In the Kitchen

So here we are. Following on from the frying pan. Yes there are many electric cooking aids available today. I did have a Multi Cook appliance. I gave it to my daughter. A good item for all sorts of foods.
In my kitchen. Since losing Val, I decided to sort things out and if possible to perhaps cut the fuel costs. The main cooker is electric ceramic hob, and a fan assisted oven. Great for a family but for one, too much waste and cost. So I bought myself a George Foreman griddle. Great for doing my sirloin and rump steaks on.

Also of course the microwave. Now I can produce a meal in seconds instead of hours. Agreed, extra skills can be learned such as browning off the joint etc. Then I have, perhaps the most used gadget. The halogen oven. This really replaces the main oven. Takes a while perhaps to udjust to times etc. Here I can cook basically anything. I love fish. Fish so often fills the flat with long lasting but unwanted smells. Using 'cook in the bags' much of this is dealt with. OK! we have to pay the price for all these odds & sods. Yes. Having made use of them. OK now sunshine, set to and do the washing up. NO. Mike hasn't got a dish washer.

Please friends. Please join in and support this thread. Think. We might grow veg etc. So let's know how you cook it and whatever else goes on in the kitchen.

 

In the summer I barbecue quite a bit and also use my Sunoven.

In winter, I go back to conventional methods. I do like my pressure cookers. They really cut down on time. I have a 4, 6 and 9 liter one. The 4 is perfect for "just me" times and then when I'm cooking for company, I use a larger one.

I do not own a deep fryer but use an air fryer when I want crisp "faux" fried foods.

I own too many things for my own good. They don't all fit in my kitchen cupboards (when I bought new drawer and cupboard doorknobs, I needed 48) so I have to store some down in the cellar where I have more cupboards.. I have tried to stop buying so many specialty use items and make current pots etc, do dual duty.

 

Great. C'mon folks join in. So. How do I boil and egg???? We are all here to share our wisdom.

 

@Mike Allen I believe it is quite late at night there. Perhaps you'll see more action on the sunny side

I've just finished the base for a strawberry custard ice cream and tomorrow morning the churning begins!

 

Very similar to Lori, we BBQ a lot too. We had our first one this year on January 1st!
:BBQ:
Now there is only the two of us we use the Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker and Rice Cooker ( which is brilliant for pasta) mainly and batch cook meals to be frozen. We have 2 main ovens but also have a smaller table top one too which is ideal for when just a couple of portions require oven cooking. We also have George Foreman griddle which is brilliant too.

On the subject of eggs. I cook them in the microwave ...using a small dish or even a saucer I pour a tiny amount of water in it and microwave it for 20 secs I then tip the water away and crack an egg into the warm dish and pierce the yolk , then cook for 10- 20 secs at a time until it's cooked to individual tastes. It comes out nice and flat just like a fried egg does......only without being fried

 

I have two soft boiled eggs every morning. I put them in a pot with warm water, then bring it to the boil. I have a three minute timer that I do use, but as soon as the boil starts, I push the toast down in the toaster and for some reason, the toast finishes almost exactly when the timer runs out. The protein sticks with me all morning and I've consumed no extra fats because the eggs are boiled and I don't butter my soldiers.

 

Great. Fantastic. Keep it going.

 

We think the same lori! If we want eggs to ' look' more boiled we have microwave lidded egg cups for cooking them in. The flat 'fried' look method is good between two slices of toast....like you...unbuttered. We do all we can to limit to use of additional fats where ever possible too.

 

We use a Phillips DryFryer, have done for years. Can do all sorts in it ... chips, lyonnaise potatoes, soups/stews, yesterday did meatloaf. Great for part-baked rolls, done in 3 minutes. Today will do the corned beef and onion pies in the oven but will freeze one then reheat in 'Phil' as we call him when needed. Phil has a small footprint which is great, although I have 15 feet of marble counter I don't like it bumper to bumper. Of course there is the obligatory kettle and toaster and T'other Half's espresso machine.



We use the microwave for poached eggs, chicken breasts and vegetables. Rarely use the oven. Gas hob for occasional frying. Oven is electric but hobs are typically 3 gas plus one electric which I have never used in nearly 20 years.

I have used an electric egg boiler for some 25 years.

 

We use both ovens when cooking for larger numbers. Both are large and one is also fan assisted too. I use to enjoy cooking back when the children lived at home, now I would rather spend time on other things. Now that hubs has finally retired he does most of the cooking, he had a natural gift and could easily match some top chefs!! Coming from the middle east the flavours he creates are amazing. Thankfully our three sons have inherited his great cooking skills too. None of us (even me!) use recipes, we either 'wing it' or create meals we've tasted/ enjoyed in the past. So I usually sit back now and let the men in my life spoil me!!

 

It's just the Teenager and me now so we batch cook and freeze a lot, it's so nice to have proper food on weekday nights and just do a veg side dish whilst a meat stew or lasagne is warming in the microwave.

Cooking is the main event of every night, that's when we spend the half an hour or hours over the weekend chopping together and talking. It's a natural way to spend time together and it's easy to talk when you are doing something rather than sitting down trying to make a conversation.

We cook very old fashionedly, gas stove and oven. Like Shiney, I love gas as it's so responsive and feels right. We use a lot of fat, mainly olive oil and butter, fatty pieces of meat (pork belly... mmmm... ) and various veg. Living in Italy convinced me on the importance of seasonal cooking, so at the moment it's very much cabbage-beetroot-potatoes-leeks and meat going on. We have a large kitchen but it doesn't have a radiator, which keeps my cacti happy I guess . Gas oven takes care of that quickly, we often just sit in front of the oven and chat when the food is cooking. Our gas bill is astronomical but I think it's a good investment

I'll take a look at the DryFryer and halogen oven, they sound useful. I'm not a big fan of gadgets, a good knife, chopping board and a bottle of olive oil is the start of a great dish to me but one must move on with times especially as I'm likely to be reduced to single household sooner rather than later and it doesn't make sense to heat the oven up for one.