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As for an oven being "prone" to breaking, I have a gas stove with four top burners, an oven and a bottom broiler. I purchased it in 1969 and there were five children and a hubs to feed. I used it most days in the Winters and a couple of times a week in the Summers. We moved and we took it with us in 1975. The house we moved into had an electric stove (which we removed) but fortunately, it also had a gas hook-up already installed.
In 2013, just before Christmas, the door to the oven broke. It didn't actually break but it became disattached (?) from the spring that held it in place. I didn't have an oven for a year until my son figured out how to fix it just before Christmas 2014. I've baked 9 batches of cookies. I cook my bacon in the oven. Roast chicken. Meat loaf. Baked bread.
Being without the oven for a year, I got out of the habit of making anything that required it and I'm still getting used to having it back.
BTW: My toaster oven is not an acceptable substitute. YMMV
Funny - we are current renovating our home and the kitchen will have TWO ovens... One gas and one electric... Yes, we cook a lot, entertain, etc. We do not have kids. We eat out a lot as well but the kitchen gets good use! When we entertain or are at friends, a lot of time is spent in the kitchen.
Why are you thinking of an oven as separate from a stove/range? All of mine have been standalone stoves with ovens.
Home ranges with ovens aren't "huge."
There are a lot of fine standalone ranges that cost less than $1,000, esp if you get one on a good sale. You can get a decent one without bells and whistles for about $400-$500. A nice one for about $700.
If you ever sell the house, you'll need a range or oven, or factor in the cost of the buyer putting one in....if they want to mess with that. Having a range with oven is standard for any home. If you don't provide the standard stuff, that will cost you buyers.
Even though you don't use an oven most of the time, what will you do when you want to cook a turkey, cook a Thanksgiving meal, etc.? You don't have to use something all the time. It's a matter of having it, for when you do want to use it. Sort of like having a vehicle with a cargo area. You don't need it a lot of the time. But there are times when you do (at least I do).
If you sell a house for a buyer with FHA financing, it will require an operational stove in the house at time of purchase. I assume that means WITH an oven.
I wouldn't buy a house without a range with oven, or place for a standalone range with oven. As for a stovetop in a counter with a separate oven in the wall...I've never had that setup, but if the house had a stovetop, then it would have to have a built-in oven, or I wouldn't buy the house.
If you are perfectly happy scarfing down hot pockets while your gf drinks fruit smoothies, go for it, but in the time you have spent trying to convince everyone that cooking is obsolete because we don't have time in our modern lives, you could have cooked numerous sumptuous, delicious, and healthy meals for everyone participating in this thread of yours.
But the question is - when they use them, how much are they cooking....enough for 3-4 people (large toaster oven) or enough to feed a large group of people?
A few things I would note...
- We are eating out more than ever. "The average American went to a fast food chain or a restaurant four times a week last year, up 60 percent since the end of the Great Depression."
- The stay at home mom that has supper ready is becoming/has become a thing of the past.
- Single parents are much more common now. It's harder for single parents to find time for cooking large meals.
- The birthrate is at an all-time low. Fewer children means less food and smaller dishes. Who can afford 4-5 kids nowadays?
- The 40 hour work week is a thing of the past. We are working longer which means less time for food prep. Who feels like cooking a big meal after work?!?
You are so wrong. You really need to get out more.
Even when I worked really long hours, I used my kitchen at home. There is no faster, cheaper way to eat than to throw something together at home.
I NEVER eat at fast food places. Healthy people usually don't.
Even if you don't use something a lot, there are times you do, and will need a stove with oven. I don't cook a lot. I hate to cook. Yet....I make my dogs chicken jerky from scratch (it's easy), I make a Thanksgiving meal every year, I sometimes put together a Christmas meal, I occasionally bake some chicken or fish in the oven. Then I use the stove part to make bean soup, stir fry, rice (for me AND the dogs), etc.
Stoves and ovens aren't going out of style at all. Some things do go out of style. But not that. Humans have been using those items consistently all over the world for eons. And that will continue. What has changed, and will continue to change, are add-on features, like that circulating heat and such.
I have a nice toaster oven. It's stored in a cabinet somewhere. Never been used. They're horrible to clean, and I just don't need it. I use my stove/oven and microwave.
To the OP's question, I would think having a traditional oven would help resale, much like having a traditional dining, fireplace, etc. Many things some people don't use that often versus other appliances or rooms.
That said, I wouldn't know what to replace the oven space with (more cabinetry? most modern kitchens have a ton of storage space). I would just keep the oven, but keep it unplugged - it can consume electricity even when not turned on.
I personally don't use an oven as much as my stovetop, depending on what you cook. I say keep your oven, even if you don't use it.
Since when did using a conventional oven become the cornerstone of gourmet cooks? How is putting in an oven ruining your kitchen so much that you wouldn't put one in?
I guess you also don't have a dishwasher because you only eat off paper plates?! And if you DID put in a dishwasher are you leaving out the sink since you'll have no need for it?
Both those models were taken off the market because they were fire hazards.
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