I find my stove winning this one regardless of what season it is but slow cooker is a really close second. I love using it in the winter for the delicious stews & soups but also adore using it in the summer because it doesn't turn my kitchen into a sauna. Last on the list has got to be microwave. I try to avoid that one every chance I get. I just don't like the texture & I feel weird about the whole thing. So, which do you use most? Which do you use least?
I have an AGA cooker which I use in the winter and it is on all the time because it runs the hot water and radiators. This makes great slow cook casseroles and meets all my cooking needs so I don't really need a slow cooker during the winter. In the summer I use an electric stove and microwave for cooking as the AGA is switched off. I feel my AGA cooks food far better than the electric cooker, but during the summer months I don't really cook casseroles, soups etc. I do use the microwave to cook rice because I have a microwave steamer which cooks perfect rice. Also baked potatoes are fine in the microwave if you finish them off in the oven.
I used to use the microwave a lot, but I’m shifting away from that as much as possible and using the stove far more often. Microwave is okay for reheating, but not actual cooking as it usually does mess up the texture. I used to nuke my morning oats since I use quick-cook ones, but after being spoiled by someone who’d cook them up for me whenever I was staying over, I cook mine properly now and I’ve never looked back, even if that means I have to wake up slightly earlier. Delicious, edible oats are worth it. I could use a slow cooker. It would help with certain recipes I’d like to try but haven’t gotten around to it because they’d be easier with one.
Have you considered getting a large toaster oven? I had an Oster one that I got at a steal at Wal-Mart (they accidentally priced it at $39.99 when it should have been closer to $80) and loved it. I could roast stuff in it, even during the summer months, without heating my place up too much. Plus it just got up to temperature much faster than traditional stove due to it's compact size, so it was more energy efficient as well. The only thing you have to be careful with is cleanup and burning food since it's much closer to the heating elements themselves. I stupidly made stuff like BBQ ribs or buffalo wings in it, uncovered, and got grease all over the inside which was permanently baked into the walls. But if you are careful and keep things covered properly, cleanup should be at a minimum.
I love my slow cooker, I think it is just so easy when you do not have much time. Throw everything in it to make a stew, set it for eight hours and by the time you get home you have a hearty and tasty meal waiting for you. It can be used for anything too, chicken, beef but my favorite has to be lamb shanks! YUM!
I use my stove the most, at least once daily. I use the microwave several times a week, the grill at least a couple of times a year, and the slow cooker maybe once a year, or sometimes less. I would probably use the grill more if it wasn't such a pain to get things to/from it, and didn't take so long to get the coals going, and would use the slow cooker more if I had more counter space, or was able to at least keep it in or near the kitchen.
Traditional stove daily. Slow cooker few times a week. Microwave daily. Probably a pretty even split. Each method has its advantages/disadvantages. I find microwaves are very useful if you take the time to learn how to properly use it. Most people just put everything in on high. That's like only using the oven at 500. Microwave's are the quickest,most efficient and healthiest way to cook/reheat a limited number of foods while the stove takes longer and uses more energy but it has the largest breadth of things cooked and cooking methods.
I definitely use my stove the most, followed by my microwave. The microwave is usually for defrosting and warming up food. I never use it to cook. I don't have a slow cooker, and have never had any experience of using. I do use a pressure cooker often, and I really like it for stuff like oxtail.
In the office, I use the microwave almost everyday. It's pretty convenient to use and because we're always in a hurry to get to work, we need something that cooks fast. At home, though, we always make use of the stove. There's more time for cooking and whipping up frozen desserts so we use the stove as much as we can.
I wouldn't say that I was one to use the microwave every day at all, but I do use it often. I am not the best cook. But then again, saying that I use the cooker/oven more than I actually use the microwaves. Sometimes I am baking cakes, or cooking meals in the oven. Frozen meals always taste much better after being cooked in an over, than they do after having been cooked in a microwave.
My traditional stove gets the most use, but I really like my slow cooker and grill too. The microwave not so much. I generally don't like to use the microwave for anything other than an occasional reheating of something and sometimes I'll melt butter in it for using in recipes. I've gotten to where I tend even to reheat things most often on my stovetop instead of popping them in to the microwave as the microwave tends to change the texture of foods when it reheats. I just plain don't like that.
