Chicken bald back

[Olly]

On cleaning some exploded salmon from the microwave tonight (don't ask) I discovered to my horror that there's a hole burnt in the top inside. No idea how or when that happened, but it's clearly time for a new one.

 

I've always had a very basic one and I use it a lot for defrosting, cooking veg and porridge every day - I could replace it for about £35 from Argos. However someone suggested that as I'm on my own, a combination microwave would be better value as I wouldn't need to use my main oven.

 

Help, please - what can you cook in a combi microwave (I mean really cook, not what the manufacturers suggest)? Does it cook things as well as a conventional oven? I'm looking at this model but really it's the whole concept of a 'combi' that I'm struggling with. I'd love to hear from someone who's got one please!

[Purplemaniacs]

A few months ago I cleaned the roof of our very old one to find rust

 

OH bought a combination one, so far I have made porridge in it each morning , I don't think I am likely to use the other features.

 

I did wonder if I could make cheese on toast with the grill.

 

Chrissie

[Cat tails]

I think you could do just about anything in it, as you would do with your normal oven. Bake pies, pizza, oven dishes, roast meat etc. The biggest downside to a combi oven: they are tiny. Compared to a normal oven that is. You would be hard pressed to fit a turkey in there. They do take less time to get to temperature

If you didn't have a normal oven I would say: go for it. But since you do have a normal oven, I would go for an ordinary microwave.

[Olly]

... but as I live on my own, cooking a turkey is something I rarely do!

 

I suppose that's my question really - could I cook, say a jacket potato or roast vegetables or similar in a combi microwave? I tend not to have jacket spuds unless I'm cooking something else because it seems a waste to put the whole oven on for one potato.

[Blackrocksrock]

I use mine- cheese on toast, pizza, baked spuds, sausages, oven chips, heat up pies without them being soggy - and quiches etc. I use mine loads and there are 2 of us - I cook and freeze lots of meals so use the micro nearly every day to defrost and heat up but I so love the fact I can brown stuff.

 

By the way that is the same one I have!! - I love it

[Purplemaniacs]

By the way that is the same one I have!! - I love it

I have just looked it is the same as mine too

 

Chrissie

[Blackrocksrock]

By the way that is the same one I have!! - I love it

I have just looked it is the same as mine too

 

Chrissie

 

Panasonic is a great make - my last Panasonic one lasted me 17 years! Just a normal one though - not combi/grill

[HarrisonFamily]

My Mum had one when she was on her own and cooked lovely cassseroles, jacket potatoes, pies, pizza etc ...not sure about cakes and biscuits ...

[bluekarin]

We have a similar one after having cheap microwaves for years. At the beginning, we used it loads and cooked pasties and sausage rolls in it using the oven setting so we had actual proper crispy pastry We also used it for jacket spuds and it cooks them pretty much the same as in the oven, just in a much shorter time. I now only really use it for heating food, drinks etc I should get to use it properly again, if only to help cut our electricity bills down. If you can, I would go for it. No idea about baking in one, but I am sure with a bit of trial end error you could do it.

[Olly]

Thank you for all the replies, that's really useful. I think if I am baking or cooking more than one item (e.g. roast chicken and roast potatoes) I'd still use the main oven. However I like the idea of being able to do a 'proper' jacket potato, microwave-only ones just don't do it for me, and to cook small items (chops, salmon steaks) without putting the whole oven on.

 

I try not to buy ready meals but I do a lot of batch cooking, and it would open up new opportunities - I usually avoid shepherd's pie for example as it's not the same reheated in a microwave, but if I could cook it with a browned top that would make a big difference!

 

My next step is to go to John Lewis and size them up, as they all seem to be larger than my current microwave and I might have to find a new place in the kitchen. I'll report back in a few weeks and let you know how I've got on.

[Space Chick]

My mother in law has one as she lives alone and she swears by it. So much so, she's even threatened to get rid of her normal cooker

[Daphne]

Olly - I've just been on the 'cooked anything today' thread and BlueSilver happens to mention that she is getting to grips with a new combi-microwave but that its brilliant. HTH

[Valkyrie]

We have that Panasonic one. Actually this is the second because the door dropped in the old one pretty much early on. Have to say it's the same fault with the current one - so much so that the exterior is burnt above the door opening. Our older brown and chunky model was so much better - but we wanted (OK I wanted) a white one to go in our new kitchen at the time. I will not be getting a third one like this.

Edited to add that the ancient brown one was not the same model - just higher and narrower and no door problems - I think because the hinges are small and the door is quite long on this new model there is too much pressure on them. The first time we put it down to slap dash son, but we got the replacement when he left home and it wasn't long before it did the same thing so nothing to do with the boy!

[Blackrocksrock]

Gosh I would be contacting Panasonic as the one I have I have had since xmas 2012 and no worries about it - I cook a lot and freeze portion meals so use it loads and defrost also and have never had a problem with it. Not good.

[Valkyrie]

Having had a look at the latest models, they seem to be much smaller than ours and the door doesn't appear to be so long. However we have today bought a new one, still Panasonic but without the combi. Basically we didn't need it and only really used it for baked potatoes (which it had a tendency to overcook in any case - even if you pressed "less". And for quick Quorn mince dishes like bolly or chilli, and for heating tortillas or just plain reheating dinners for children who decided not to come home and not inform us that they wouldn't be eating with us! So we now have more kitchen worksurface! Will do what we did before the combi with reference to spuds - cook and then crisp in the oven.

[Angie]

Up until two years ago I have always had a combi and did all sorts as my cooker was a calor gas one and it burnt everything ( I lived in Oman at the time) so a combi came in quite handy...never could get the Yorkshire's right or a sponge cake but the rest was fine.

Even back in Uk I went for a combi until I had to replace it almost two years ago.

But I opted for a standard micro ,with a few auto functions that I use often and it is working better for me especially since I had a new kitchen last year and have a fab oven.

A lot of the things I used to cook in it aren't needed any more , maybe due to the children married and gone and no more little ones ,the GC are quite grown these days. I use my slow cooker, and main oven for so much now it is reliable and high enough up not to stoop all the time.

The best one I have ever owned is a prestige combi.

[sadietoo]

My Dad had one when he couldn't bend down to get things in and out the oven anymore. He swore by it but in the four years since we inherited it from him I've never found the need to use the oven bit and have only used it as a microwave....I can see that it would be very useful if you are catering for less people... But I would think for the extra cost it may be of limited use if you usually cook for a crowd