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Yes, all ovens aren't commercial, but even a standard sized oven is pretty large. I was just pointing out the fascination I often see with commercial ranges on remodeling shows - "I can really do some cooking here" seems to be used a lot. Are that many people really throwing down like my great grandmother feeding 15 people every week...or am I in the minority here?
Resale isn't a huge issue - offer the buyer a concession for a range or put one in when it comes time to sell. If my thinking is correct, in 20 years modern kitchens without conventional ovens will be common.
And that's the point - if rarely used, why have it? When does rarely used become unneeded? Used once every 6 months? Once per year? Once per decade?
I wouldn't bother making an offer if they left a toaster oven in the place where a real oven should be. I mean, a seller has to at least try.
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?!?
If you don't cook, you won't understand this or anything anyone here tries to tell you.
Just because you don't cook doesn't mean nobody cooks. If that were so, there weren't be enough fodder for two entirely separate cooking channels.
One of my 20 something year old daughters lives in student housing, and does a ton of cooking in her toaster oven. That said, both daughters go wild using the double ovens and 6 burners in my kitchen when they come home.
However, there are large portions of the world that live with toaster ovens and counter top 2 burner units. And they cook just fine. I don't see that coming to the US, but you never know.
Certainly you can use a toaster oven in place of a conventional oven if that works for you.
It is your house, you can certainly do what you wish. If you are in a hurry in the morning and want to heat a frozen pastry in the bathroom while brushing your teeth, go right ahead. Put the counter top oven or a microwave in the bathroom. Nobody cares except you.
However, when you go to sell, that cheap $500 oven missing in the kitchen will set you back $5,000 in price concession. Why? Because everything has to be retrofitted.....electricity/gas, cabinets, counter and flooring if you get a free standing unit. Why go there, even if it isn't important to you.....and I firmly believe you should design and build your home for YOU, not for the next buyer?
Those high end ranges you see in "designer" homes? They are rarely used....and just like one of those lousy Thermador, Sub Zero or Jenn Air refrigerators, they are there so people can giggle and ooh and aah over how much money they have invested in their kitchens. When the homes go up for bankruptcy sale, they are just a refrigerator, stove or range.
My oldest is a young 20-something. He frequently invites friends his age over, and they spend the evening cooking gourmet meals. They will make a 4 or 5 course meal from scratch, including baking a dessert of some sort. They rotate which homes they do this at, and it is a frequent (ie once every week or 2) activity. They use the burners and oven a LOT - never the microwave.
They would be lost without burners and a conventional oven.
My thought is this. What would you do with the extra space saved? Are you talking about building the toaster oven it's own enclosure where the regular size oven would be? If not, then are you ok with sacrificing that much counter space? Do you at least have a cooktop?
Lastly, do you have a dishwasher? Why not get rid of that as well. You can just wash the dishes in the sink.
I would say yes...have a large toaster oven built into the cabinets. If one likes using the dishwasher theres no point in getting rid of it.
I have to say, IMO, this is the silliest idea I've ever heard.
People are going to stop using ovens??? What a privileged life you live if you can eat out/eat prepackaged food all the time. Most of the rest of us are never going to do that.
Sure, your place, your rules but you're wrong if you think most people don't want/use/need an oven.
Where did I say they don't use oven? I said most probably very rarely use the capacity of a full size over. See my article about the time people spend preparing food - an average of 27 minutes per day. That's breakfast, lunch and dinner. My guess is that many are too busy to slave away in the kitchen.
You are in the EXTREME minority! There are probably more people willing to own a home with only a shower than without an oven!
What people want in a house and what they actually use are two different issues. If your objective is resale value, cater your house around what most people want.
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