Cooking with no cooker. Can it be done?

[PersonaNonGarter]

Woke up to a house full of smoke. Our much-hated aga has finally died.

We are getting a new set of units in a few months time with built in oven (I can’t speed the process up).

How do a family of four get to February with no cooker? Should I buy a BBQ?!

We didn't have a kitchen for a while and used a slow cooker and a George Foreman grill

Was it enough?

February is an awful long time. I'd be tempted to buy a cheap electric one and plug it in somewhere even if it's in the way.

Have you got/ could you get a microwave? I think between that, a slow cooker & a grill you could probably do ok although it will get irritating pretty quick.

Halogen oven for £30ish will enable you to do a lot of stuff

Or if you have the money something like this www.robertdyas.co.uk/tower-t14013-28l-mini-electric-oven-with-twin-hotplates?istCompanyId=bf3344d9-83f5-4abd-b69a-da131f7567d1&istItemId=xaxrqmmrma&istBid=tzxx&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4beBRDNARIsAGZaZ5dnislVnHObDI3vL6H3CNCAitcPAkFvcsJfxhC1QMxMLFPR2nnYLNAaAkoUEALw_wcB

Microwave and a camping stove? But can you really live on jacket potato and bolognaise and other stove top meals for that long? Maybe get one of these to tide you over

www.argos.co.uk/product/7249527?storeID=675&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157%7Cacid:480-316-7430%7Ccid:337401273%7Cagid:26938256793%7Ctid:aud-484139255741:pla-340310213458%7Ccrid:84385958673%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:8284355059717180132%7Cdvc:t%7Cadp:1o1%7Cmt:%7Cloc:9045255&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1-Cy6IeD3gIVzp3tCh3oEgtZEAQYASABEgIMkfD_BwE

I had a few months without a cooker and it was hard work. We had a microwave, a streamer and a toaster. It got to Christmas and I went out and bought an oven. Can you buy a basic model to last till February?

I am already irritated but it’s been coming for a while.

DH despises the aga even more than me (he has spent fruitless hours trying to sort it). Now our kitchen is also freezing as the aga provided the heat. It is going to be a bit of a crap winter at our house .

Does anyone know about Remoskas?

It was okay but it was only me and DH. It did get pretty repetitive though.
We had family near by so would go there for a proper roast on the weekends

You can get a cheap, basic cooker for about £170 on Amazon. It has an oven, 4 rings and a grill. Otherwise you’ll be struggling to cook your Xmas turkey in a microwave!
Other options are a wee camping stove, spending a fortune on carryouts and restaurants, or begging friends and neighbours for use of their cookers.

We're having the kitchen ripped out so will be without cooker/oven for a couple of weeks. We've borrowed a little two ring portable hob which plugs in anywhere. Kettle, microwave, sandwich maker.

I think getting to February is going to be tough though.

Are Baby Belling ovens still sold? You might be able to pick one up on gumtree.

Slow cooker?

We have a campervan which we can use as a tiny home in unusual circumstances. I really dont know how i would manage for soo long

Thanks for all the replies.

The mini oven looks very mini for all of us but I don’t really know what 2ltrs looks like. The Robert Dyas one looks more like the size but DH says the Amazon reviews are bad.

I am hoping to justify getting a hostess trolley out of this. I’ve decided I need to Be More Gran if I have hardly any cooking facilities.

Instant Pot would help and you can buy cheap electric hobs on amazon. Do you have a gas barbecue? I too have an Aga only which is off during summer. It is difficult. How will you manage at Christmas? Can't an engineer sort it?

I have managed without real cooking facilities for a long time but I certainly wouldn't choose to.

Dual electric induction hob would probably be my first purchase if I could afford it.

You can cook a lot of stuff in a microwave but it's hugely more effort than on a hob - it's frustrating, you have to keep an eye on everything much more and everything like rice and pasta is much more likely to boil over.

I’d buy a cheap cooker to last the few months - you may be able buy second hand or sell on

When will you get a new boiler to replace the aga. Our boiler broke for 48 hours last winter. The house was freezing. Wouldn’t want to spend a whole winter without it.

Have a look on Facebook market place or eBay for a second hand electric one to tide you over

I did have a Remoska for a few years. You can roast in it, do nice baked potatoes. The heat is from the element in the lid so quite heavy to use. They are really popular with caravanners because so versatile. The one thing in my own kitchen which I use every day is my Magimix steamer. It is honestly the best thing I've ever bought. It is all stainless layers, and so useful. I tend to load it up with massive amounts of stuff. Eg double quantities of new potatoes on bottom layer, top layer has a bowl of rice and space to add green veg at the last minute. While it's on I can cook salmon steaks in foil and some eggs for making a few days' sandwiches. Being just 2 of us at home I like to do extra salmon parcels to freeze, really useful defrosted for salad. Looking at the instruction book it is possible to steam a whole chicken in it, if you need to!

I'd go for an instant pot (or clone) and a microwave. The instant pot will let you do pretty much anything you can do on a hob plus steaming, slow cooking and pressure cooking. You'll still be able to make good use of both when you get your cooker so not money wasted like getting a cheap cooker or tabletop hotplate would be.

To clarify, vomination microwave so you have oven and grilling facilities. We hardly use the main oven and grill nowadays as the combo microwave comes to temperature so much quicker.

Combination not vomination. Liking that new word though - a contraction of vomit and abomination I guess.

Halogen oven - Andrew James on Amazon is my favourite brand. You can grill and roast in there. Or even boil and slow cook at a push.

Induction hob - plug in.

Ask around your friends - I have both of these for camping and would happily lend them and my combo microwave to a friend.