The General Chat Thread

SB_Part2

I'm still humming and hawing about getting a deep fat fryer or air fryer. I borrowed an air fryer and loved it. Only think I couldn't make was tempura anything.

The major thing stopping me is that I've nowhere to put it

Gloomtastic!

angeldelight wrote: »

SuperValu and Aldi near me also have it - in SV it's in the "specialty cheeses" fridge and in Aldi it's beside the ricotta and mascarpone tubs

Bingo! Thank you!

beertons

SB_Part2 wrote: »

The major thing stopping me is that I've nowhere to put it

I just pointed to all the baking stuff, and said they have to go. They were transferred to another press that I have none of my stuff in. Be a long time before they see day light again.

SB_Part2

beertons wrote: »

I just pointed to all the baking stuff, and said they have to go. They were transferred to another press that I have none of my stuff in. Be a long time before they see day light again.

I bake a lot so I couldn't throw any of it out. I shouldn't have ever bought a microwave. It takes up loads of space and it's never used.

Kat1170

Really loving my little 1.5lt Cookworks slow cooker I picked up in Argos for a fiver a few years back. Makes the most delicious rice pudding. Cup of rice, two desert spoons of sugar and fill with milk. Simple but heavenly. Its the only thing I have come across that requires regular stirring in a slow cooker.

Faith

SB_Part2 wrote: »

I bake a lot so I couldn't throw any of it out. I shouldn't have ever bought a microwave. It takes up loads of space and it's never used.

I haven't had a microwave in close to 3 years and I haven't missed it at all. Reheating things is a little slower, but other than that, I can barely remember what I used to use it for.

beertons

SB_Part2 wrote: »

I bake a lot so I couldn't throw any of it out. I shouldn't have ever bought a microwave. It takes up loads of space and it's never used.

I couldn't get rid of the microwave. Reheating food and doing the porridge, tis worth having for that alone. I don't bake cakes or anything like that, so all those instruments are useless to me. Microwave is kinda out of the way too, in the utility room.

rubadub

Faith wrote: »

Reheating things is a little slower,

If people reheated food slower in the microwave (i.e. lower power) then I reckon they would use the microwave a lot more.

From what I have seen the vast majority of people use microwaves on full power, all of the time. Ruins lots of food, people would not always use the oven on preheat to the highest temp possible, or the hob, and then suddenly start to reheat or cook food.

SB_Part2

The only thing my microwave is ever used for is melting butter which I could easily do in a pot.

I might put it in the shed.

oscarBravo

The single most common thing our microwave is used for is to warm plates before dishing up (that, and melting butter or quickly warming milk). It has its own little counter, mind you, so it's not in the way.

What gets way more use in our house is the little mini oven from Lidl. The new one is big enough to do limited baking in (I made a batch of these in it last week, highly recommended). It's our second one; the first was an impulse buy and got so much use that when I saw a slightly bigger model with selectable top/bottom heating elements, I couldn't resist.

Malari

oscarBravo wrote: »

The single most common thing our microwave is used for is to warm plates before dishing up (that, and melting butter or quickly warming milk). It has its own little counter, mind you, so it's not in the way.

Never thought about it for that use! Normally it just irritates me if the crockery heats up more than the food in it :P

I wouldn't be without the microwave for heating porridge, milk, steaming veg, reheating leftovers and the odd bit of defrosting. It's out in the utility room so it doesn't clutter the kitchen.

rubadub

Malari wrote: »

Normally it just irritates me if the crockery heats up more than the food in it :P

It should be consitent which plates heat up or not, there can be metallic particles in the ceramics, these can heat to really high temps in microwaves. It can crack the plates too. I used to think it was that the ceramic was absorbing water and the water was heating up, this could well be some factor but the metallic thing makes sense as some get incredibly hot.

Some microwave pizzas come with grey discs which crisp the base, these are actually metallic particles giving it the grey appearance, they get to really high temps in the microwave. You get chicken rolls and other things in tubes with this grey lining.

The most even way to heat the plate is to put a bit of water on it when microwaving. You should not really run microwaves with nothing in them, and an empty plate (with no metallic bits in its ceramic) is approaching "nothing".

I know someone who has the microwave in a press at the bottom of the cooker, that hard to reach lower press you stick more rarely used stuff in.

Malari

rubadub wrote: »

It should be consitent which plates heat up or not, there can be metallic particles in the ceramics, these can heat to really high temps in microwaves. It can crack the plates too. I used to think it was that the ceramic was absorbing water and the water was heating up, this could well be some factor but the metallic thing makes sense as some get incredibly hot.

These are "microwave safe" items - I would have thought they wouldn't have metallic anything in them.

rubadub wrote: »

I know someone who has the microwave in a press at the bottom of the cooker, that hard to reach lower press you stick more rarely used stuff in.

We designed a cupboard like that in our kitchen, but then our microwave broke before we even used it :pac: The one we replaced it with technically fit, but with the plug position, the door wouldn't close. So now the microwave's in the utility. Probably easier to get at anyway.

L1011

SB_Part2 wrote: »

I'm still humming and hawing about getting a deep fat fryer or air fryer. I borrowed an air fryer and loved it. Only think I couldn't make was tempura anything.

The major thing stopping me is that I've nowhere to put it

They're both completely different tools though? I would never consider it an either/or situation

The air"fryer" does stuff that realistically could be done in an oven, just a lot quicker. It does not do what you can do in a deep fryer. It is not a fryer, basically.



I use my microwave to heat premade naans from Eurasia and melt store bought ghee for doing hideously hipster burger buns. First could be done in the oven and the second on the hob. My partner, however, uses it multiple times a day for cereal and a new obsession of warm milk so its not going anywhere despite the large counter space it eats up

gucci

I have great plans to do something like this to free up our premium counter space. The microwave can hover over the free space over the bin then.

Of course as the primary DIY person in the house, its up to me to actually do it, so it wont be done any time soon

I dont think we could go without it, as I have my porridge every morning in it and my morning routine is a hundred mile an hour dash organising stuff that I couldn't be watching and stirring a pot on the stove!!

Gloomtastic!

^ When I said I'll hang the microwave, I'll hang the microwave. There's no need to keep reminding me every year!!!!

oscarBravo

Our kitchen has a little counter stuck in a corner between doors, which makes for a handy niche for the microwave, mini-oven and one-cup kettle.

Dizzyblonde

...and one very cute little sheep

My microwave is in a cupboard above the oven. The fittings on the door have little gas canisters that keep it open but are now depleted and we keep forgetting to buy new ones, and I have to tie the door open with string when I'm using the microwave.

Gloomtastic!

Ok, need some help please......

Friends coming over for dinner tomorrow. Bought a leg of lamb and butterflied it. Was going to use a lemon and garlic wet rub to marinade it overnight but discovered we were out of lemons at home.
So, in my wisdom, I used a lime and ginger, chilli and garlic marinade.

Question. I was planning on roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, carrots etc as accompaniments. Am I wasting my time?

What would you suggest? I have potatoes, cauliflower, green beans and carrots ......

The Hill Billy

Seems like your lamb has taken on an Asian theme. So, how about Bombay Potatoes, or goa ahead (see what I did there?) & roast them, but coat them with garam masala. You could also coat the cauliflower with curry powder & a hint of turmeric & roast that too. The beans - steam with some minced garlic.

Dizzyblonde

I don't think you could do better than what THB said - including the pun

Gloomtastic!

Thanks tHB. Might try a curried cauliflower cheese. I'll let you know.....

corblimey

My recipe this weekend calls for chopped chicken to be dipped in egg wash and flour before being fried. I don't use eggs for anything else, so don't really want to buy a dozen and throw 5 out, so would anything else work as a substitute? Olive oil maybe, but how much? I often use flour as a binding agent and can't remember the last I had to use an egg aswell.

sammyjo90

friendly with a neighbour or have a friend close by? bum one off them maybe!

dee_mc

Mayonnaise works.
So does tomato puree but the flavour can be a bit much!

Faith

A half dozen eggs costs, what? About €2? Rather than faffing around with substitutes, I'd just buy the eggs. They keep in the fridge for weeks, or you could make french toast, or an omelette, or pancakes, or a cake, or or fry them or poach them or scramble them or make mayonnaise... They are literally one of the most versatile foods in the world.

Surreptitious

MMM french toast, that has given me ideas

beertons

Dial Hard

sammyjo90 wrote:

friendly with a neighbour or have a friend close by? bum one off them maybe!

This. I've hit the neighbours up for many a random item I didn't happen to have on hand over the years. And vice versa.

Maldesu

Any markets or butchers that might sell them individually? Or maybe pass the eggs over to someone else if your not keen on them