Anybody here have a halogen oven? How much does it hold (e.g. what size chicken)? How does it compare with a regular oven or a microwave? What are its pros and cons? What’s a good brand?
We have the Sharper Image 12.5 quart one, and LOVE it. I highly recommend getting one, even if it’s not the SI version.
Pros: cooks food FAST and keeps everything moist. You can use it in the middle of summer when you don’t want to heat the house up with the oven. I have yet to burn anything in there. The ability to cook healthy meals quickly is a huge plus for me. I’ve fit good-sized chickens, hams, and small turkeys in mine…plus it makes soups and stews and chili like a champ.
Cons: the bowl is heavy, so be prepared for that. Depending on what you’re cooking, you may have to switch positions or else the food on the top rack (close to the element) will be done and the food on the bottom won’t be. I have this problem when I cook bacon in it. But it’s simple to just switch the pans midway through. It takes a little getting used to maneuvering around the hot bits to move pans or stir food- I suggest long silicon potholders. The racks can slide around if you put too much pressure on one side.
Honestly none of the cons outweigh the pros; it’s like any piece of equipment, once you get used to its idiosyncrasies, it’s fantastic.
I thought a Halogen Oven was something new and cool so I googled it, a staple of late night infomercials. I want one though. It is a clear convection oven, as long as there is enough heat, vents and airlow it should work great. I eat crap but when I cook I go all out and honestly I can think of a lot I could do in this. I wouldn’t do a bird or any large piece of meat as I think the moister would be way to much for the fans and those little vents to handle but anything that was small that you wanted to get moisture out and crisp up should be good, or great in this. I learned to cook on an electric stove with no options, gas is great for burners but not as great in the oven…the good thing is most gas stoves have the convection option and even if an electric has it it is not at all the same.
Most shit like this is crap, and this probably is also but get some chicken, pork, or seasoned tofu in there and it should work just fine. Never EVER put beef in there.
Beg to differ; we’ve had ours for two years, and have never had a problem either with it being “shit” or with putting beef (or lamb) in there. Cooks to a perfect medium rare every time.
bump
For more opinions, if any.
I’ll be the first thumbs-down vote.
I’ve got a rough approximation of this model.
I’ve been using it for a couple of years now. My first two attempts were fairly idiot-proof recipes that I’ve done many times in a standard built-in oven: brownies and an angel food ring. Both came out nearly burnt on top and undercooked on the bottom. I even altered the temp (lower) and cooking time (slightly longer) to take account of the super-hot bulb in the top. I’ve since started covering things with an aluminum pie plate which seems to work well at keeping the top of whatever I’m cooking from turning immediately to coal, but the bottom still seems to take forever to cook.
I’ve all but given up on trying to cook in it. Now I use it mainly for reheating leftovers and pizza slices. The only thing I’ve been able to take from raw to fully cooked without getting burned is baked potatoes - but I always wrap them in foil and stick in a baking nail.