Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
I'm new to this forum and to holiday rentals so have been having a great time trawling through all the very useful posts!
I have a rental apartment in Paris with a small kitchen. I had to give away the full-size oven I had when I realised there was just no way it would fit in. At the moment, I have a compromise small table-top oven with grill. But it's got hot plates on the top and looks very ugly (I have gas burners and my rebuilt kitchen is too nice for this monstrosity ).
So, I need to buy a new table-top oven. My question is, do I buy a small, classic oven with grill, large enough to roast a large chicken and perfect for grilling steaks, making toast etc? Or do I just go for a microwave with a grill function and assume that people coming to Paris will spend more time in restaurants than trying out recipes? And if the latter, any advice on how effective the grill is in a microwave oven? (As you can guess, I don't have one myself.)
I've got a microwave/grill and I've only used the grill once! I found the elements on the grill were too small to have any effect that I ended using the grill in my oven to finish off the browning. I must add that my microwave is 4 years old and that there are probably better models on the market now!
Personally, if I were in Paris I'd spend time eating out than cooking!!
laineyfr wrote:My question is, do I buy a small, classic oven with grill, large enough to roast a large chicken and perfect for grilling steaks, making toast etc? Or do I just go for a microwave with a grill function and assume that people coming to Paris will spend more time in restaurants than trying out recipes?
I would definitely prefer a small, classic oven with grill and would not book a place that only had a microwave unless it was only for one or two nights. Even if I wanted to go out to eat every night, for the one night I might be too exhausted, or fancy something really simple, I would like the option to prepare a proper meal.
We have a combi oven which can work on microwave, standard oven, grill, or a combination. Its no bigger than a large microwave. There are plenty of manufactures out there that do something similar.
Crystal wrote:Personally, if I were in Paris I'd spend time eating out than cooking!!
Ditto and Ju's combi variety are excellent for small spaces and cooking we have one also and will make toast.
Your assumption may be correct, we stay in Paris often and always sample the wide variety of Bistro on offer; as all Paris is a short hop on the metro away. My first experience of onion soup was in the Place du Tertre, mmm superb.
We also have a combi oven. It works as microwave, standard or fan oven, grill, or in combination. It is a bit of a rarity as it has a capacity approaching that of a commercial microwave. It is the R933 from the Sharp Platinum Collection.
Veering slightly from the topic, I've added a "George Forman" type grill to my kitchen and have had positive feedback from guests saying how much they like it. It's very easy to clean and saves the oven, which is not so easy to clean!
We installed a couple of these combi microwaves, and they work fine - around £100 on eBay:
Panasonic-NNA554W-UK
about 1/2 UK retail cost on eBay, with guarantee, although the build-in kits direct from Panasonic are almost as much.
Warning - our senior dog (6yr-old Woodle) generally dines on chicken thighs, baked gently in an Aga, and gives us a filthy look if we try him on anything done in a microwave - just won't touch it - would rather starve. The chaos defrost is fun, though.
Goat
Last edited by Mountain Goat on Tue May 23, 2006 7:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
I've personally used a large Sharp combi oven for many years and can't understand why more people don't. I only use the conventional occasionally if cooking for many people. However, I think many people are shy of using a microwave and prefer ovens. One of my guests heated up the oven to warm 3 croisants when 15 secs in the micro would have worked just as well. The microwave in my apartment, which is a combi, rarely gets used.
It also depends on how long your bookings are for. If typically for a week or less, I find that the oven, hob or micro are hardly used, however for longer stays, people tend to want to try the produce from the markets and so do cook.
Marion
I was puzzled here as well- oven heated are lovely and crisp, microwave heated are soggy!!! No comparison. I have a microwave combi but only use it as a microwave. The microwave in Le Petit Manoir is hardly ever used, the oven is well used!! I've had people stay who have staff at home and didn't know how to use an oven, but as part of their holiday experience they wanted to go the the markets and then take it home to cook!! They had to ring me up to ask
a- what had they bought?
b- how should they cook it?
Unfortunately there was no c- come and share !!!!
Obviously we will have to agree to differ. The microwave gives them a lovely light texture, not to mention the energy saving - but I'll wear my environment hat another day.
).
