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Old 01-20-2015, 08:57 AM
 
4,761 posts, read 14,251,774 times
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All I can say is that when I was younger (20's), I would NEVER EVER need to use an oven (single man) and I didn't need health insurance either because I was never going to get sick!

But I changed as I got older and suddenly became interested in new things. I even cooked something in a real oven!

With that said, I would recommend you get a regular oven - even if you don't use it for now.
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Old 01-20-2015, 09:04 AM
 
12,547 posts, read 9,886,683 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick View Post
I get that you are anti-oven... but you seem to be on a mission to convince others that they do not need one either!
Absolutely not! Bahaha. I was just defending my theory that for many people the conventional oven may transform into a sleeker/small/cheaper appliance that better suits the cooking needs of modern families. I'm not saying conventionally sized ovens will go away or even be in the minority. Here is another stat that sort of supports my position: Americans Cook Less Than Ever But Love Watching It on TV

Quote:
And no, they are not the exception to "the rule". Perhaps you are.
As I said back in post #2... do what you want.
We both have no way of proving how America is/will cook so it's all theoretical.
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Old 01-20-2015, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Ohio
2,310 posts, read 6,808,033 times
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I think what needs to be said has been already. I grew up without an oven. When we had one in the house we moved into, I remember my mom and myself using the oven maybe 10 times in the entire 20+ years. It became storage most of the time. When I moved to my own house recently, I did not used my oven at all for the 1st year since I was procrastinating having to clean it first. I'm used to seeing modest homes in Asia and Europe using countertop ovens (if there is one at all) in their tiny kitchens which take up less space.

HOWEVER, I don't see that trend coming to the US. Most US homes have kitchens big enough to have an oven (unlike 'flats' in other countries). It's actually more expensive sometimes to buy a nice standalone range top vs a stove/oven combo unit. Plus, I don't buy the argument that the society is moving away from cooking. The trend that I see is people are becoming more health conscious and want control over their food sourcing and selection. More people buy from scratch and cook, not fewer. That's why buy-local type movements are growing, new grocery stores are always more upscale than ones in place already, and new shopping complexes in my area are using the new grocery stores as their anchor retailer. Even if people don't actually cook, there are enough TV cooking shows to convenience people they should or will.

Anyway, do what you want especially if you don't care about resale. In case you do sale, make sure it's easy and cost efficient to convert your kitchen so that a full-size oven can be installed. So at the end, you're going to pay for an oven whether you use it or not yourself.

Last edited by mmyk72; 01-20-2015 at 09:53 AM..
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Old 01-20-2015, 10:02 AM
 
724 posts, read 591,873 times
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My wife and I travel a lot for work and we lived in a very cleanly furnished modern studio with a two plate glass cooktop and a large "toaster oven" which, when you really look at it is just a small oven. We made amazing baked dishes in that oven and when it came time to move out, rather than spending an afternoon using toxic chemicals to clean it out, I ordered another one on Amazon for 100 bucks.

We are avid bakers and made many amazing dishes in the oven. It's more efficient in terms of electricity usage, it heats up and cools down faster, it's easier to clean, it takes the place of a toaster, it's portable, cheaper to replace and takes up almost no room.

As long as there is a place where one could install an oven it's not going to make or break a real estate deal. Unless you are planing on flipping the house, YOU are the one that is going to be using your kitchen, set it up how you like.
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Old 01-20-2015, 10:04 AM
 
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We have the largest toaster oven one can purchase and it is not large enough for a good sized roast to be cooked properly.
If you don't want an oven then don't get one but resale could be a problem without it.
Don't you cook anything that you use burners for? How do you boil water? Make gravy? Fry eggs? Make and omelet?
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Old 01-20-2015, 10:57 AM
 
Location: Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne
17,916 posts, read 24,265,406 times
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I guess I can't relate. I and most of my friends are into food. We eat out a lot, but we also cook a lot. Not many frozen pizzas or microwave meals. Frugality is a big part of it, too I suppose, when you eat out a lot you have to make meals that not only live up to your standards, but don't break the bank.

My point is, your approach to meals may change in the future, and as mentioned, selling later will really require a decently outfitted kitchen unless you are selling in a market that exclusively caters to on-the-go starter couple yuppies who subsist off of Chinese takeout and restaurant meals.
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Old 01-20-2015, 11:08 AM
 
5,444 posts, read 6,963,328 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eddiehaskell View Post
I'm just wondering how practical this would be. Most of the remodeling shows make it seem like everyone is a master chef that needs a huge commercial oven. My girlfriend and I are far from it. Heck, in my family, I only know of one aunt that likes to bake a lot. Most of us are on the go too much to spend hours in the kitchen. When we do use the oven, it's never for anything bigger than a medium/large pizza. Once in a blue moon we'll make a small batch of brownies or cookies. We use our cooktop/microwave a lot and we eat out 3-4x/week. The only meals we could possibly have time to prepare in the oven are on the weekends, but who wants to spend any part of the weekend in the kitchen? Now for those with 5-6+ people in the house, sure - a large oven is probably needed.

One can buy a very large toaster oven for $100 that's big enough to cook two large pizzas or even a whole chicken. Therefore, it seems like for many people a huge oven is a waste of space. Aesthetically, it seems like all the nice looking ovens are over $1000. That's a lot to pay for something that's rarely used, prone to breaking and expensive to fix. IMO, eliminating the oven also gives the kitchen a cleaner more streamlined appearance.

What say you?
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.
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Old 01-20-2015, 11:18 AM
 
Location: Florida
7,233 posts, read 7,027,251 times
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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.
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Old 01-20-2015, 11:26 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,157,040 times
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Default You just don't get it...

Quote:
Originally Posted by eddiehaskell View Post
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 remember back in the 70s when firms like Amana were promoting their "RadaRange" microwave as capable of "replacing all your cooking needs". And even in the 90s GE has literature that went with their Advantium oven that it could "handle all your cooking needs".

Neither of those prophecies came true!

Conventional ovens have been a staple of normal US kitchens for a century and very likely will remain so.

Folks that do something as simple as bake a full pan or brownies or a sheet of cookies or even roast some nice root vegetables literally cannot do without a normal oven.

A standard 30" range is about $500 and if you are remodeling a kitchen and do not have the space or money for a new range you can get a used for $100.

Don't be a fool! Lack of an electrical circuit or gas connection would be a total deal killer even on a low priced kitchen for a rental!

You are in the EXTREME minority! There are probably more people willing to own a home with only a shower than without an oven!
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Old 01-20-2015, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,945,389 times
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We've just recently (within the past three years) gotten a microwave and the oven use has gone way down since the microwave now heats up a lot of things. However, it is a totally different sort of heat so many dishes are much better in the oven. This house also has a cook top along with a wall oven instead of the usual range, I'm not sure if it is an improvement or much different than a regular range oven. There are a lot of things which are just better in an oven, pizza from scratch, bread, biscuits, etc. etc. But, if you have a small counter top oven, that would work, too. It's the same type of dry heat a regular range oven or wall oven would produce. So, if you prefer a smaller counter top type oven, why not? It's your kitchen do what works for you.

On resale issues, though, given a choice between a house with a standard range with oven and one without, I'd definitely pick the one with the oven if all other things were similar. Given a choice between a residential oven and a commercial oven, I'd choose the commercial oven because they can produce a LOT more BTU's than a residential range. But, we cook a lot and use the oven a lot, so our "perfect" kitchen will look different than yours.
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