Combination Microwave oven - Questions

room512

khampson wrote: »

Oh I see, I am starting to understand it now, having owned a standard microwave for 25 years. To use the grill option do you use them with the door open? Sorry if I'm sounding a little dim but this new technology has me lost. Are all microwaves makes roughly the same or do any particular company excel in making these. Got a budget of around £120 but if I can pick up a bargain I'm in.

Thank you for all the help you have given me.

No you have the door shut when you use it as a grill. I have a Panasonic as do all of my family (between us we have had 7) and none of us have had any problems.

Steve059

I've had my Hitachi MC300 for nearly 3 years. It's still going strong and surprising me with what it can do.

khampson

Had a quick look, Panasonic combi microwave ovens seen to be £150+ which is sadly out my budget, Currys have a Kenwood 30 litre one on offer at £110 whick look ok. Will need to have a better look tonight. If anyone has any suggestions I would be most greatful.

Thanks for everyones help

A.Penny.Saved

Microwaves whether with or without convection cooking are not a healthy way to heat food. I used to have a Sharp combi convection microwave until it broke. Before I purchased a replacement I did some reading on them and did not like what I read. Many people who know about food warn about using microwaves including nutritionists. They heat food in a very unnatural way which changes food and it's energy in unnatural ways.

You cannot beat cooking food in natural ways.

SailorSam

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

Microwaves whether with or without convection cooking are not a healthy way to heat food. I used to have a Sharp combi convection microwave until it broke. Before I purchased a replacement I did some reading on them and did not like what I read. Many people who know about food warn about using microwaves including nutritionists. They heat food in a very unnatural way which changes food and it's energy in unnatural ways.

You cannot beat cooking food in natural ways.

As with almost every subject some scientists say one thing and others think the exact opposite. It's like smoking was once thought to be good for you and global warming something out of the movies whereas these days the popular thinking has changed.
Just the same with cooking amd your microwave.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Microwave-cooking-and-nutrition.shtml

krlyr

We moved into our house and discovered the vendor was going to bin the cooker as the ovens didn't work. We asked him to leave it, as the hobs were OK and it saved having a big empty gap (with ugly unrendered wall behind!).

We originally thought we'd manage with what we had - hobs meant we could stirfry/shallowfry things, we have a slowcooker and a George Foreman grill, and we thought the vendor would leave his microwave. It turned out he didn't, and when OH got a hankering for cheese on toast, we started to look at microwaves. We then got looking at combination microwaves - it seemed like it would be a good temporary solution, giving us both microwave and oven/grill.

Well, we bought it on about the second or third day of being in the house, and nearly 2.5 years later we still have the same broken cooker and combination microwave! I find it so much easier/more efficient for the two of us, I rarely miss a proper oven (just went doing a roast or cooking for guests really).

We've reached the point where we're saving to redecorate the kitchen so we're waiting until then to replace the cooker, but to be honest, I think we'll keep using the combination microwave for a lot of things.

The couple of downsides I find are
- needing to microwave something whilst I'm using it as an oven. I tend to do things like beans on the hob now, but there are times I'd like to have a seperate microwave (seems a bit wasteful just for those few times though)
- finding dishes that fit. I use the base from a springform cake tin as my sort of flat dish - for oven chips, chicken breasts, etc. and I have a rectangular, deep brownie-type dish I use for other stuff (roast potatoes, etc.). I use casserole type dishes for things like cottage pie, pasta bakes, etc. which isn't an issue if I'm cooking for 2, but for more people it gets a bit difficult.
- the grill option on ours takes a fair bit of time to warm up, certainly longer than my nan's grill. Fortunately she lives opposite, so cheese-on-toast hankerings are usually followed by a quick visit to use her cooker!

Other than that, I'm really pleased with it. My nan loves telling her friends about all the dishes I manage to cook in it!

khampson

Hi can anyone identify the differences between These 2 other than the obvious 30l vs 23l and the 50 watts in power and which is the best.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/microwaves/kenwood-k23cm13-combination-microwave-mirror-finish-19394353-pdt.html


http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/microwaves/kenwood-k30css13-combination-microwave-stainless-steel-21506009-pdt.html

Thanks, is it worth the extra £35

SailorSam

I think it's worth the extra, it's bigger and more powerful, and i think it looks better. So many posters seem to be saying that the size is important compared to a standard oven, so i think the smaller one may leave you wishing you had room for more stuff.

krlyr

Mine's a 25l, I'm not sure I'd want to go any smaller, but equally there's only a few times I wish it was a little bigger. I would perhaps look into whether the extra volume gives you more width or height - the latter wouldn't really be as helpful as the former.

jumpytiny

Steve059 wrote: »

I've had my Hitachi MC300 for nearly 3 years. It's still going strong and surprising me with what it can do.

Evening, I know this may seem odd considering you posted about your Hitachi MC300 many years ago, but I've just moved to a place where this combi-oven is the only form of cooking and I cannot find an instruction manual anywhere (online included!)

I was wondering if you still had yours I could view (maybe as a PDF attachment), or if you could explain how the oven works as I'm reluctant to try 'trial and error' approach as the oven is not mine.

Many help you could give would be much appreciated.

Kind regards.