It has been four months, living without a microwave oven. And they said it could not be done.
When we were still in Iowa, and were discussing what appliances to have in the condo, we both agreed that we would not have room for the Breville Smart Oven we had just purchased, and a microwave, so we came to the agreement that the smart oven would be used more often, and for a wider range of foods, than reheating coffee, or quickly defrosting something in the microwave. So, the smart oven won.
I must say that neither of us miss the microwave at all. I never thought I would think that either, but I do. All of our little “accessories” are geared to the smart oven, the smaller baking sheets, the small cast iron skillets, the sizzle pans, which is good, because we use it every day for something. We use it to toast our bread, bake bacon, yum, broil whatever needs broiling, and, well, you get the idea.
Since our kitchen is so compact, we have to be very careful about what we have, unlike our kitchen up North. In there, we had every kind of gadget we could find. Did we use everything? For the most part, yes. A fair amount of space, mostly in the garage, was taken up by all of my canning equipment, and there was a lot of it. We definitely got our money’s worth out of that lot. I canned two and three times a year, at least.
So, the other day, after having baked two trays of bacon, (remember the BLT’s?), I just happened to glance inside the oven as I reaching down to pick something up off the floor, and oh, my gosh. There is splatter, grease, “stuff” burnt onto the heating elements. Now, I am off to search the internet to learn how to clean these elements without ruining the oven. I cannot wait. At present, the only cleaning items I have are baking soda, vinegar, and Bar Keepers Friend. Wish me luck.
As always, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, and cover your mouth.
I will let you know how the cleaning went.