I've been thinking along the lines of getting rid of our cooker, it's a normal twin oven with 4 ring ceramic hob, all electric as there's no gas here. I say twin oven....the top oven is pretty much just a grill, although it's marketed as a 2nd oven, it's not very efficient as an oven though. The bottom main oven is a fan one, which is pretty good. However, the bottom oven is very low to the ground and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to bend to get things in or out. And as husband keeps pointing out, using the oven takes a lot of electricity (he's very good at pinpointing where he thinks I could save electricity, although doesn't seem to do anything himself!! 😒😁).
I do use my Multichef cooker thing quite a bit.....it's not an air fryer or a pressure cooker, but does slow cooking, stews, roasting, sauteing (Spelling? that word doesn't look right!). It'll also bake a cake or bread apparently, but I've never tried that. I also use my microwave more now. Some of you may remember I bought an air fryer oven thing some while ago, it was like a mini fan oven. It was alright while it lasted...it just didn't last, it simply stopped working in the middle of cooking something, after just a month or so. I returned it and got my money back. It was fairly cheap, so I'm guessing it wasn't very good.
I'm seriously considering getting rid of the cooker altogether, and buying a good quality air fryer instead, one with dual baskets. I might also get a 2-ring ceramic electric hob. I've been looking at lots of air fryers online and reading reviews.....the Ninja one and a Lakeland one that looks very similar seem to have the best reviews. I want to actually see one for myself though, to see how big it is and, well, exactly what it looks like, so this morning we're going to visit the big electrical store in the town which has all their stuff out on display.
My main concern I suppose is that it kind of seems like we'll be having several electrical appliances (which is a consideration in a small kitchen) to do the work of one - i.e. the cooker. In a small kitchen, which mine is and probably will be in a future bungalow), there won't be an awful lot of worktop space, and I don't really want all the space taken up with appliances. I guess if we don't have the cooker, then we could have a small unit or worktop in that space on which to house the air fryer. I'd rather not have to keep putting the appliances away when not in use and then dragging them out again when I do need to use them.
What do you all think? Any advice or ideas would be appreciated.
My daughter moved into a new house and had to leave her c ooker in the rental property. She put her butchers block into the space and stores her pots in the bottom space and uses a portable gas two ring hob on top. They have an air fryer a slow cooker and a microwave that also bakes this was supposed to be temporary but works so well that she sees no need to change . They also cook almost everything from scratch.
ReplyDeleteWe had our Morphy Richards AF for 3 years, it was perfect, we called them to check if we could get it repaired, which they don't do, but they offered us a great discount for the new model, so we have our second AF, we don't use the oven, unless it's a family meal, or hubby is batch cooking.
ReplyDeleteWe have always used (twenty years+) Remoskas. Our main oven is only used when cooking for more than the two of us. A Remoska is an oven and anything a normal oven can do, a Remoska can too. I just wouldn't be without it. Lakeland is the best place to buy one because they give a three year guarantee. We have still got a standard which is fifteen years old. (We have got a Tria too). They save lots of money, especially now.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'd wait till the move and you know how big your new kitchen will be and how much worktop space you have. I know lots of people are saying the airfryers are cheaper to use but you do seem to make full use of your oven when you use it. Also see how fuel prices go as hopefully they will start to go down at some point.
ReplyDeleteI use microwave and a delightful little toaster oven that has bake, toast, air fry and convection…small. I have a real stove and prefer it when baking cookies, etc…also cooktop on it for certain items. I have really small kitchen …would keep stove…
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment by Hazel. The high fuel prices will go down, because the long-term purchase contracts made by the energy companies have gone down in price. It might be better to wait until you move, and then get something that works perfectly for you in your new kitchen. You never know, it might have built-in appliances that are in good order and will be left for you!
ReplyDeleteJane and Sooze. if there are any appliances left in a council property, they will be removed as the council will not be responsible for the safety of them, except for the gas fire(if there is one and ONLY if it was fitted by them). I found this out as a council tenant, when I went to view a house. The housing officer showing us around told us this. There was a lovely almost new cooker left by the previous occupant, which was in the skip outside when we moved in. They smashed it up so it couldn't be reused.
DeleteWe bought an air fryer last week. Used it 4 times, well should say tried to use it. Two out of those 4 times it kept switching off, bleeping, switching on again, over and over. Decided life's too short to mess about like that! We'll buy another, but do a bit more research. It was a 4 litre one, which seemed big enough for the two of us, and didn't take up too much space. If you don't really use your hob, you could just put a piece of worktop over and use the space for electrical appliances. Make sure the oven/hob is unplugged first! We use the microwave too, but mainly for defrosting, reheating rather than cooking. It's just a very basic one. xx
ReplyDeleteIt’s been interesting to read everyone’s replies. I only use my main oven for cooking a big roast if we have people round, and for the Christmas cake each year. Otherwise I manage with my microwave, air fryer and slow cooker.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use my hob a lot and the oven rarely. I use mostly my Remoska for things that would be baked, and the oven is only switched on when I know I will fill it, and then even on those occasions I usually think I could have managed without it.
ReplyDeleteWhy not cook as usual over the next few weeks and make a note of when the oven goes on and why, you should have a couple of months to be able to see how often you use your oven and what the alternative ways to make these meals might have been. Then hopefully by the time you move house your list ... and the layout of your new kitchen ... will determine what you should do for the best.
We live in a very small bungalow and our old free standing gas cooker died last Christmas. Hubby bought me a tower airfryer and a 2 hob electric table top as I did not want another gas cooker we have managed with this fine. I do agree that you may need to wait to see how much room you will have as you don't want to have too many electrical items. Best of luck for your house move im sure it won't be too long.
ReplyDeleteI have just bought a Lakeland double basket air fryer and it is HUGE! You also need to have a space to cook with it where you can leave 15cm around it so it takes up a lot of area, especially when it's on and needs the clearance around it. It's certainly useful to have two baskets and seems fairly robustly made, but I wouldn't trade my gas hob in for anything. Really good suggestions, especially to wait and see what space you have, and definitely visit a showroom and look at the size of the air fryers before buying.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking that all I really need to use my oven for is the occasional big roast, ham or turkey. If I purchased a double hot plate I could get rid of it all together. I have an air fryer, slow cooker, electric roaster, toaster oven, and instant pot... Using a smaller appliance does use less power.
ReplyDeleteThe powers that be are now saying that gas cookers are a problem in closed in areas, bringing up the pollution index in your home.
God bless.