Living without a oven?

mirry

So last night my electric oven died & I wonder how much it would cost to have it fixed? Or would I be best buying a argos mini oven for £29?

I have a slow cooker, microwave, and the hob still works, do you think it will be possible to live without a oven for a long time?

I'm trying to think of meals for this week,
I can think of currys in slow cooker, fajitas, jacket potato in the microwave, fry up, egg on toast ???

moments_of_sanity

I have a 'big' double oven but it is very rarely used nowadays due to me buying a mini oven. It is worth looking around for a biggish one, our one is 29 litres but some of them are as small as 14 which is fine if there is just one of you but not adequate if you cook for more than that.

I used my 'big' oven on Sunday for the first time in about 4 months and that was because there were 4 of us for roast dinner. We manage perfectly well with the mini oven, slow cooker and microwave.

mirry

I will look at the different sizes. There's 4 of us and I tend to use the oven for making cakes, cooking a roast dinner and oven chips. I think a mini oven wouldn't be able to cook a whole chicken would it?

SailorSam

I've got a Combi microwave, i must have had it a couple of years now but it's only the last coulple of months i read the intructions and started to use the oven part.

moments_of_sanity

mirry wrote: »

I will look at the different sizes. There's 4 of us and I tend to use the oven for making cakes, cooking a roast dinner and oven chips. I think a mini oven wouldn't be able to cook a whole chicken would it?

I bought my mini oven second hand at a cost of £15 and it has a rotisserie function on it but some of the small ovens wouldn't fit a chicken in. Even though my mini oven has this facility, I always cook my meat in the slow cooker so maybe that might be another option?

WantToBeSE

A friend of mine doesn't have an oven. She uses a slow cooker, halogen oven and a 'sear and stew'.

Maitane

I have a gas oven which is a bit of a pain if I'm honest because it doesn't have a temperature dial and it takes ages to heat up so I don't use it unless I'm batch cooking enough dishes.

I'd certainly back anyone saying that a halogen oven would be a good idea. We've always had a halogen oven though and that's been brilliant - it cooks great chips and great roasties and our old one held a medium chicken. Our new one doesn't hold a whole chicken so we joint it and get our dinner quicker.

However if you still have a hob and a slow cooker, there are plenty of recipes out there that replace an oven with a slow cooker and you might be able to get away with it!

inkie

Our oven packed in last year, and rather than replace it straight away, I took it as a bit of personal challenge to see how long it was before we missed it. We got a mini oven, a slow cooker, Forman grill, microwave, and of course the hob and managed perfectly well. the only thing that I couldn't do was big batch cooking, and baking (but didn't do a lot of that anyway). I think tou'd be surprised as to how well you could manage without it.

Our dishwasher packed in this week, and I am seeing how long I can manage without replacing it...

kboss2010

I lived without an oven for a year at uni. Can't say it was great TBH but you can do it. The biggest thing is that you won't be able to bake. You could make most casseroles and lasagna/pasta bakes in a slow cooker I suppose and, when using the hob for cooking, a wok and stir frys are your friend.

kazwookie

My extended family else where in the world don't have an oven, but do use a wok a lot for cooking.

The house I stay in there I go out there does have an oven and it is only used once a year when I cook Christmas dinner, it gets cleaned after wards, and turned off at the wall, till I get there the next year.

Over here I have 2 ovens, small and large, I never use the large one, and only use the small one about 2 per week.

sams247

We had a year without an oven, relied on a slow cooker and a halogen oven, got quite used to it and even now rarely use the main oven