i am concerned

ok guys so i didnt know where to put this…i remember something happened when i was kid to cause this but i dont remember exactly what it is a very vague memory …and it wouldnt have mattered but now it matters a lot.

i have a wierd and irrational fear actually phobia of stoves…whether they are electric or gas …i dont wanna go near it …i know it is irrational but i am having hard time getting over it

and it wudnt have mattered till now but now i am married and i want so badly to feed him things i cook myself… so here’re my question to you guys

  1. is there an alternative to stoves that i can use to cook? like an easy bake oven or something
  2. are there good recipes that i can do but use the microwave for cooking
  3. how can i get over my fear and quickly

Re: i am concerned

nobody has any advice? :bummer:

Re: i am concerned

you know you get a cooking pot type thing in the market , you just stick the plug in and can cook nicely on it... I know someone who got burnt a few years back and has been very fearful of fires and stoves .... she seems to be doing fine with that electric pot thingy .... you cant cook extensive and complicated dishes in it , but its good enough for once in a while cooking or less complicated cooking...

She even makes fried egg in that pot :@:

Re: i am concerned

very cool whats this thing called :)

but there has to be a way to get over the fear so you can cook so elaborate dishes too :D

Re: i am concerned

Get a crock pot, you can make anything from rice to haleem in it. It just plugs into a socket and starts cooking.

You can get the Webber Grill and plug it in too.

Re: i am concerned

To get over your fear, the only suggestion I have is to start off with small dishes and items like chai, instant noodles, etc.

Gradually build on it and increase your time a little at a time.

Re: i am concerned

you might need to see a therapist. and i dont mean this to post to sound rude (surprising for me, i know).

food is a big deal to most families, whether you like it or not. so this will be well worth the effort to sort out before your hubby gets there.

Re: i am concerned

ok so what is the actual fear? of burning yourself? of messing up the cooking(embarrasment?) or just the look of the stove/gas/flames?

Re: i am concerned

How do you get over the fear of stoves?

A few things you can do on your own:

1- First determine in your mind and heart , exactly what it is that scares you? Fire? fear of burning yourself? fire getting out of control etc …

2- Secondly determine in your mind and heart , what amount of damage does your mind scare you of? for example, ignite just a tiny bit of fire , see if scares you… if it doesnt , then see if medium flame scares you … you just have to know what level of flame/heat actually triggers this fear in you.

3- If you are comfortable with seeing the flame , and a light one, then start cooking minor dishes on very very low flame .. stay away from frying stuff .. coz thats something that is usually scary for good enough people as well … or the use of pressure cooker , I get hyper everytime i use a pressure cooker !

4- if its the flame that scares you , then make sure you look for that plug in thing alternative , or an electic plate stove , cook on the least heat .

5- If its the heat that triggers your fear , then the only thing you can do is , again cook on very very low flame … baking and stuff wont really help you get over your fear , but they will keep you enthusiastic about cooking … so they will add as an inspiration. .. but make sure you push yourself slightly to cook on low heat .. might take you upto 3 hours to do a dish , but ultimately with time you will get better in terms of overcoming your fear ..

Hope this helps :hugz:

Re: i am concerned

also one other thing , when you are cooking , try to keep yourself distracted from the heat being there ...

My friend who has somewhat the same issue , got her gas stove replaced with induction hobs .. they dont use flame... even when you are cooking on the hob, the heat just remains trapped to the pot .. you can touch the hob and you wont feel a thing .. you might as well try that ...

Re: i am concerned

^^^i think i need that its the fire the heat the fear of burning myself the fear of things flying out of the frypan onto my arm and me scalding myself these things scare me and even if it is an electric stove...

and i didnt used to care abt this but i wanna feed him stuff i cook so now i care a lot....i will try what you said and perhaps also visit a therapist for this...in the mean time i might also get a crock pot...by the time he comes to the usa i hope i wilol have gotten over my fear and cook him some nice stuff

My wife, at least in the winter, cooks all her curries in the oven. Even tastes better.

Re: i am concerned

wow Sarsa , that sounds good , can you share with us one of her oven curry recipes ... please :@:

Re: i am concerned

yes, make sure your MIL is never around your stove.

:chai:

Re: i am concerned

confused n how would that help me get over my fear

Re: i am concerned

it wont…its a very bad joke on my part :hehe:

Re: i am concerned

oh hehe ok…

but i didnt get the joke :bummer: samjhaao na mujhe nahin toh mujhe neend nahin aayegi :stuck_out_tongue:

I have a similar fear - huge fear of fire and thus can’t make myself to use a stove that has an open flame. I am ok with an electrical stove though.

A few years back my hair caught on fire due to a stove :bummer:. I turned on the gas and usually there is an instant flame.. this particular time there wasn’t and then all of a sudden when there was a flame, the flames were soooooooo big. My hair which was very long caught fire because I was standing too close. My instinctive reaction was to run my hands through my hair to get rid of the fire. It worked and shuker hai I did not get burned. But a huge chunk of my hair was ruined and I am scared for life of a open flame stove :frowning:

Sorry - this probably did not help your fear. :frowning: But people have listed great alternatives. Crock pots are amazing, ovens are great, and I luv my george foreman grill.

Do you know what kind of food your husband likes??? My fiance likes dry food so I have kinda lucked out that I will not be slaving over a stove. Grilled meats and baked items are his preference. Mabey it is the same for you?

In pakistan its very well known that bahus who die in home fires or explosions are brought on by the MIL or other in law messing around with the stove etc.


Use slow cooker and their recipes its great for cooking. Use oven for cooking try to cook bake foods etc.
May be when you start cooking in slow cooker or in oven you will be less afraid.