Does anyone use a mini oven?

thriftwizard

I have a mini-oven as well as two electric ovens in my main cooker. I'm not a fan of microwaves (for reasons that'd probably seem daft to most) so when ours broke, I wasn't going to replace it. But we've had DS2 & his ladyfriend staying here for a "couple of months" - two and a half years, actually - and they will whack on the big oven just to do a plate of chips or a pizza, so a mini-oven seemed like a good investment & use of the space. And indeed it has been; I can't comment on the electricity bill, as they'll also try to use the little emergencies-only tumble-drier to dry full 10.5Kg loads of washing, but at least I can produce meals for the rest of us on time, not have to wait for the use of my cooker!

It's actually really good for cakes, scones and the like, if you're just doing a small batch; heats up in a couple of minutes. It's not quite big enough to do a full loaf of bread inside a cast-iron casserole - my preferred method - although a loaf tin would fit. The smaller oven on my cooker isn't that much of an energy hog & I can cook a full meal for seven in that, which I certainly couldn't in the mini-oven. However it's an odd shape, tall & narrow, so only certain dishes fit into it & the mini-oven is a more "normal" shape. I'm trying to persuade my 90 y.o. mother to buy herself one, as her main oven is hopeless; looks great but is burning hot in one place and far too cool everywhere else, but it's only ever used when we're cooking for her as cooking is NOT her favourite thing!

For us, it's been a great success & I'd recommend it without hesitation. I'm not a fan of kitchen gadgets by & large, having found that most of them make as much work as they save, with a couple of honourable exceptions, but the mini-oven is one I will certainly hang onto.

FrugalinShropshire

We had a mini oven for 2.5 years in this house before we started the new kitchen and I cooked on that and a camping gas stove for 4 adults, it took a lot of planning but we managed. Now after a year I still can not get use to the fact I have 2 huge ovens and 5 gas burners. It was worth the trouble to be able to save up and buy the oven we wanted:T