Comments on: Do convection microwave ovens work?

Question: Do convection microwave ovens work?

Nelson — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:17:44 -0800

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.)

By: grouse

grouse — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:28:42 -0800

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.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:46:06 -0800

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.

By: taff

taff — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:14:44 -0800

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?

By: kindall

kindall — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:07:45 -0800

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.

By: middleclasstool

middleclasstool — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:13:30 -0800

You might look into infrared ovens as an alternative as well. Some people swear by them.

By: evilelvis

evilelvis — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:29:56 -0800

my neighbors love theirs, they say it's amazing and meat cooks perfectly

By: kdar

kdar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:33:36 -0800

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.

By: mateuslee

mateuslee — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:59:08 -0800

As a bachelor, I like mine, i never heard of it before and now that I have it, I'm a fan.

By: DefendBrooklyn

DefendBrooklyn — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:54:43 -0800

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.

By: jannw

jannw — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 07:19:05 -0800

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

J