Can You Cook with a 1969 Easy-Bake Oven?
If you’ve ever wondered whether you can cook with a 1969 Easy-Bake Oven, the answer is… surprisingly, yes. I got my hands on one of these vintage beauties recently — shipped over from eBay for a not-so-small sum of $170 (cheers, postage) — and gave it a proper test run. Brownies, cakes, and even a fried egg. All cooked using light bulbs.
Yes, really.
Unboxing the Retro Chaos
When the Easy-Bake arrived, I wasn’t entirely convinced it would even power on. It came with a bundle of old accessories — most of which didn’t fit the oven at all. It honestly looked like it had been on a dusty attic holiday since 1973.
Surprisingly, the two 125V incandescent bulbs that came with it — which looked like they’d seen a few kitchen battles — actually worked. That was a massive relief. These bulbs are nearly impossible to find now, and if they hadn’t worked, I would’ve been completely stuck.
Powering It Up in the UK
After a bit of unscrewing and a light clean-up, I set up a step-down converter to safely run the 120V oven on UK mains power. When I turned it on, it immediately smelled like burning dust and old plastic — but it worked!
The brownies baked in about 8 to 9 minutes and were surprisingly tasty. In fact, I’d say they turned out better than the ones I baked in a regular oven. Who knew a pair of light bulbs could bake so well?
Cake, Curd and Chaos
I also made two sponge cakes using tiny tins that just about squeezed inside. The second sponge baked even after the power nearly cut out — running on nothing but leftover heat. I sandwiched them together with mango and passion fruit curd, topped with Betty Crocker icing and a few sprinkles. That’s right — a proper two-tier Easy-Bake cake!
Cooking with Light Bulbs… Literally
To really push the boundaries, I finished off with a baked fried egg — yes, cooked entirely with light bulbs. It wasn’t perfect, but it did cook. Just don’t expect crispy edges.
Watch the Full Test
Watch the video above or click here to watch it on YouTube to see how it all played out — from the surprise unboxing to lightbulb-baked brownies and more.
More Weird Gadget Tests
If you enjoy this kind of retro cooking chaos, check out these other Hulk Hogan vintage kitchen gadgets I found on eBay that I put through their paces too.
Final Thoughts
So, can you cook with a 1969 Easy-Bake Oven? Absolutely. Despite the smell of melting dust and mystery parts that didn’t fit, it actually worked. Just don’t expect Mary Berry results — or much energy efficiency!