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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?
If the cabinets are built around a 30 inch space for a range, will you just live with an empty gap in the meantime?
And you're not saving $1000, cheap ovens are about $400, minus the cost for a built in stovetop ($350), plus the cost for the extra countertop to run under the cooktop, and the cabinet to sit under there, ready for the expensive wall oven, plus the cost for the toaster oven.
And, just because you only know how to boil food doesn't mean that most food is boiled. Far from it. Baked and roasted dishes are very common. Mac and Cheese, roasts, lasagne, baked pasta of all kinds, cakes, pizza, casseroles, warming tortillas, etc.
Last edited by WildColonialGirl; 01-20-2015 at 10:28 PM..
Yes, but at the same time things like the paleo diet are growing in popularity and, I speak from experience here, if you want to be paleo you are going to be doing a lot of cooking at home. So, I don't think you can really read into the future either way. I don't spend much more than 27 minutes preparing food, but I use my oven daily (I don't count the oven being on and me being in another room doing something else to be time spent preparing food though).
Could the short duration of your cooking be done in a large toaster oven?
I live in a family of four: two adults and two teen boys. We have take out only 1 time per month and make everything else, frequently from scratch. We haven't had a "real" oven in years. We have a largish convection/toaster oven on the counter and it does wonderfully for it. It's just big enough to roast an average size chicken to give you an idea of the size and takes up a heck of a lot less room in the kitchen.
My family was much the same growing up. There were very few times that we actually had to use the large oven...maybe for a birthday cake or something.
That doesn't mean they don't want ovens in their houses. Someone has to cook the Thanksgiving turkey, right?
What would be the purpose of not having an oven? If you were going to add one later for resale, why not just put one in now?
In order for me to consider buying a house without an oven, the rest of the house would have to be perfect. I would not be keen on altering the kitchen to add one. Something would inevitably go wrong. It wouldn't fit, or the cabinets wouldn't look right, or the electrical needed wouldn't be there or whatever. I'd probably just find a different house to buy.
I say we eliminate the resale argument. Let's say one plans on living in their home for 20+ years. If you're building a new kitchen or removing an old existing wall oven, it's not too hard to leave space for a wall oven...remove a few doors and insert the oven.
Or the Christmas Prime Rib Roast to feed 20 people?
Or the roaster full of pork ribs?
Or the angel food cake for birthdays?
Or all the Christmas cookies?
Or the beef roast and veggies?
Or the pork roast and veggies?
Heck, I don't think I cook, yet I find I use my oven at LEAST once or twice a week for something.
I've never done any of that. I may eat ribs once every 6 months at a restaurant. Most food I buy to cook ends up spoiling. Regardless, I'm pretty sure you can make all this stuff in a toaster oven...at least enough to feed 3-4 people.
Do you have any idea what it would cost to have a custom built in made to fit a huge toaster oven? To run the electrical to the cabinet? Custom cabinetry of that size will run you a few hundred extra over stock cabinets. As Maciesmom mentioned it will also have to be insulated to handle the heat, which could be a few thousand to have something built out of steel or maybe $800-1000 to build it with cement board and tile. You're looking at $1,200-5,000 just to build a cabinet to house it. If you just put it on a shelf and snug it tight to your cabinets you'll burn down your house. If it isn't tight to the cabinets you're losing space again.
Besides, it most definitely won't use less power than a dedicated oven. Toaster ovens are cheap because they have no insulation and poor temperature controls.
Actually, your best (and cheapest) option would be to buy a conventional oven and put your toaster oven inside that.
If you're replacing cabinets or removing an existing wall oven, it shouldn't cost much at all. When I say built in, I'm talking about say a 2'x2' nook for the oven to sit in. Despite the amount of insulation, I find it hard to believe that a toaster which is 1/4 the size will use more power.
Why not learn to cook in the oven? You would probably find you like it.
I'm not patient enough to go that route. If I'm "cooking", the food better be ready to eat in about 5 minutes. When I get a craving for a home cooked meal, I'll go out to eat. It's doesn't cost much more because there's no waste and it's an opportunity to get out of the house/socialize. If I do get the itch to make something like brownies - it can be done with a toaster oven.
I'm not patient enough to go that route. If I'm "cooking", the food better be ready to eat in about 5 minutes. When I get a craving for a home cooked meal, I'll go out to eat. It's doesn't cost much more because there's no waste and it's an opportunity to get out of the house/socialize. If I do get the itch to make something like brownies - it can be done with a toaster oven.
Ah have you done the math? Cooking at home is always cheaper. For an single person cooking at home does not save that much over going out but for an couple or with kids(in 20 years things can change...a lot) it adds up. (i.e. When you go to an restaurant you are paying for food and labor. When you cook at home just food and trust me $10-15 worth of food can make more than one meal.).
The other problem with the toaster oven is it's small size. The toaster oven can be more efficient both time wise and electric wise for small tasks but the smaller the oven the larger the temperature variations in it. It simply does not hold an set temperature well and if you need to open the door for some reason the temperature is going to drop much more than with an conventional oven.
While an toaster oven can do many things, you could run into problems with certain recipes. It also does poorly when you need to cook for more than one person or if you want left overs. I can understand thinking you won't use the oven, but if I were you I would make sure to plan that remodel in an way that an oven could be quickly and easily installed(i.e. leave an area in the cabinets for it as well as the electric or gas hook up). There is no guarantee you will be living in that house in 20 years and not having the ability to host an oven is going to hit the resell value.
I've never done any of that. I may eat ribs once every 6 months at a restaurant. Most food I buy to cook ends up spoiling. Regardless, I'm pretty sure you can make all this stuff in a toaster oven...at least enough to feed 3-4 people.
No toaster oven will make enough to feed 3-4 people. More like 1-2 and most of the items on the list would present problems in an toaster oven. For food to cook properly in one there must be an certain amount of space between the heating element and the item(usually like an inch) so an toaster oven has trouble with larger cuts of meat. Cakes often need steady temperature and so it could have trouble with that. The cookies would work, a very small bath of them and don't plan to have any parties at all at your place for 20 years.
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