Summer months mean hot days and a hot kitchen if you use your oven. I try to avoid using my oven during the summer months to help keep my utility costs down.
There are many ways to cook without using your oven. A grill, roaster, toaster oven, bread machine, and crock pot can all be used to create meals without heating up the kitchen. But, I have found that when it is really hot even the crock pot creates too much heat in my kitchen. Last summer I found an easy solution to this problem. I put the ingredients in my crock pot and then set it on the porch to cook all day. My kitchen stays cool and so do I.
How do you keep your kitchen cool in the summer heat?
Remember to use common sense when putting the crock pot outside. Don’t leave it anywhere that a child could touch it and get burned.
I have answered some of your crock pot questions here.
This post is linking to Works for me Wednesday.
Amanda says
I do the exact same thing…I love my crockpot. It’s a treat to have dinner done and a cool house. 🙂
Jen says
I don’t have a crock pot, but I do have the other things you mentioned… and actually kinda funny, I did this EXACT thing this past weekend. We cooked a turkey dinner of all things in May for a Family Gathering – I had the luxury of using someones portable oven thing and guess where the turkey cooked? Out on my deck! 🙂 Love it!
Liz says
Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Julianne says
That is such a great idea! I’ve never thought of doing that in all the years I’ve been using my crock-pot.
Thanks!
Julianne
Julie says
That’s a great idea. I was just fussing to myself yesterday when I had a crockpot meal going and was trying to work in the kitchen. It’s amazing how a small appliance can really heat an area up.
I wonder if my dog would try to get into it though…hehe
Shalyn says
I love this idea..though we have many wild animals around so I would worry a bit…between the coyotes, racoons and bears..i wouldn’t want to attract but maybe on out balcony? Thanks so much!
Stephanie says
I never thought about doing that! But, for me, outside, food, and boys! HMMM??? LOL
Paula @ Organizing Tips for Moms says
That’s a great idea! I’ve never thought of that. Now, if I could just learn to like cooking!
Leslie says
My kitchen is the hottest room in the house whether I’m cooking or not. We don’t have central air and the three window units cool every room but the kitchen. It’s as if the air just can’t make it around the corner! Plus, it is the sunniest room in our house as well. I cook the same way you do in the summer! Great idea about the crock pot outside! I would worry about the neighborhood cats though. They may burn themselves out of curiosity. I find my neighbor’s cat sitting on our grill sometimes!
Paula says
great idea on the crock pot…i to have never thought about it. i think we all find was of not cooking inside during the summer no matter where you live. while in Fl a few years back after a string of hurricanes we had lost power for almost a month so we had to be creative when making dinners so we were not eating sandwiches and cereal all the time. I even made chicken pot pie on the grill using my bean pot(enamal roaster)i still to this day do things like that during the summer. also if you are in a area where you can have a small camp fire you can not go wrong with roasting hotdogs,corn and smores for dessert…kids love it and we love sitting around a nice fire any day of the week. also need to pat my husband and i on the back right now we have been able to payoff 2 big cc’s with only one small one to go hope next few months….then the only thing we will have is a house,and auto loan which is pretty normal for most households….
L2L says
I think this is sooo funny!!!!! Ya do what ya gotta do I guess, he-he.
MNKristy says
I don’t use my oven either if the air conditioning is on. I do lots and lots of grilling in the summer. Or occasionally I use my stovetop. I don’t typically use my crockpot in the summer…to me a crockpot is a winter tool to make thick soups and creamy-type comfort foods.
Nique says
Great idea! I had never thought about that.
Bree says
I put my crockpot in the garage for two reasons…it keeps the heat out of the house and the strong cooking smells. This works especially well when I am cooking pulled pork or whole chickens that have to cook a long time/or overnight. I was cooking a whole chicken yesterday as soon as I pulled into the garage the scent came right into the air vents. YUM! but no lingering smell in my house.
Sherry says
Great idea! I’m going to have to try that. 😀
april says
we definitely give the crockpot a workout in the summer…we also have a small rotisserie and of course, the grill we use a lot when its hot
miss mary says
I go from casseroles (in winter) to crockpot in the summer as well. I try not to use the oven, but I’m a baker and when I do use it, it is in the morning hours (early) while it is still cool outside enough to be able to use the oven for 40 minutes or so.
have a great week.. God Bless & Hugs
songbirdtiff says
I think this might attract all the neighbor cats. 🙂
Luke Holzmann says
Love it!
Have you ever had animals swing by and disrupt your cooking?
~Luke
Joelle says
Hey, that’s a good idea… crockpot outside. I might try putting it in my little garage. My oven and stove make my kitchen SO hot during the summer. (We have an upstairs apartment, and factor in 115 degree temperatures outdoors. Yuck.) I do try to use my crockpot and toaster oven more during the summer, but I never thought of putting it outside.
angie says
never thought of that but my crockpot will be traveling with me on the next camping trip
Erin @ Closing Time says
What a great idea…I never thought of that!
Kat says
This is a great idea! Do you ever have problems with bugs, pets, wild animals?
Julie Alejos says
WOW!! I never thought of putting my crock pot outside & I LOVE cooking in my crock pot. What about animals outside? That’s what I would worry about. But I’d just put it on a table, up high. Great tip!! Thanks. My utility bill just went up over $50 in a months time!! Here comes summer!!!!
Jim @ CoolStuffForDads.com says
Funny, they should offer optional legs for these!
Upstatemomof3 says
That is a great idea!! I hate making my kitchen hot from cooking in the summer.
Lisa says
Interesting! I’ve never thought of doing something like this before…thank you for the idea!
niki says
So simple but I never thought of it. Only place I’ve ever used mine was in my own kitchen or at church.
🙂
Christy says
Great idea! I love the ease of a crockpot, but when I’m pregnant I HATE smelling the food all day long as it cooks. I was thinking of putting mine in the basement, lol, but outside might work too. 😉
Jennifer says
I put my crock pot on the porch when I cook. Since we live in a 2nd story apartment, animals aren’t an issue for us.
I use my crock pot most in the summer since I don’t want to heat up the house. I love the Fit It and Forget It cookbook for ideas http://www.amazon.com/Fix-Forget-Cookbook-Feasting-Cooker/dp/1561483176/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242925567&sr=1-1.