How to cook in a Kitchenette? (Long Term Move)

[mariacj]

Re-wrote this to be more clear (Long Term Move 2 years or more)

So, my husband and I are looking moving into a house with 5 others. (We are college age students.) The house is built like a two level duplex. The downstairs 1 bedroom apartment is amazing and is currently larger than our 1 bedroom apartment, but only has a Kitchenette (sink, countertops, and cabinets). The Kitchenette does not have a Fridge, but I can buy a small one that is no larger than a 14 Cubic Feet... Lowes has some good ones. (We can then keep this or give it to the next college student in our family... I am the oldest so i have a lot of choices.)


Things I already have:
An Island of sorts... to make the Kitchen a U-shape instead of an L Shape.
Electric Skillet
Slow Cooker (Roasts Meats and other Potato dishes, etc)
Rice Cooker (Rice, and steam)
George F. Grill
Grilled Cheese/Waffle Maker
Blender
Microwave

Upstairs has a stove: I don't bake all that often so that is okay. I can share this. My husband needs some way of boiling water and such on a daily basis and I just want to set up the downstairs to feel like a real Kitchen for the sake of convenience.



Point of my post: I need suggestions.
Does anyone have a brand of stove, hot plate, induction cooking appliance that they like? I am getting to many mixed reviews online and wanted to ask you guys first.




Without this, Hubby would eat out every time that I am not home to cook. Mac N Cheese is his go to meal.

 

[Imzadi]

I used to work for a five star catering company. When we had to do stovetop cooking in front of the guests, to make omelets, stir-fry or a pasta where the guests got to pick the ingredients and we'd cook it up right to order, we'd use these portable butane stoves. They work wonderfully. They heat up very hot and quickly, just like a regular gas stove. Much better than the electric burners.

http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Butane-Burner-Stove-Free/dp/B000BVC4NY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305518710&sr=8-2

The butane can fits in the section to the right, behind the knob.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

What about an electric skillet?

 

[shortbun]

I have a great small gas grill that can double as a two burner stove. We paid under $100 and I saw one at Costco for about $100 yesterday that was stainless steel. I don't understand what you are doing, OP. How are you going to transport a refrigerator? Why not just rent a house with a kitchen?

 

[scrapquitler]

I don't see a microwave listed....if you had a microwave, DH could just re-heat things you've already cooked whenever you aren't going to be there.

 

[scrapquitler]

Another thought....can you search craigslist or something and just buy a used stove? You'd have to make sure that the kitchenette had the right kind of outlet, but it might be easier than juggling and buying all these small appliances.

 

[englishteacha]

OP, I think some of us are confused. Is this a house you are looking to live in long term? Or is this a rental for a vacation?

 

[mariacj]

I did not realize this was unclear.


The house we are looking is long term rental. Hmmmm I should have thought about that before I posted. This is Disboards.


I already have an electrical Skillet and a Microwave. (Forgot to include them in the lists)

What I need is some way to boil water for pasta. The house is fully equiped upstairs but the downstairs 1 bedroom apartment only has a sink.

I will go back up and re-edit as to be clear.

 

[mariacj]

Another thought....can you search craigslist or something and just buy a used stove? You'd have to make sure that the kitchenette had the right kind of outlet, but it might be easier than juggling and buying all these small appliances.

Hm I never thought about this. I will have to check to see if they have the right outlet. I would need to check regulations on what is needed. I don't want to harm the house or its tenants.

 

[girli565]

I have a toaster oven from Wolfgang Puck (my mom bought it on HSN). It's a convection oven that does everything a regular oven does and also a toaster while still being small enough to fit on the counter top. The only thing you would need to look for are baking sheets that fit it. It comes with one to start, I'm sure you could order more.

I love this thing. I roast in it, it even comes with a rotisserie attachment, and I bake amazing cookies in it.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

I hardly ever use my stove. A hot plate, rotisserie oven/toaster oven, indoor grill, slow cooker, and a microwave thats all i seem to use.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Dual-Burner-Hot-Plate/12442588

 

[angierae]

Does an electric teakettle get water hot enough for your purposes?

 

[mariacj]

I have a toaster oven from Wolfgang Puck (my mom bought it on HSN). It's a convection oven that does everything a regular oven does and also a toaster while still being small enough to fit on the counter top. The only thing you would need to look for are baking sheets that fit it. It comes with one to start, I'm sure you could order more.

I love this thing. I roast in it, it even comes with a rotisserie attachment, and I bake amazing cookies in it.

Will look into this one.

I hardly ever use my stove. A hot plate, rotisserie oven/toaster oven, indoor grill, slow cooker, and a microwave thats all i seem to use.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Dual-Burner-Hot-Plate/12442588

Yay... thanks!

Does an electric teakettle get water hot enough for your purposes?

It would work for cooking fresh pasta and not the dried pasta from the grocery stores. (I still want one as a I drink a lot of tea, but the microwave heats water for me...)




I know there are a lot of cook pasta in microwave gadgets we could use, but the husband lived in a house where microwaves were rarely used. Back in the 90's my mom had this cookbook that showed how to make everything in the microwave.... that was how I grew up making Meatloaf.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really appreciate you guys!

 

[TheRatPack]

Don't forget a Keurig too.....you can make some nice hot water in that. It's how I make packet hot cocoa, instant oatmeal, tea and of course coffee, packet soups or add water to condensed soups..etc. Wouldn't work for dry pasta though.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is it *possible* to buy a tiny stove? An ex of mine lived in a studio with a kitchen just barely big enough for him to stand in...they had this tiny 2 burner stove (don't think there was an oven) in the kitchen. Is that possible at all? I would think it would end up taking up less space than all the other implements!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Try this

https://www.pastaboat.tv/?tid=4104

 

[CarlisleMom]

How about a single electric burner! I use one in my garage when a make candles. They go for around $10..check walmart. I think I got my at a drug store.

 

[cglaura]

I'm not sure what the budget is, but would you have room for something like this? My mom had one in a small house she rented in between selling her home and remarrying. Worked out well. You would have to check code regulations in the building of course.

http://www.compactappliance.com/Dan...id=Appliances-Ranges_Cooktops-Electric_Ranges

(This was just for example, Home Depot or Lowes would probably have better sales, etc.)

 

[lizabu]

How about a single electric burner! I use one in my garage when a make candles. They go for around $10..check walmart. I think I got my at a drug store.

this

 

[kaywoody]

I lived for several months with a kitchenette setup while we had a short term employment contract. It came with a microwave and small fridge and I added a single burner hotplate, an electric skillet, a crock pot and a toaster oven. I did great. We rarely ate out and I made pretty much anything I'd normally make (except a turkey at Thanksgiving!). I cooked lots of stuff in the toaster oven (and still do now so the big oven doesn't heat up the house). I certainly didn't feel deprived at all except for room in the fridge, our was the larger dorm style and certainly didn't hold much. That meant I had to make more frequent trips to the grocery store.

You'll be fine!!

Oh, don't forget to check the circuit breaker to see which plugs are on the same circuit. A different time we stayed in a long-term stay in a hotel while waiting for an apartment to open up, and I got tired of eating out. I dug out the crock pot, electric skillet and cooked all afternoon. I needed the microwave too, and when I hit the button it threw the breaker and knocked out the electricity to the whole end of the building. I quickly unplugged everything, and remembered that anything that heats up takes a lot of electricity. A kitchen is designed for that energy consumption, but a regular room isn't. From that point on I remembered that I could only use two cooking devices at a time!