Cooks everything but meringues ! (Remoska Mini Electric Oven)

Member Name: stickywicket

Product:	Remoska Mini Electric Oven
Date:	29/07/09 (464 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very little washing up.Minimum electical usage.

Disadvantages: Awkward, cumbersome, dangerous.

I am easily led. A discussion on a baking and foodie forum led to the purchase of one of these. How can a forum evoke such a purchase ? Because these aren't cheap.

Well here's the justification.
Electricity bill last Summer the please pay was three figures that I'm lucky to see on my payslip! I received an energy monitor and became totally anal about what was using what. The biggest culprit ? The fan oven. The amount of kilowatts being used resembled the three figures on the bill.

Read a few reviews, found some blogs, saw some amazing food. The selling point was the saving on electric for me. It's a 650w mini oven. That's at least half of my fan oven.

Off to Lakeland as I couldn't find anything on ebay apart from the cookbook.
As I say they are not cheap. £107 for the Grand, £88 for the standard! By my working it would pay for itself in a year, and I'm pleased to say it has.

So what exactly is it ? This description pertains to the Grand. Hard to describe. Imagine a large round non stick cake tin over a foot in diameter, 4 inches deep. Put it on a four legged metal stand so it's raised about 4 inches off the surface. On top of the cake tin fit a large lid similar to a frying pan in that it has a handle sticking out. The electrical cord leads from the end of the handle. This lid is heavy, all the elements are inside, this is the source of the heat. The one on/off switch is on the handle. Circular window in the top of the lid, supposedly for viewing. Safe to say it's not the most beautiful of kitchen appliances.

Where did it come from, what's it origins? Surprisingly it's a pre second world war gadget from the Czech Republic. It's very popular with the caravanners of the world, this scares me a bit, I'll reveal why later.

So I opt for the grand because said forum are raving about roast chicken in it. I'm nothing if not consistent. Sunday usually involves a roast chicken, find it the most economical meal of the week. Seems the standard remoska may be a bit of a squeeze.

It arrives. Trusty Lakeland have exclusive rights to this cooker, and within 48 hours it's on my kitchen worktop. No that's not quite true. It takes over my kitchen. It is big, bulky and cumbersome. Included is a neat little recipe book, with simple instructions and warnings about the lid.

What can you do with it ? Everything ! Seriously. It may look like some thing out of the 50's it may have a lot to be desired in the design and handling but it delivers. Because it has one setting a temperature of 180 degrees there's no adjusting, faffing about. All the heat is delivered from lid down, it distributes the heat through the base pan so the whole thing heats up and cooks.

You shouldn't pre heat the remoska, switching it on empty is not advisable. So my first attempt is two homemade steak pies. Just put them in and leave for 30 minutes I thought. Wrong ! Within 25 minutes they would have been done, I just caught them. This thing really heats up fast.

This presents me with first battle with the lid. You lift it up and there in your hand is a heavy circle of heat, this thing can do damage, where to put it whilst I attend to the food. I opt for the hob, turn the lid upside down so heated side is facing up. It rests on it's handle stand devised for this purpose, but is still incredibly dangerous. Hence my concern at the use of this in a caravan. Perhaps the Grand would be too big for a caravan. It's just the lid is so hot and heavy balancing it in such a restricted area...

On the Sunday I attempt the roast chicken. Everything I've heard is true, the chicken remains moist, but beautifully browned. I didn't do roasties that day, there is a lot of discussion about the roast potato in a moska. I have since tried it, wasn't impressed. Roast vegetables ? Perfect. And if you purchase the rack that sits in the pan, you can put foiled salmon, or chicken breasts in with it making a one pot meal.

Other successes. Toad in the hole - the yorkshire batter rises like a dream. Cauliflower cheese. Foiled whole fish, baked potatoes, even pizzas.
But the familys favourite has to be a form of hot pot. Any meat base ie cottage pie, beef stew, chicken casserole with vegetables, brown, season, add stock whatever on the hob. Put in the remoska, top with sliced potatoes touch of butter and seasoning. The get a round shape of foil to cover loosely for an hour. Last 20 minutes take it off to brown. There is never any left. Pasta bakes - just too easy.

Sweet tooth ? Well my cake making leaves a lot to be desired, my 12 year old son is a whole lot better than me, but even I can make moist sponges in this. Either use the whole pan or a cake tin. Again use the foil, the top browns very quickly.

Flap Jacks, superb. No sticking or greaseproof paper. Apple tart tatin (takes longer to prepare than cook and eat) rice pudding and baked apples.
It's extremely versatile.

However I do have a problem with the non-stick coating. It scratches very easily. I've been advised to buy some of those silicon sheets, haven't got round to it because shopping at Lakeland is one of those Ikea things you never buy just one thing.

Cleaning, the pan fits in my dishwasher, always comes up beautifully. But the lid. Oh dear. It has a shiny stainless steel finish on the top. Well it was shiny. It is now splattered and is a devil to get these marks off. They suggest wipe clean, well there's not much else you can do considering it's the main electrical element.

Storage, mmm. Difficult. It's big and awkward. You need a decent space for it. Mines more than out than in.

I love it, it cooks beautifully. I can overlook the awkwardness of it, but if I had younger children, less space I'd be very scared !

Summary: A clever little cooker that needs a total redesign.

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