Combination microwaves?

[Ormirian]

Our old microwave died. We have moved into a house with a big monstrous beast of a gas oven which seems to cost a great deal to use. Does anyone use the conventional part of a combination microwave ? For baking stuff like cottage pie etc. I don't know it it's worth paying the difference between the cost of a cheap as chips ordinary microwave and a combination one.

Any recommendations?

We lived for 3 years with a combi microwave and a gas hob. (My FIL ripped our oven out for reasons known only to himself - it was a wall oven built into the units, when questioned later he responded, it just looked awful ok but how are we going to eat! To be fair he was doing some home improvements for us for nothing but a bacon buttie but still....) Anyway, we had to be a bit creative at times but we managed absolutely fine, didn't eat any worse than we do now we have an oven (new house, the old one still hasn't got one...) cottage pie, cakes, lasagne, the lot all came out of that little combi microwave.

I'll bear the chocolate thing in mind!

Thanks.

Thanks mrsj.

I will carry on using the main oven for roasts etc but not for things that only need a small space.

I have had a combi microwave for over 20 years - Panasonic Dimension 4. Decided to retire it earlier this year and bought another Panasonic this one. This is a flat bed m/w - so no turntable!

I think the combi is invaluable as an energy saver, and now I'm a widow, living alone, I rarely use my main oven. You can cook almost anything, jacket spuds done in 30 minutes on combi, or use it just like a conventional oven.

I wouldn't be without it.

Bit of a delayed response, but I second that on the Panasonic Dimension 4. I've had one since 1997, and it's still going strong. My parents bought it for me when I went off to university, in the (misguided) hope that I would cook for myself. I only ever used the microwave function back then. But ever since (ie ever since I started paying my own bills , and also ever since I got it into my head that microwaving (esp plastic) can't possibly be A Good Thing), and for as long as I was only cooking for one or two, I only ever used it for its oven functionality. The turntable means that things cook evenly, it heats up super quickly, and it's dead easy to clean (unlike most ovens). Sometimes you only want to bake a loaf cake or heat a (heaven forbid) ready meal - firing up an entire oven is just not reasonable in those circs.

So I say yes, go for it.

Thankyou nan and guest.

THe panasonic is a bit too pricey for me at the moment but I am still in the market for a combi one atm.

Had a sharp combination micro/grill/oven. It had a huge capacity with two shelves & was easy peasy (sp?) to use. Unfortunately it died after 10 years of daily use & I would have bought another one immediately if I hadn't been given an alternative 2nd hand from my sister. The new one is Panasonic & works well but I still miss Sharp and am now having to cook more in my gas guzzling oven.

I bought a relatively cheap combo one from Tesco, I'm sure it was just £60? Maybe £80. Either way, it was a fantastic buy. Have a look on Tesco direct and see if they have any others on great deals.

I too have a Panasonic and even now I have an oven again, I use it for single tray items. It's a bit annoying as a microwave - can't set it to precise timings, the lack of turntable makes it take ages to defrost and it isn't consistent across the oven, and makes a loud whirr that continues for a couple minutes after it stops microwaving, and is so loud you miss the beeps to say your thing is done. The grill is handy though.

I know you said the Panasonic microwave was a bit pricey, take a look at this Russel Hobbs combination microwave

We have a Panasonic too. The first one lasted 7 years and we've just bought a very similar model - NNCT555WBPQ Slimline Combination Microwave. It is used a lot on the combi when I don't want to heat the main cooker up both reheating and "proper" cooking. It cooks well on combi and has easy controls.

The combi bit heats up really quickly - far quicker than the top oven in the cooker. I don't use it for grilling though as stuff seems to spatter everywhere.

A Panasonic got the Which? award for best microwave earlier this year. Looking on google it's available for £120-140 at various places - and yo can probably get cashback from somewhere!

Had a panasonic, combi microwave with grill, you had a stand on legs you grilled sausages etc on but then you had to put a plate underneath to catch the fat, a bugger to clean, gone back to a conventional microwave