General Chat

When there's just the two of us we use a Remoska, a mini pan style 'oven', but they are expensive. Ours was a secondhand gift. It will cook a complete meal, veg in the bottom, meat or fish on the top. It stands on the back of the hob out of the way.
When we refurbish the kitchen, we are having only a 2 ring hob, as we never use more than 2 rings, and have other means of cooking, microwave, grill etc. We seldom use our main oven, except when the family all descend on us.

Thank you, Jo. I found that out from their website - I don't get emails from them as I usually buy stuff in the local store.

Most of our junk emails are from Amazon - daily!! :-| :-| :-|

I have been investigating halogen ovens, as some posters on here have said how good they are. I didn't know anything about them, but they look a definite possibility, and all reasonably priced.

Andysmum

If you are a regular customer of Argos you may have received an email informing you that at the moment they are offering a 33% discount on microwave ovens, if not , and you are still looking, maybe this will be of help to you.

Jo

Thank you all very much - there is lots for me to think about and some suggestions are very interesting and unusual.

There are lots of things you can do on the hob of your oven and make life easier for yourself. I have a wok and cook loads of things in it. lovely big vegetable omelettes which I brown under the grill, you can use two hands to hold the handle if necessary. I make a lot of stir fries and cook chunks of pork loin steaks or chops in it first and then add the veg. You can use those packets of rice by Tilda or suprtmarket versions which you cook in the microwave for two minutes. Pasta on the hob with grilled sausages from your oven or cooked under the grill and stirfried veg and cheese sauce (granules with a big dollop of soft cheese with garlic and herbs is good) and you could think of lots more hob recipes I am sure.

The microwave isn't just for frozen meals - they're so much more use than that. I have just 'stewed' some rhubarb and pears (separately) for crumble or with custard in the microwave, takes just a few minutes. Have a look on line for microwave recipes and see what takes your fancy. You could have fun trying different things and save yourself the cost of buying a new appliance.

Of course the slow cookers are great too, and they cook more than just stews and such.

Good luck

Lizx

So many choices these days. Years ago I used to have a combi oven and loved it, I also thought of getting another one in my last van as it only had a table top oven (like a baby belling) which packed up. Instead I just bought another table top oven which is now upstairs in the flat (no low oven there).
I would love an halogen oven and have very good reports on them from people who have them.
My slow cooker is a must and I do "roast" chickens and joints in them. They are no good for making yorkies though and you can´t do roast spuds or a full "roast" dinner in one.

Lots of choices for you to think about.

I can cook slow casseroles and stews in my Sharp oven (see above). The covection oven setting starts at 40c - you can even warm plates with it!

We did have a combi but only ever used the microwave, couldn't get used to the proper oven part.

I cook chicken pieces in my slow cooker and occasionally then use the ordinary oven to roast veg which is not heavy to lift out if only for two.

we have a "Cassetta" by Hotpoint, a combi oven 850w "E" (which is a bit long in the tooth now)

sadly it's underused as it is capable of oven/grill/microwave, or just microwave and fan

but we just use it for defrosting, heating soups/sauces/veg/pies/canned stuff.......main meals are done in a gas oven....

We use a halogen oven, except when I want to cook something larger.

We also have two ( ! ) microwave ovens (one was my mum's). They are used every day, especially for cooking vegetables.

The combo ovens sound very practical.... if you have enough bench space.

Looks as though the enthusists have Combi ovens.

The "cheaper" ones are supposed to be able to cook a stew/casserole and roast a chicken, but so far no-one has agreed with this.

Most of the time I am cooking for 2, and I try not to have a lot of leftovers, so chicken pieces, pork/lamb chops, small joint etc.

If I have visitors, I can always use the gas oven with some help lifting things out.

We have a microwave combo ( c £200) which is used several times a day but regularly use the smaller electric oven on our gas/electric range cooker as well. We find the microwave's defroster option particularly useful too.

The cheaper £60 models are what we call pie warmers. Will warm up a ready meal or a few veggies, but little else.

A lot depends on what it is you normally cook and in what size servings, so without knowing that it is difficult to give an answer.

I have a Sharp Combination oven. It's a really large one, and cooks as a microwave, a combination one, a conventional one and a grill. It's very versatile, and it's size means that it can take the place of a conventional oven. It costs around £200 or less

It's Sharp, model R-959M-A , and is 900W

I love mine! :-D :-D

Your welcome Andysmum,

Have deleted my link now as it showed my account details !

Jo :-)

Thankyou Jo.

I have just read all the reviews - a very mixed lot! Seems you either love it or hate it. :-S

Well no, they don't roast of course.

Ann - yes, I have had a slow cooker in the past, but they don't do everything an oven does -- or do they, these days?

OFITG - there was a thread not long ago about halogen ovens - I think they had some negatives?

Thanks for replying so promptly.

I use a Halogen Oven for most of what I used to cook in my ordinary oven - Google Halogen Ovens or checkout in Argos :-)

Have you thought of a slow cooker for casseroles and other dishes. Wouldn't be without mine.

I have always cooked on a full-sized stove (gas) and have only used a microwave on holiday, occasionally.

I don't buy ready-meals or much frozen stuff, so have never felt the need to have one.

BUT - I am finding it more difficult to bend down to lift heavy dishes out of the oven, and even have to ask OH for help, so the time has come to think about alternatives.

My first thought was a separate, tabletop oven, but there are various rules about siting them and they need proper wiring in. The relevant socket is behind my existing cooker, so would need moving so that the new oven could be on a work surface. Major, expensive, electrical work! :-( :-(

So I thought a microwave might be OK. There are lots in the Argos Catalogue (used for info.) and they seem to fall into 3 groups.

Standard - all around £60 - £70, mostly 800 watts and capacity 20 litres.

Standard plus a grill - similar price etc.

A Combi - which is a lot more expensive and is apparently more like a normal, fan oven.

I can continue to use the hobs and grill on my existing cooker, so I am looking for something that I can use for casseroles, roasting meat/potatoes and perhaps puddings. I have read that the standard microwave can do all this. :-) :-)

So, please, any comments/suggestions from users about type or make will be much appreciated.