It would appear that one particular model has the UFO effect or am I wrong? Still debating on one of these or a double boiling ring (plus microwave) to tide me over until I get an oven sorted in the new house. From the reviews, it would appear that the WHOLE LID needs to be replaced if/when the bulb blows. Does anyone know how much these cost? Can you boil rice and pasta in them? I'm not interested in briskets of beef or chicken cooking times - I'm a vegetarian and wondered how MY food basics cook? Any help out there?
Mrs B

Lily-Lu

Great idea :T....Shame about the quality

I bought my first one over a year ago. Cooked all sorts in it. Easy to use, quicker cooking time, easy to wash, saved money on electric due to using that instead of the cooker oven. I loved it....5 weeks later....bulb goes
A few months later, I decided to try a different named brand. 8 months down the line, bulb goes again.

So, although I really like them, and it was one of my most used pieces of kitchen equipment, they're not money saving in the slightest. And I won't be buying another, sadly.

Slinky_Malinky

I have one and find it very useful - there is only me and my son to cook for so it saves heating up the whole oven. I mostly use mine for meat, fish or potato wedges/baked potatoes...ideal for food that you want to be brown/crispy IYSWIM. I don`t think it is the right tool for the job if you want to cook rice and pasta. I have googled lots about the halogen ovens and a new bulb from JML apparently costs a tenner.

As a veggie, especially if you eat beans/pulses etc then maybe a pressure cooker would be a better investment. If so I`d highly recommend Kuhn Rikon as a good brand.

Mrs_Bucket

Lily-Lu wrote: »

Great idea :T....Shame about the quality

I bought my first one over a year ago. Cooked all sorts in it. Easy to use, quicker cooking time, easy to wash, saved money on electric due to using that instead of the cooker oven. I loved it....5 weeks later....bulb goes
A few months later, I decided to try a different named brand. 8 months down the line, bulb goes again.

So, although I really like them, and it was one of my most used pieces of kitchen equipment, they're not money saving in the slightest. And I won't be buying another, sadly.

Did you ever try it for pasta or rice? The ads do state that they can be used for boiling........but Slinky Minky thinks they are not so good for that?

Mrs_Bucket

Slinky_Malinky wrote: »

I have one and find it very useful - there is only me and my son to cook for so it saves heating up the whole oven. I mostly use mine for meat, fish or potato wedges/baked potatoes...ideal for food that you want to be brown/crispy IYSWIM. I don`t think it is the right tool for the job if you want to cook rice and pasta. I have googled lots about the halogen ovens and a new bulb from JML apparently costs a tenner.

As a veggie, especially if you eat beans/pulses etc then maybe a pressure cooker would be a better investment. If so I`d highly recommend Kuhn Rikon as a good brand.

what brand do you have? I was thinking of the something James one...(can't remember but on Amazon!) Have you tried Jkt Spuds in yours......?

Mrs_Bucket

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/standard-remoska!REG-electric-cooker/F/C/pots-pans-remoska/product/2511

OK
halogen - V- remouska

Three times the price......but worth it???

Slinky_Malinky

I have two halogen ovens

I have a larger Nu Wave oven that I have been using for around a year. A couple of weeks ago I bought a smaller 7 litre Prolectrix halogen oven (lighter and easier to use following my hysterectomy - the Nu Wave has a large dome that has to be lifted on and off compared to the Prolectrix that just has a much smaller glass lid to lift off)

Jacket spuds - I always give them a few minutes in the microwave then finish them off the HO to crisp the skin and they turn out yummy. Potato wedges the same. I have cooked chicken breast and chops in the HO, plus my son loves his fish fingers, chicken bites, waffles etc. cooked in there.

You may be able to use the halogen oven for rice or pasta - I have never tried - but I suspect it could take a very long time to cook and hence not work out very energy efficient.

I also have a Remoska Grand size - the only thing I cook in it is whole chicken once in a blue moon.

Another gadget you could consider is a slow cooker. I think all the various gadgets have certain types of food that cook best. Depends what sort of meals you like to eat as to which thing could suit your needs best.

Slinky ( feeling rather embarrassed that this reply has outed the level of excess kitchen gadgetry I possess...)