Only 1 oven

[Buddy15]

I was used to a kitchen with 2 ovens but have moved into a place with only one.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to adapt my cooking.  Make dishes that can be served at room temp? Try to adapt the cooking temps when recipes call for different temps? I'm thinking of getting an air fryer but I'm not sure if I would use it to cook or can I use it to keep things warm.

 

[mike carey]

This can be a challenge. Anyone who cooks will adapt how they do it to the equipment they have available. If the equipment you have changes for any reason, not just moving house, you have to adapt to the change. At present, my usual kitchen has one oven, four hotplates, a microwave (not one with a convection capability although I have had one of those in the past) and most recently an air fryer. (The air fryer has been a revelation, cooking some things, refreshing things like pastries, bread rolls and croissants, but it sort of counts as an oven for some things. It's not essential but I like it. From my observation, it wouldn't work for keeping things warm but, noting that it's smaller, you could use it to cook and the oven to keep things warm.) At various times I've had other appliances - rice cookers and electric skillets - that could replace or supplement what I have now.

Having two ovens could make you careless about how you rely on them. What needs to be served straight from the oven, and what can be cooked in advance and kept warm then put back in the oven before serving to bring up to the right temperature? Do you need to plan more carefully, can you cook some things in a microwave or on a stove top rather than an oven? Can you plan your meal so as not to need two ovens?

Professional kitchens have a large array of cooking methods, but they also need to cook multiple meals simultaneously, using diverse cooking methods. Some things can be in large pots on a stove top, some need to be served immediately on cooking, some can use prepared sauces while others need to have sauces made in the same pan as the dish was cooked. It all comes down to understanding the equipment you have available, what you want to cook, and how (and whether) it's possible with what you have.

[Mark_fl]

Many people think the drawer under the oven is for storage, when it's really a warming area to keep cooked foods warm. Maybe that can help.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 3/13/2026 at 5:34 AM, mike carey said:

Having two ovens could make you careless about how you rely on them. What needs to be served straight from the oven, and what can be cooked in advance and kept warm then put back in the oven before serving to bring up to the right temperature? Do you need to plan more carefully, can you cook some things in a microwave or on a stove top rather than an oven? Can you plan your meal so as not to need two ovens?

I Agree 💯 

I learned to cook meals in the Boy Scouts, while camping and cooking for a group and usually only using a small 2-burner camp stove, charcoal, or a wood-burning flame 🔥 

Through trial and error, I learned the importance of planning meals that could be cooked in only 1 or 2 pots/pans, and timing everything to be ready and served hot at the same time.  It also helped to use as few pots/pans as possible when it came to washing dishes outdoors.

Having made lasagna in a Dutch oven over charcoal, I would be spoiled making that same dish in an oven in an indoor kitchen today! I probably would never turn on a 2nd oven if I had one.