What do you do when you can't stand the heat but can't get out of the kitchen?

[Anna N]

@weinoo

 

 Thank you I am going to add those instructions to @Okanagancook‘s very useful spreadsheet. 

[haresfur]

Christmas is usually too hot for cooking in Australia so most people forgo the turkey and eat cold food. Prawns are popular as is sliced ham. Here is my version from last year. Clockwise from top left: smoked salmon & capers, tomato & basil, ham, fresh snow peas, olives, nashi pear, bresaola.

 

[Toliver]

14 hours ago, liuzhou said:

... I use the microwave more in summer, too. It doesn't turn the kitchen into a furnace, as does the  regular stove and oven.

This.

We've had triple digit weather for over a week now and I haven't turned the stove or oven on during that time.

The microwave is a lifesaver when it comes to making meals when it's too hot to cook.

[heidih]

No A/C here. Rice cooker sits on workbench in garage along with toaster oven. I generally make a few raw veg salads like cuke, slaws, 'maters to eat for several days. . Big fish fan. I buy wild Alaskan salmon frozen from Kroger in 2lb bags and often prep a fillet. Just broil it on foil. Easy!

[scubadoo97]

I forget some folks don’t have AC.    Unheard of where I live these days 

[FeChef]

2 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

I forget some folks don’t have AC.    Unheard of where I live these days 

I would have drove to lowes or home depot and bought a new AC. I am assuming OP is talking about a big central air AC Unit, otherwise, who get window AC's repaired? Its cheaper to just go out and buy a new one. Sorry no food advice, i just couldn't get past the AC issue.

[chromedome]

When my kids were little, waffles and ice cream were sometimes the hot-weather dinner.

 

Without the kids, sometimes it's just a beer.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, scubadoo97 said:

I forget some folks don’t have AC.    Unheard of where I live these days 

Me too

1 hour ago, FeChef said:

I would have drove to lowes or home depot and bought a new AC. I am assuming OP is talking about a big central air AC Unit, otherwise, who get window AC's repaired? Its cheaper to just go out and buy a new one. Sorry no food advice, i just couldn't get past the AC issue.

Yes, I'm talking about central air.

 

 

[Toliver]

I also forgot to mention that my sister-in-law cooks on her patio. She had to use her electric deep fryer and didn't want to heat up the kitchen (or fill it with the fumes of fried food) so she set it up on a table in her backyard patio, which I thought was brilliant.

[ninagluck]

no AC in Vienna, my contribution to this thread: "vitello tonnato", using veal tongue, store bought. Leftover tuna sauce can be used on tomatoes making tomato tonnato 😉

[heidih]

28 minutes ago, ninagluck said:

. Leftover tuna sauce can be used on tomatoes making tomato tonnato 😉

 

 

There are some possible song lyrics in there

[MetsFan5]

@Shelby I am so sorry! I would probably stay at a hotel of our AC bit the dust! I keep my home at 62-64 degrees and my central air isn’t keeping up as well as I’d like but it’s in the 60s. I have health issues that respond really poorly to heat. 

 

  Anyway I think you should plan a seafood night! Shrimp cocktail, order some oysters and clams if you like them and or crab claws and go to town! 

  A nice cold Sauvignon Blanc always helps too. 

[Porthos]

Tonight is chicken couscous salad using another Costco chicken.  Couscous is already cooling and the only other heat will be toasting some pine nuts for the salad. I don't have any feta cheese at the moment to add in.

[Porthos]

1 minute ago, MetsFan5 said:

I have health issues that respond really poorly to heat.

As do I. It was one of the reasons I chose to retire from my southern ren faire kitchen. 

[lindag]

11 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

@Shelby I am so sorry! I would probably stay at a hotel of our AC bit the dust! I keep my home at 62-64 degrees and my central air isn’t keeping up as well as I’d like but it’s in the 60s. I have health issues that respond really poorly to heat. 

 

  

 

Wow, you're made of sturdier stuff than I.

I like it cold  for sleep and 60 would be about perfect.  Daytime 68 is nice.

Summer, when it's so hot I can tolerate up to 76 but any higher than that I get crotchety.

 

 

 

 

[SLB]

I guess I do ok with the heat, I haven't had A/C in my adult life.  This includes my years in Mississippi and Alabama.  I'm considering getting a window unit for my bedroom, my tolerance at night is . . . changing. 

 

So what that means, I do have general rules for summer cooking versus winter.  The main thing is, I hoard steaks and sausages for the summer, and don't really cook big roast-type meats after May or so.  I do cook full meals through the summer, and even fry; but as a rule if it has to go in the oven, or cook for a very long time, it has to be done very early in the morning.  Then I'll just reheat it for dinner. 

 

Also, I use the pressure cooker a lot more in the summer.  I gather that the IP works along the same lines, and I would guess since you aren't running the stove it would keep the house cooler?

 

It's weird though; I crave fried food in hot weather.  Which is the hottest thing on earth to have to stand there and do, and also you don't get its glory in the reheated version. 

 

I should mention, the summer dinner cooking usually starts with a stiff gin and tonic and some cold watermelon.  Possibly this is the main *tip*.

 

But then, I just stand there and fry.  

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by SLB (log)

[ElsieD]

If I kept our place in the low 60s I'd be wearing my parka (if I had one).  We keep the bedroom at 67.  Anything colder than that, hubby starts to whine.  I'm like @lindag if I could, my bedroom would be a lot colder.  The rest of the place, though, no colder than 72, preferably 74 and again, since we differ in our preferences, the thermostat is usually set to 72.😕

[MetsFan5]

25 minutes ago, lindag said:

 

Wow, you're made of sturdier stuff than I.

I like it cold  for sleep and 60 would be about perfect.  Daytime 68 is nice.

Summer, when it's so hot I can tolerate up to 76 but any higher than that I get crotchety.

 

 

 

 

 

  Our house holds the AC nicely we have a lot of large trees surrounding the house. 62 is for sleep and 64 is for day time. 

 

  When I run my ovens though it gets the kitchen hot very quickly. So I’ve been avoiding them. Tonight’s dinner is left over delivery pizza using the pan method.  

[liuzhou]

Like most people,  I do not have AC at home. Nor do  I want it. Apart from the environmental considerations, when I have used AC, in hotels and the like, I wake with appallingly painful sore throats. I just use fans, which are dotted around the house. The biggest one lives at the end of my bed and blows on me all night.

 

I can't imagine using AC or a fan in the kitchen (apart from extractor fans).

 

One thing I omitted to mention is that I use a slow cooker a lot in summer, too. Well, I use a slow cooker a lot year-round. It doesn't get particularly hot and they can be used for light dinners as well as hefty winter stews, etc. I have two: a largish one for when I have guests (seldom) and a small one with just enough capacity for dinner for one.

[scubadoo97]

Here in central west coast Florida everyone has AC.   Just heated my oven to 400f to make oven fries yesterday.  Didn’t give it a second thought.  

 

Again air conditioners are in every home.  Gone are the days of the breeze ways of my youth 

[haresfur]

An induction burner doesn't throw as much heat as radiant electric or gas.

[Anna N]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

One thing I omitted to mention is that I use a slow cooker a lot in summer, too. 

 Really, truly I do not want to drag this off-topic but I have to say that you + slow cookers simply does not compute in my very limited universe. What do you cook in them?  I am now going to make a 2nd cup of coffee to make sure I read your post correctly.

[helenjp]

Lots of great ideas! I make gazpacho often, and also like watermelon gazpacho...eat half fresh and make half into gazpacho for the next day. You can add a tomato or not, both ways are good.

Rice cookers, break makers, slow cookers...bring 'em on, if they are well insulated, they keep the kitchen cooler. Especially in a small Japanese house with a waist-height oven...no way that is getting switched on until November! Making curd rice early in the day and eating it at lunch or dinner is good too.

Love my pressure cooker in summer - tonight's dinner is a Filipino style chicken adobo - it's 6:30 pm and the temperature is still 95 degrees in the areas of the house that don't have A/C. The saltiness is good in the heat, the vinegar offsets the richness, and both help it keep a bit better. Really lean beef pressure cooked, allowed to cool in its own liquor, then refrigerated and served in THIN slices and drizzled with sesame oil over a salad is a favorite too.

 

Sandwiches are good, but the truly lazy cook goes for bread salads. I add bread to a kind of "salted lettuce salad" . Tear lettuce, leave in a big bowl of water to crisp up about 20 minutes, drain, then EITHER just sprinkle with a half tsp of coarse salt and lightly rub in, OR rub in a little oil (Japanese sesame oil, olive oil, whatever you like) and then add a spoonful of miso and a pinch or two of coarse salt and lightly rub that in too. At this point I toss in a few bread cubes (toasted if you like) and let it all sit for a bit. Add herbs or torn pieces of nori or other seaweeds, onion, whatever, and you're good to go.

Over the weekend we had a kind of Japanesified vege tortilla - grilled eggplants crushed with garlic, yogurt, and a little ground sesame seed, side by side with crushed spicy beans.

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 Really, truly I do not want to drag this off-topic but I have to say that you + slow cookers simply does not compute in my very limited universe. What do you cook in them?  I am now going to make a 2nd cup of coffee to make sure I read your post correctly.

 

You read correctly,  I think.

 

a) I don't always cook Chinese, as I'm sure you have noticed.

 

b) Contrary to popular opinion, not all food in China is is cooked in seconds over blistering hot woks. My small slow cooker, which I use most, was a gift from a Chinese friend. Later I bought the second to deal with occasional larger requirements . Many Chinese dishes are slow cooked or can be adapted for slow cooking. Hong shao (red-cooked) dishes are often slow braised for extended periods, for example. Every store selling domestic cooking appliances has slow cookers.

Soups, stocks, braised anything*, tomato and other sauces, can all be prepared without turning the kitchen into a furnace by using the slow cooker.

Tonight I am slow cooking a couple of chicken legs and will use the meat with a ... well, I'm not sure yet. See the dinner thread tomorrow!

 

All that said, yes I do cook most things in one of my woks.

 

*Slow cookers are ideal for pig ears, oxtails and other tougher cuts which are then finished in the wok.

[Shelby]

12 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

@Shelby I am so sorry! I would probably stay at a hotel of our AC bit the dust! I keep my home at 62-64 degrees and my central air isn’t keeping up as well as I’d like but it’s in the 60s. I have health issues that respond really poorly to heat. 

 

  Anyway I think you should plan a seafood night! Shrimp cocktail, order some oysters and clams if you like them and or crab claws and go to town! 

  A nice cold Sauvignon Blanc always helps too. 

Oh I am so sorry for your health issues.  I sound like an ass complaining like I am.  I just don't like being so sweaty

12 hours ago, Porthos said:

Tonight is chicken couscous salad using another Costco chicken.  Couscous is already cooling and the only other heat will be toasting some pine nuts for the salad. I don't have any feta cheese at the moment to add in.

 

12 hours ago, Porthos said:

As do I. It was one of the reasons I chose to retire from my southern ren faire kitchen. 

I'm sorry for your health problems too.

 

It's a nice, rainy morning here.  Hoping it stays cloudy all day.  That certainly helps

 

I'm loving all of these ideas!