Maybe try a slow cooker. If you find a few recipes you like and prepare what you can in larger batches and save some for next time (for example if it uses a collection of spices, measure out multiple recipes worth of all of the spices and store them (pre-combined) in spice jars), you can get the prep time down to a few minutes each time you want to cook it. Slow cookers have the added benefit of not having to worry about taking it out of the oven at the right time or whathaveyou - when it finishes cooking, it'll just keep your food warm until you're ready to eat it. This also keeps the washing to a minimum - it's just the slow cooker insert and your bowl + utensils. As an added bonus, you'll get multiple days worth of food out of one time cooking.

[–] CucumberFetish@lemmy.dbzer0.com -2 points 1 month ago (18 children)

Rant about kitchen appliances:

People should learn to use the things they most probably already have in their kitchen.

slow cooker is just a tiny pot shaped low temperature oven with a timer
Air fryer is a tiny oven with a fan

Why do people get so hyped about a smaller and more limited version of the thing they already have? Just use your oven which most likely already has all these features. I haven't seen an electric oven without a fan or without a timer in my lifetime

[–] SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I have a full size convection oven. I also have a really fancy countertop convection oven I got last year for like $120. I rarely use the regular oven anymore.

Why?

For one thing my full size oven is gas, and I’d rather use electric. My stove and furnace are the only gas appliances I have, but I try to run them as little as possible. For another, I live alone and often cook smaller portions. I don’t need to heat up that much oven for just a burrito or whatever, that’s wasteful.

And finally, my countertop convection oven has a suite of settings and features my standing oven can’t remotely compete with, and it can still cook something the size of whole chicken/roast and a side dish, just like my big oven. For example it has a meat probe that automatically shuts off the heating element when the internal temp reaches whatever it needs to be for the meat type and cook level you want. Perfect every time, no hassle, no guesswork, no adhd memory wipe leading to overcooked food. It also has a bunch of preset modes, and any changes I make to them get saved in the memory until I change or reset them, so when I find something cooks better at a different temp or time I can just save that on a setting I don’t use, and have to ready for next time.

It’s not that I don’t know how to use my oven. I do. I bought it myself 12 years ago and know exactly what it’s capable of with its luxurious 6 buttons and basic features. That’s why I wanted the countertop model.

My slow cooker is the same sort of thing - it’s an 8-in-1 pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, etc. it does a lot of things and I use it frequently. It’s worth the hype.

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