Climate Change, discussion and facts.

That seems like a good compromise. No need to have the light on when no one's looking and no need to open the oven door to peek in (provided the glass is clean), because you can just turn it on when you need a look.

Sounds like a good design.

I very specifically selected my range to have a 1/3 height second oven. just the right size to cook a tray of something or broil steaks.

and yes, now that I'm home I checked, and it is a button to turn on the oven light.

I've occasionally considered putting a hybrid convection/microwave in my work truck. (combined with a little bit better onboard generator on powerless sites), it would be great for hot lunches. but since my standard lunch, when I get a lunch break, is a pbj, it's hard to justify.

second edit: I HAVE been known to use a PVC heat bending blanket, commonly known as a burrito cooker, to heat a burrito for lunch.

"But... Oven Timer..." is not a phrase that is safe around me.

Personal preferences get different mileages.

I cook cakes by smell.
There is something you get to learn by experience, but when a cake is cooked, the smell from the oven "changes", and getting the difference between cooked and burnt is an experience I know almost to perfection?.
Its not a hard thing to learn, just trust your sense of smell, and teach it to know the difference between a cooked cake and a not cooked, and when it starts to edge towards "something is burning", the cake is done?..
Do not just abandon the timer.
Use the sense of smell as a backup, whilst it learns the signals to send.

I also cook Bread in the same way.

Cooking is a science that makes use of all your senses, and some you dont know exist as well, so use them.?.

The light in the oven is something that helps me see what I am doing, and can help me see when the cheese on toast is bubbling "About right", or the top of a pizza is just that right shade of toasty, or the fact that it has been several moths and it needs a clean.
But having to switch it on and off manually?.. I would rather it be there as long as the oven is on, that way, I can see some things from the other side of the room whilst I am doing other things.

I have never used the oven timer on my oven. Ever, I dont know how, and I dont care anyway?.
I set the time by the clock and come back "In 20 mins" and check if its cooked, sooner if it smells that way?..
If the recipe says "Hour and a half", I stick that thermometer thing in it and see if the heat has done its work on the inside...
Or turn it upside sideways and tap the base, or have a good sniff, or all of them.
I do not take things out the oven on timer alone.. I have never trusted timers, because they dont know how good my oven is, or isnt, or whatever, because some ovens are better than others, and all times must be "About approximate", because they always are?.

I have a slow cooker, thats a wonderful beast, because if you set it to start three hours before you want to eat, if its four hours, nothing gets wasted, you just turn it to low "keep warm" power.

And then I try to cook at my own pace.
If someone tries to "Challenge me" to do something in less time than I would normally take, do they want it done now, or do they want it done right?.

I do not waste food by failing challenges like that.
I either get whatever time is needed or you choose something else.
Cooking is an art form that cannot be rushed...
Or do you see TV programs that set a timer on someone doing a portrait?..
You have a full day to do as much as you can, yes, but none of this "We know that small one takes 2 hrs so you now have ONE hour only", and then criticise you for getting it wrong?.

So back to oven lights.
I prefer them on, because I also cook by sight.
Its a beef pie, it takes 2 hrs, but after an hour the juices start to boil over the top...
I can see that, in passing, and I turn the oven down.
Before the juices all escape and it dries up.
I may add a bit of extra hot gravy to it before I put the lid on it.

But trying to do that in a dark oven?.

Again, I do not fully trust recipes, if it says add star anise to a pie I would rather have without, I dont add it.
If my oven on fan assist will cook it 15 mins quicker, I adjust times, and its cooked when its cooked.
If certain things are cooking quicker than others, I adjust the shelf's, put things I want to slow down lower in the oven.
Yes there are temp differences, even in a fan assist oven.

And I do a lot of that with sight and smell, so having the oven light on all the time the oven is working....
I need that.

Personal preferences get different mileages.
I bought this oven because it works for me... not because someone else who cooks a lit different than I do said it was good, but because it works for me.
And its Electric...
My First EVER electric oven?. I always cooked on gas before.
But this one proved I can be wrong, and its irreplaceable for me right now.

I cant cook on an electric hob, I tried, failed, burnt some stuff, including parts of me, fell out with the idea, and hate electric hobs.
When I can afford it I may look again at Halogen, but I cant afford that, when I have a perfectly good Gas hob system that works.

or I could eat a sandwich, in which case, I don't have to shop for a 500 watt microwave, an inverter, or a connection from my truck battery.

actually, my current generator could carry a standard microwave. it's just a rackety thing. - truth be told, there is usually site power, anyway, so the generator is more or less a backup.

Considering the size and weight of vehicle that you drive, I wouldn't think that an extra 150 pounds would have a noticeable effect on mileage. Besides, with your back, do you really want to be having to chase fast food?

and if you keep eating fast food, you may soon be carrying the extra 150, ANYWAY.

And at the depot, maybe someone else will chase after the fast food and hold it down until you can get over to eat it.

You ever worked at a place where the cafe is [unmentionable] bad, the local fly roasts are even worse, and CMOT Dibbler would get a Dunlop star, which is the same as a Michelin star, but tastes a bit more wubbery?..

And if you start lugging a Microwave inside to use the electrics, they all start wanting a go?.

The ideal was use it in the car park and "Dont tell anyone".


I saw that Greg. Behave.

I am pretty agile for my age, and I can throw a pallet hook with accuracy....