Do convection microwave ovens work?

October 11, 2007 2:17 PM

Do convection microwave ovens work?

I'm designing a dream kitchen for a house in San Francisco. Part of the plan is two electric wall ovens, with one being a convection microwave. Something like this Thermador. Most of the time we just need a regular oven and the occasional use of a microwave to reheat something. But we'd like a second oven for big meals; Thanksgiving dinner, that kind of thing.

I have no experience with convection microwave ovens. Do they work as practical substitutes for regular ovens? Can you bake a pie in them? Roast a turkey? Slowly cook a casserole? Or are they just glorified microwaves that aren't really good for cooking anything?

(I found two previous Ask Metafilter threads with positive comments on convection ovens: here and here.)

posted by Nelson to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

I think you meant to link to this thread. It cooks things a bit differently from a regular oven. Things seem to cook more evenly but don't crisp in my experience. But that's for a small tabletop option, maybe a big convection oven works better.
posted by grouse at 2:28 PM on October 11, 2007

Response by poster: Oops, this is the second thread I meant. Thanks for the link to the third, too.

Another example of the kind of convection microwave I'm talking about is this Miele speed oven.
posted by Nelson at 2:46 PM on October 11, 2007

Best answer: we've got one. (it's red so it goes faster.)
we've had it for almost 10 years.
i've done every food imaginable in it.
and it's fabulous.
we never use our oven any more.

ours came with a crispytray thang.... which means we can crisp/roast anything. no problems there.

cannot recommend it highly enough.
get one, you will not regret it.
every houseguest i've ever had has wanted one after playing with ours.
convection microwaves rock.
woo hoo.


and yes, tragically, i'm a housewife at the moment.
can't you tell?
posted by taff at 4:14 PM on October 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Alton Brown has shilled for GE Trivection. They looked pretty cool. If I was building a dream kitchen I'd definitely give them a look.
posted by kindall at 5:07 PM on October 11, 2007

You might look into infrared ovens as an alternative as well. Some people swear by them.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:13 PM on October 11, 2007

my neighbors love theirs, they say it's amazing and meat cooks perfectly
posted by evilelvis at 6:29 PM on October 11, 2007

Best answer: I lived in Germany for years growing up. The only thing I miss about the kitchens, which are typically much smaller than they are in the states, are the microwave convection ovens.

Get one. They are amazing.
posted by kdar at 9:33 PM on October 11, 2007

As a bachelor, I like mine, i never heard of it before and now that I have it, I'm a fan.
posted by mateuslee at 3:59 AM on October 12, 2007

Here in Paris, with its tiny kitchens, many people I know have them on their countertops, doing away with a standard oven altogether. I have an LG model and use it every day to cook every food imaginable. Get one.
posted by DefendBrooklyn at 8:54 AM on October 12, 2007

I had one ... bought the cheap low powered model ... bad decision ... buy a good and powerful one.

J
posted by jannw at 7:19 AM on October 13, 2007