Preparing for Winter V

PipneyJane

YorksLass said:

Good thinking cuddlymarm - any advanced prep we do can only be a good thing and, in the current economic climate, we probably need to be even more prepared than normal.

Like Pip, I have a one out/one in system but will own up to a bigger store of regularly used items such as tinned tomatoes, various kinds of beans, bread flour etc and stock up on these when they're on promotion or clearance.  It's something I've always done and I was very glad of my stores when lock down came along.

I have a SC and an air fryer that get used often and a MW that's used occasionally but now I'm on the look out for a counter top oven.  There's only the two of us and I think that would work better for us and be more economical than the big oven.  We have gas for heating and hot water but everything else is electric, so another thing on my wish list is a camping stove so we can at least boil water for a cuppa if we have power cuts.  If all else fails, I could always heat water in a pan over a tray of tea lights!

@YorksLass buy a combi-microwave-convection oven and ditch your regular microwave.  When I bought mine, 22 years ago, my DH queried why we’d need it since we had a brand new dual-fuel stove (electric ovens gas hob).  Three years later, we moved into a house which didn’t have the necessary wiring in the kitchen to run an electric oven.  That combi-oven was my only oven for seven years and is still my primary oven.  Until WFH through Lockdown, I rarely used it as a microwave.  I never use it “in combination” and rarely as a grill.  I use it as an electric fan oven.  It happily takes my large cast-iron cooking pot.  (26cm wide and holds 5.5 litres.). It’ll take a large chicken and accompanying veg.  The largest thing I’ve ever roasted in it is a duck, stuffed, at Christmas.

Why is it still my primary oven?  Pre-smart-meter, the energy company installed a fake one which would tell us how much energy we were using at any given moment.  The ovens on the stove used 4.2 units while the combi-oven used 2.9.

The only downside is that it is not designed to have more than one layer of stuff in it. You can’t layer pizzas in it, using the risers for the grill to keep them separate, because the one on the bottom won’t cook.  The element is in the top.

HTH.

- Pip




PS:  I buy my tinned tomatoes in the convenient 24-can shrink wrapped pack, when they’re on offer.  When I start using the bottom 12 cans, I’ll start looking for another offer.  Doing it this way, for years I paid 25p a can for chopped tomatoes while the regular price was around 40p.  This year, I’ve paid 33p.

PipneyJane

MingVase said:

I'm doing double thickness soles, adding a strand of kidsilk on there. Always do socks that way, makes them cosier.

How @MingVase?  Is the entire foot double thickness?  I knit my socks in the round so can’t envisage how you would do a double thick sole that way without involving the upper foot.

TIA.

- Pip

MingVase

Started doing them on 2 needles Pip, and sewing them along the sides. I'm now doing slipper socks with 4 x strands of 4-ply and they are soo soft, it's worth the hassle of sewing them up.

PipneyJane

MingVase said:

Started doing them on 2 needles Pip, and sewing them along the sides. I'm now doing slipper socks with 4 x strands of 4-ply and they are soo soft, it's worth the hassle of sewing them up.

Thanks for explaining, @MingVase.  I may try that when/if I ever have some leftover kid-silk.  (I have some French “fluff” bought years ago from the farm-owner at a market that will need to be turned into something.  Current choice is a scarf or shawl. There isn’t enough for a garment.)

- Pip

Wraithlady

Alternatively, when moving from 2 to 4 needles, mark one side (which is now on 2 needles) with stitch markers or scrap wool or something then it will be 2 needles of double-wool, 2 of single - you may need to cut off the 'extra' wool at the end of the 2 needles, and add it in again when it comes round to the beginning of the double wool needles (if that makes sense)

wort

Another who uses combi microwave in the same way as @PipneyJane. I live alone so only need a small oven space, so use as my main oven. Mine has a rack so I can cook 2 layers but as said it won’t brown the underneath one.

Laura_Elsewhere

I have a trusty old Remoska tabletop oven which must be well over ten years old now - after reading scare stories of shorting, I don't use it for soups or stocks (actually I never really did) but it is exceptionally good for doing rolls, small loaves, fairy cakes, jam tarts, etc., in. 
I'd stopped using it in recent years, for a range of minor reasons, but am about to reinstate it - it's nice having freshly-baked granary rolls at lunchtime, especially this time of year when it's too mild for soup but still nice to have something warm. 

I've looked at replacements, and the new Remoskas, but they are a LOT less useful in a range of ways. I have a deep pan and shallow pan for the Remoska, the lift-out ones, and it's all just so useful in lots of ways that the others I've seen are not. 

We use our microwave a lot, partly because we have a considerable part of our little freezer filled with home-made ready-meals just needing pinged for a complete hot meal... 

YorksLass

Thanks Pip for your insights into combi ovens.  One of those would fit nicely into the space currently occupied by the MW so I wouldn't lose any worktop space (it's a small kitchen).  I'm still thinking on it but can see why you like yours so much.  Thanks again.

The last time I tried to order a 24 can pack of tinned tomatoes I got individual tins instead. Doh.  Tbf, they charged me the same price as the large pack so I didn't lose out!  

MingVase

My Remoska wasnt used much so I gave it to a DIL. I need gas for cooking. But I think that's a good idea to go back to using them instead of the oven.

leftatthetrafficlights

Long time since I've been on this thread but I'm thinking more about making sure I'm ready for the winter with everything that's going on! 

My thoughts so far: 

FOOD - I have a very healthy storecupboard but will do another inventory so that I can get a list of regularly used items and stock up when they are on offer. We have a veg patch and are finally into the groove with it so fresh veg should be available all year even if its limited in variety during the winter. I have a dehydrator so can preserve summer veg and cheap fruit for the winter months. I make jams/chutneys/pickles. 

TO DO: I've heard a lot of people talk about 'canning' food - need to investigate this as I'm concerned about relying too heavily on freezer stuff incase of power outages. 

COOKING: I recently bought an instant pot duo airfry (airfryer, slow cooker, pressure cooker, steamer combo) so once I know what I'm doing I'll be able to reduce energy consumption considerably. If the electricity fails  I have a wood fired outside oven that I could use for most things. 

HEATING: I have an oil fired combi boiler (being replaced this year as old, inefficient and breaks at inopportune moments 🤦‍♀️) but also have open fires so if the SHTF, we'll still have some heat in the house. I've just taken delivery of a load of logs. We have lots of blankets and hot water bottles too so should be okay! 

TO DO: Stock up on coal over the summer. 

LIGHTING: I have candles and battery powered torches along with wax to make more candles if needed. 

So still a bit to get done but I'm happy that I'm starting to cover it early! 😉