Hi to all. I couldn't find a new member welcome thread, so have juat jumped in. I'm Michael. I'm 64. I live on my own in East London. And I bought my 'Halogen oven, just 6 hours ago. I can't even remember the make.
It cost £49.99 and came complete with the height extender and the lid rack. So it was a better bargain than JMLs on TV.
I searched high and low where I live but could not find a recipe book in any of the local book shops.
There are a few books from
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk or type book depository in Google. One book I recommend is The Halogen Oven Cook Book by Paul Jones and Leah Meads
log on to amazon .com lots to choose from
I know the feeling! I'm 60 and live alone in Hampshire and I had a halogen oven as an early Christmas present just over a week ago.
It came with a small recipe book, but I can't find anything dealing with really elementary things like how to roast potatoes, cook bacon/sausages or cheese on toast. I don't even know whether my oven WILL cook cheese on toast because the operating instructions are very scanty indeed. It was only by accident that I found out that I have to keep the handle down for it to turn on! All the instruction leaflet said was "turn oven on" - like HOW? I spent over 5 minutes just trying to work that out before I happened to put the handle down and it suddenly sprang into life! I especially want to cook things that would normally be grilled because the grill in my gas oven is set into the roof of the oven so it's a hassle to use and since it comes with my rented flat I can't change it.
So far I've managed to roast a chicken - with a lot of trial and error. It took longer than it would have done to cook it in my gas oven because I had to try and work out what setting to put it on and I had to keep adjusting the temperature because first it was too hot and then it was too low and then I made a couple of stews with leftovers but I haven't a clue what else to do to get the most from it.
It's not a large oven and it seems to be fairly basic. It's got an expansion ring, a rack and a pair of tongs and that's all, but I've heard that halogen ovens are well worth persevering with and it might encourage me to eat more than microwave ready meals if I get the hang of it.
Addition on 3rd January 2011:
I still can't get the hang of it
! I tried to make a stew in it today and, although I put it on for the full hour at 250C, it's still lukewarm and the vegetables are barely cooked - apart from the bits which were sticking out of the water and were scorched
. PLEASE can anyone help me with the BASICS of halogen oven cooking? I don't want any fancy recipes I have to go out and buy expensive ingredients for. I just want to know how to cook things like one-pot stews and similar.