It's Official - Convection Oven Beats Microwave

[passatdoc]

I have an Australian-designed Breville from Williams-Sonoma. It can toast bread (six slices) as well as function as a convection oven. I have a convection range, but when cooking for one or two, it's awfully large (great for multiple loaves of bread or cookies, but...). The Breville heats up quickly and cooks evenly. Roasts and bakes, either with or without convection. And it can toast, too.

http://www.brevilleusa.com/cooking/the-smart-oven-tm.html

 

Amazon sells it. I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma when they had it on sale, after re-discovering an old $150 gift card from W-S that had been AWOL in a kitchen junk drawer for years. I only had to pay the remaining $75, plus sales tax on $225.

 

[joe_in_philly]

Jim:

You got a great deal on your Breville oven. Using a 20% Bed, Bath, & Beyond coupon, I could get it for $200. If I got it during a shopping trip to Delaware, I would also save on sales tax. Are you happy with it? Is there anything you don't like about it?

Joe

 

[passatdoc]

@joe: love it. Comes with two racks, one of which auto-opens/closes by magnetic link to door. Easy to keep clean. Keeps very even temperatures and pre-heats very rapidly. I can't think of any negative other than it's large and takes up a lot of counter---but it's an OVEN. It's large enough that I've baked two loaves of banana bread in it. You can easily roast enough meat for four persons. It's basically replaced my range oven for most every day tasks.

You might want to check the reviews of the item on Amazon. Last time I checked there were over 100 reviews.

 

[joe_in_philly]

Thanks, Jim. I want one more than ever. The only down side I see is the size, but I think I have a place for it. Right now I have my current toaster oven on an IKEA shelf that allows me to store plates under the oven. While it would be too high to use for the Breville, I may be able to find a similar type of shelf.

 

[oldskool]

Various Ovens/Cooking Methods

I find this interesting and amusing - reading the various perspectives. Must admit - I agree with previous member who restricted the microwave to warming or defrosting, etc... From a true food-a-holic, I prefer conventional ovens - done low and slow.
On a separate but related subject - what is going on with the new electric ovens? Last year, due to electronic component failure, my electric wall ovens were replaced by the Home Warranty Co. due to lack of availability of parts. Also replaced my 12 year old Kitchen Aid range with convection oven with a new Kitchen Aid range, also with convection. All the new ovens have hidden heating elements which are slow to heat up, un-even in heat distribution, resulting in hot spots in the ovens, and terrible results. Cakes/rolls/breads all have to be baked at 15-20 degree lower temps - middle rack only. Meats and vegetables are fine at regular temps with acceptable results. The new convection oven is also the pits. Items closer to the wall of the convection oven brown quickly, while the middle is not done. Overall, poor results. What is happening with appliances today that we the consumers are being shafted while paying more and more for poorly designed products. I'm seriously considering buying an older range that is still in good shape that will last. Growing up we had an old Frigidaire range that baked everything perfectly - no sensitivities - just great results. Does anyone know what year/range one would look for to invest in and any cautions to be aware of? Thanks.

 

[mattl]

Just a thought but have you calibrated the oven?  I did my best with my new TOL Electrolux and found it off by a fair amount.  I have a service tech mercury oven thermometer, but somehow the mercury separated into two blobs so the next best thing I had was mercury candy thermometer.  I put it in a let the oven stabilize then adjusted the digital read out.  If you haven't tried this it might be worth the effort....

 

[henry200]

A friend of mine has a relatively new Whirlpool wall oven with the hidden bottom element.  It heats up quickly and works beautifully, even cooking on two racks simultaneously.  

 

My 1952 Gibson range has concealed bottom elements and I'm very happy with how the ovens perform.  The thermostat in the larger oven needed to be recalibrated a bit but the small oven was spot-on.  Both top and bottom elements cycle on and off during baking mode, but at different wattages and I think that has a big influence on how evenly the heat is distributed.  I have checked with a thermometer on both the highest and lowest rack positions and the temperature is barely a couple degrees different.  If a range built 60 years ago can work that well there's no excuse for a new high-end one not performing at least as well if not better.

 

[golittlesport]

We recently had to replace our over-the-range Whirlpool Gold microwave and found a great deal on a Maytag microwave/convection combination at Home Depot. I don't do a lot of cooking and this convection thing is new to me, but I gotta tell you that thing turns out the best meatloaf I've ever tasted...and fast!

 

[passatdoc]

@mattl: my MOL Frigidaire gas convection range was running high as well. I didn't have fancy thermometers, but I bought two more cheap ones (three total, three different brands) and turned it up to 350F. All three registered 370-75, so the oven is running hotter than the electronic controls. The manual showed me how to calibrate the electronic controls, so now when it's set to 350F, with convection off, it runs at exactly 350F (unless all three thermometers are off by the same amount). When convection is turned on and it's set for 350F, the oven runs up to 370 F(all three devices match) which is my cue to reduce temp by 20 degrees when using convection. My convection has a manual on/off switch and does not "auto-convert" cooking temps and times.

 

[whirlcool]

Our Maytag convection oven automatically reduces the oven temp by 25F when using it in convection mode. So if you set it at 375, it'll heat up to 350F. I just love the way it bakes!

 

[passatdoc]

In Europe, where news ovens without convection are unusual, people just "know" to reduce the temp by 10-15C (and reduce cooking time 5-10 mins/hour) and the oven usually doesn't do the conversion for you. Frigidaire offers two levels of convection on its gas ranges:

Speed Bake: simple convection with a fan, manual on/off switch, no additional heating element. You set ovem temp on the electronic pad, but activate the convection with the Speed Bake switch. Actually, some high end commercial ovens also have manual on/off switches for convection. You have to remember to reduce the temperature and cooking time.

True-Convection: additional heating element behind or around fan; operated by electronic pad, you select either "Bake" or "Convection Bake". It does the temperature/time conversions for you.

I have a model with Speed Bake. Today, the price gap between the two versions on similar models is about $70-80. It was more like $150 when I bought mine ten years ago so I chose the simpler system. It allows me to bake four pies all at once, everything comes out evenly cooked. I used to have those aluminum pie crust rim protectors and I just got rid of them because now nothing burns on one side while not cooking well on the opposite side. I do have to remember to reduce time and temp myself.

 

[mattl]

PassatDoc , great idea!  I used what I had at the moment.  I'm bummed my technician thermometer separated like that, have no idea why or how.  I even tried to put it in the freezer hoping the mercury would all drain to the bulb but no luck.

 

[passatdoc]

I went online at Amazon and ordered two different makes of metal (needle and dial) thermometers. My feeling was that if two out of three agreed on a temperature, then the indicated temp must be close to actual. I was pleasantly surprised to find all three devices reading the same....which meant that when my first thermometer read 375F instead of the 350F for which the oven had been set, it WAS reading accurately. Calibrating the temperature was easy---if you had the manual---and only involved pressing a few buttons. Whole process took under a minute.

 

[launderess]

*Ahem* *LOL*

Made a batch of turkey drumsticks and wings yesterday and they came up so wonderful. Very crispy outside (especially the wings), moist and juicy on the inside. Again streets ahead of anything out of the Panasonic (Inverter Technology) microwave.

@mixfinder:

There you go rubbing my face in it again, you and your *NIB* Whirlpool microwave/convection. Knew I should have inquired about that thing when Robert had it on offer last year, but no had to go with the Panasonic! *LOL*

Looked at several new and vintage convection/microwave ovens and while many including the older Radarange and Panasonic models seemed promising, CR gave neither a total heads up for everything. Most seemed to lack in the convection department but CR only tested roasts and cakes.

My biggest qualm with SS interior convection ovens is the cleaning up afterwards. Tend to use my Maxim oven allot for roasting and broiling meats and poultry, both processes create tons of splattering and grease all over the place. However as the Maxim has a continous cleaning interior is helps mitigate some of the bother of mucking up.

Have seen insides of convection/microwave ovens that looked like who did it and ran. The consenus seemed to be that owners had to clean the things out after say roasting meats before cooking anything else. If this was not done the heat from subsequent use baked the muck onto the insides of the oven.

 

[passatdoc]

My Breville cooks wonderfully, but I tend to avoid roasting meats in it, concerned that the interior may become impossible or difficult to clean. So I still roast in the regular (self-cleaning oven) range and just cook in larger quantities to justify cranking up the full-sized oven. For baking/toasting/rewarming, I use the Breville. Also, I usually roast nuts such as peanuts, cashews, pecans, etc. before using them in baking or as snacks. The Breville in convection mode does a terrific job.

 

[launderess]

Just Nabbed Another Maxim

So at the moment am a bit over loaded in the convection oven department! *LOL*

The newest arrival is minty clean inside and came with extra racks plus the elusive owner's manual. Methinks am going to sell on the Cuisinart as it probably won't be used now.

Will keep the fresher and cleaner Maxim for baking and use the other older and more "run in" for roasting/broiling. Not that one has ever noticed it to be a problem but thinking this will help prevent baked goods from picking up "off" odors when done in an oven that has seen heavy meat cooking use.

 

[combo52]

MICRO-CONVECTION-SELF-CLEANING OVENS

If you really want to be serious about the best performing fastest and easiest to maintain oven this is the real deal. I have been cooking in these for more than 30 years and I would never want to be without one of these fabulous ovens. I currently have four of these ovens at the three different houses that I spend 98% of my time in. They will cook most foods anywhere from 3 to eight times normal speed while producing a better end result than having all the time in the world to do it the slow way. They also use no more power and even less than many plug-in counter-top ovens.

 

My current line up is two Thermador CMT-231s, a 1980 Caloric gas true convection range with Amana built microwave in the main oven [ only gas convection MW SC oven ever built ] and the electric version at my partners house. After I frist cooked at my partners house a few times on his 1990 WP electric range I decided it had to go. He came home to find his stove out on the deck and the Caloric in the kitchen. I use the micro-combo oven almost every day, it is the next best thing to a dishwasher in the kitchen.

 

Look out for these great ranges in your travels. GE, HP, Roper, Sears KM, Litton, Caloric and MW all sold 30" ranges with this feature. While Modern Maid, GE and Thermador all sold wall ovens with this feature. TD and GE still sell wall ovens with this feature. I have picked up most of these ranges for next to nothing as most people don't even know what they have.