| Product: |
Remoska mini electric oven |
| Date: |
22.03.08 (453 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Very frugal on electricity and cooks like a real oven
Disadvantages: The outside does get hot in use
What is a Remoska? It is a very clever gadget that works like a cooker using a fraction of the electricity. It looks like a large pan but the clever thing it that it has an electrical element built into the lid which gives off heat so once you put the lid on the base and switch on the whole pan heats up. Because the element is in the lid and not the base it works by radiant heat which means not only can you cook a joint of meat in it - you can also use it to bake cakes, bread and in fact anything else you would cook in a traditional oven. The big advantage is that because you are just heating the pan it works on much less power than a traditional cooker (the standard Remoska rated at just 450w). Developed in the Czech republic it is on sale over here at Lakeland Ltd and from what I can gather they are very popular amongst Lakeland customers.
The Remoska comes in three sizes, the Baby, the Standard and the Grand and the one I own is the Baby. The Standard and the Grand both have a glass vision panel in the lid - the Baby doesn't but so far I haven't found that to be a disadvantage.
Do they work?
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Yes they do! - I do love gadgets and there is always a danger in my kitchen that I buy something and then it ends up in a cupboard gathering dust but somehow I don't see this happening with the Remoska. It seems to perform well with most tasks I would use the oven for. I tested it out with a baked potato and that was just great - I love baked potatoes but rarely cook them as it isn't worth putting the oven on just for one. It was just so simple was cooked beautifully crispy on the outside and soft inside. I then got ambitious and decided to try a cake - and guess what - it worked! It would have helped if I had read the instructions and realised that with a cake they suggest that you put foil on top for the last 15 minutes to stop it scorching on the top! But my little Baby Remoska coped very well with a cake.
I had a go with par baked bread and that came out perfect and garlic bread is equally easy. You can cook all sorts of meat dishes in there which seem to stay moist on the inside and don't dry out. There are a few recipes in the instruction book but there are also specialised books available for Remoska cooking and you can experiment and make up your own. Suggestions in the book include putting separate foil parcels of veg, fish and potoatoes in there and cooking them altogether which sounds like an excellent idea when cooking meals for one.
Is it easy to clean?
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Indeed it is - in fact it couldn't be simpler - the base pan just lifts off the stand and you can put in straight into the bowl and wash it. It is Teflon coated so it comes clean easily. The lid just needs a wipe over - that too is Teflon coated on the inside and because the electrical element is totally enclosed there is nothing fiddly just a smooth Teflon surface. Obviously you can't immerse the lid in water because of the electrical element but it is so easy clean you shouldn't need to.
How much are they?
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Well they aren't cheap I am afraid and with Lakeland being the sole supplier over here there is only one place to buy them. The prices currently are as follows:
Baby Remoska £49.99
Standard Remoska £79.99
Grand Remoska £99.99
Personally I baulked at the thought of paying £79.99 for a 'gadget' which was why I bought the Baby and, as I think it primary use will be in cooking meals for one, it is very adequate for that and I don't feel I shall miss the extra space. The Baby has a 300w element which is pretty frugal so my single baked potato will seem like less of an extravagance. The Standard is a 450w and the Grand 650w
Uses
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This is an ideal product for anyone living alone who doesn't want to use the whole cooker, it would be great to take in a caravan providing you can connect to mains supply, handy for students on a tight budget and for pensioners for the same reason I imagine. It is also good for a family if you go for one of the larger sizes.
So far it hasn't let me down with anything I have tried to cook in it although you do need to experiment a little to get used to it. I have now had mine for 15 months and it is still in regular use and it hasn't let me down yet.
The brochure says its operating temperature is 180 degrees and there is no temperature adjustment so you need to be aware of that. I generally switch it off a little while before the end of the cooking time and benefit from the heat that is retained in there continuing the cooking process. It does get very hot on the outside during cooking so if you have small children you should be aware of that and put it in a safe location when you are using it. There is a stand which you use when cooking which protects your worktops and a handy stand on the lid so that you don't put it down with the element on the worktop. Bear in mind that cooking times will be similar with the Remoska to those with a conventional oven - it is not fast like a microwave so don't buy it for speed.
Overall I am very happy with my Baby Remoska - I purchased mine online from Lakeland Ltd as there was no postage to pay and it saved me the trouble of carrying it home. It is going to change my way of cooking from now on and widen the range of foods I cook now that I can have oven cooking without the high cost.
I have now been using my Remoska for about 15 months and I must say I love it - it is just so handy and I find myself eating much more 'proper' food rather than relying on the microwave quite so much. You can bake pies in it very easily and scones also come out well - I hadn't done much baking in years but small batches of scones are so quick and easy. I have also used it for roast potatoes and for Yorkshire puddings. There seems to be nothing that I can't cook in it that I would previously have used the oven for - the big plus is that using the Remoska costs a fraction of the cost of using a traditional oven. Being small the pre-heating time is minimal and in use it is frugal in its need for electricity. As I type this I am cooking roast potatoes for my evening meal and will put the Yorkshire pudding in there very soon - mmmmmm!
Summary: A great way to cook without using lots of electricity
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