Using spare oven space

[Sugarsnap1982]

Does anyone make a habit of doing this? As a way of saving money in the kitchen, I've seen it recommended a few times; if you've got something going in the oven then use the spare space to cook something else without needing any extra energy. I've thrown in whole squash and potatoes to roast when there's a casserole or something going, but I'm wary of doing anything more in case there's a bit of cross-contamination; the last thing I want is a batch of muffins or loaf of bread that taste like over ratatouille, for example!

Does anyone have any experience with trying this and can reassure me?

 

[Food4thought]

I think it makes a lot of sense. Turning on the oven uses a lot of energy and it's a waste to have only one item, such as a casserole dish, in the oven. If you are worried about contamination, this will not happen if you bake a couple of pies at a time or cook two main dishes and keep one for later. People I know with big freezers always cook in quantities.

 

[OhioTom76]

Yes, although I typically do this with either loaves of bread and or whole potatoes. If I am slow cooking a roast and I know that I am going to want mashed potatoes with it, instead of going through the trouble of peeling, chopping and boiling the potatoes separately, I will throw a few into the oven whole, and let them cook for the last hour or so that the roast is in for, then I will take them out and put them into a potato ricer whole and squeeze them through it. You don't even need to peel them, the skins stay in the ricer and fluffy potato comes out the other end. Have a bowl of warmed milk, butter, salt and pepper ready to go, and all you have to do is give the potatoes a couple stirs and they are ready to go.

Another thing I will do when tomatoes are in season and I happen to be slow roasting some meat in the oven, is to make oven roasted tomatoes in there too at the same time. Just drizzle them with some olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and some Italian herbs then bake on a baking sheet. They become concentrated and sweeten up nicely. Then you can just dump them into a blender with some olive oil and salt and pepper and make a great tasting slow roasted sauce for pasta.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I do that all the time!

 

[Jade]

I do this too. I always feel guilty whenever I am cooking something in the oven and a lot of space is left, so I usually think up things I could put in there before I start cooking the main dish. Of course, the trick is to find something that wouldn't mess too much with the smells and flavors of whatever it is you're cooking. For example, I wouldn't cook sweet pies with a roast. What I usually go for is hashbrowns and other similar dishes because they are great as snacks while cooking.

 

[Sugarsnap1982]

Ooh, over roasted tomatoes, now that's a good idea! Thanks, I may just try that.

Thank you all for the responses; I think you've confirmed what I was thinking anyway, that I need to make sure the things I'm cooking are compatible. I think I need to put in a bit of effort and thought to begin with until it turns into more of an easy habit to get the real benefits. I do like to cook to the freezer anyway, though I don't have a huge amount of space so I mainly tend to double up on the dish I'm already cooking, rather than doing a lot of freezer-specific cooking. I'm hoping to invest in a chest freezer soon so I can step it up a bit!