Managing without a hob

Fusspot

Does anyone here not have a hob?

I have a mini oven which is brilliant but the hobs on it are very slow and almost useless so I just don't use them now.

I don't want to get a full size cooker as I won't use it to its full potential, that's why I got rid of the one I had before and replaced it with a mini oven.

I have a microwave and a slow cooker too.

I find it a bit limiting sometimes as I am unable to do stir fries or omelettes or boil eggs etc but this isn't food I eat a lot of of anyway.

I was thinking about getting a single induction hob. Any thoughts on this?

Rosemary7391

I'd sooner do without the slow cooker or microwave! (I actually don't have a microwave) But I really like stir fries, plus I often do a quick pasta "sauce" in a frying pan if I'm late from work.

thriftwizard

Different situation altogether, but I own a single induction hob, which started off being used in my business (acid-dyeing workshops, at that point) & is now kept for emergency use, though DS3 has taken & used it camping, with a hook-up. It's fine for the odd fry-up/stir-fry (provided you have a flat-bottomed wok) etc. & gives me some peace of mind if my beloved cooker should ever go on the blink - we'd cope!

Whitterbod

hello . i take soup to work just add packet to boiling water in my thermos two hours latter soup is done , there are a few sites with how to cook with a thermos flask , i have a range cooker but as its just me most of the time its the slow cooker at weekends and the microwave in the week

BrassicWoman

I'd replace your slow cooker with a multi cooker.

bouicca21

You can cook an omelette in the oven.

Captain_Bluebear

I don't have a traditional hob but wouldn't be without my counter top plug- in induction one. It's handy to put away when not in use and heats pans up really quickly.

I also have an instant pot (Tower version) that you can use to saute etc

phoebe1989seb

We survived without a hob from beginning of April to mid November - apart from a handful of weeks with a camping stove - after removing the range cooker with cracked hob that came with the house we bought as a repo in February.

From mid February to April we actually used the cracked hob despite the usual *do not use* signs We would have carried on doing so but needed to access the chimney breast where range was sited in order to fit a wood burner, then move kitchen permanently into a different room which involved lots of mucky building work/reconfiguring.

Anyway, we started off with no oven except a microwave and bought a two ring camping stove which was rubbish and lasted barely a couple of months. DH managed to lose the receipt so couldn't return it!

As the weather improved we began using the BBQ a lot which was great during the good summer....plus lots of salads etc.

We've never really used our microwave much but learned we could cook pasta and scrambled eggs in it, for example. Sadly it took way too long to cook potatoes for mashing and I hate ready meal mash. Other veg were fine though. Rice was bought in microwaveable sachets - not ideal but better than nothing.

During the autumn/early winter we bought a slow cooker - we had one years ago but sold it as it got virtually no use - and made loads of stews, curries, chilli etc - and in November a two ring electric hob which made such a difference as we could finally cook several things at once.

We did celebrate when our new range cooker that had been in storage since last January was eventually fitted and we could cook *properly* again.

To sum up, we survived without one ok and learned to be more inventive - there's only the two of us - but wouldn't want to manage permanently with no hob.....

MandM90

I second the idea of a multicooker. You could definitely do eggs etc in it. The Instant Pot one gets very hot very fast and isn't a great slow cooker in my experience, but am sure there will be better brands around.

K80_Black

You can do soft or hard boiled eggs in a kettle. Used this trick whilst living in a hotel for a few weeks. It was a kettle without an element, which I think helped stop the eggs bashing into it and cracking. Did some tortellini in it too!

charlotte1994

If you really wanted you can get an all in one egg cooker, they do poached eggs and boiled eggs! I used one when my hob went. It was alright. You could also get single camping gas cooker if you every really need a hob for some reason!