We need a new microwave. Our local appliance store guy suggested a GE model that has an air fryer function, plus what appears to be a convection oven option, all inside a normal sized microwave. I’ve never had a microwave that did anything more than microwave stuff. I’ve never had an air fryer either.
Has anyone had a microwave with functions like this? If so, was it useful? What would I use the air fryer for? We do like to cook, and we like to try new dishes and cooking methods, which is why I’m considering it.
An air fryer is a convection oven, so no need to look for both features. Right now I one my bought based on an Amazon recommendation. That’s not the way to find a good microwave, nor is a popcorn button the most important feature. I think you should get the biggest microwave you can fit in your kitchen. That will cut down on how often your microwave is too small for what you want to heat up. I’m thinking of getting a microwave/convection oven combo at some point but I’d look for solid information on a particular model.
I’m of the opinion that while a multi-tasker appliance is helpful, especially in a small kitchen, almost none of them do any one of those jobs well.
If it were me, I’d have a microwave (which is mostly used to reheat food, warm food [tortillas], and microwave popcorn [non-commercial homemade]) and an air-fryer as separate appliances. I actually use my air-fryer 2-3x as much as the microwave!
I can cook about 80% of the ‘oven roasted’ dishes in the air-fryer in half the time, and it does a good job of simulating fried food for most pre-prepared frozen fried food (less well for homemade stuff though).
Plus, if one device fails, I only have to repair/replace one device. An all in one can leave you waiting a looong time for repairs or replacement.
[ Don’t ask my about my previous microwave failure and warranty experience, it’s a rant! ]
I once thought that. Then I got one. All it did was hog counter space and the stuff I heated up in it was still just 1 or two bowls of soup or similar at a time.
If I did want to assemble a complete leftover dinner on a full-sized dinner plate, what I found was two full-size dinner plates did not quite fit. So I had gto heat them one at a time. But one such plate would have fit easily in a much smaller oven.
When it died I was quite happy to get a more ordinary-sized one. Cooking power and the ability to throttle that is IMO/IME by far the more important factor than size.
If somebody was using a microwave to cook casseroles or turkeys or such I could easily accept that a bigger one has advantages for those uses. But for my use case which is 85% reheating individual servings of leftovers, 10% defrosting, and 5% making popcorn, bigger was not better. Not at all.
I should have stated that was my personal desire for a large microwave not what I thought @iiandyiiii should do himself.
Had a very large antique microwave that lasted nearly 30 years. It did hog space but the midsize unit on the counter now wastes only slightly less counter area than a large size model. That would be more important with a convection oven feature in order to use large pans.
My microwave is big enough to hold one dinner plate with a little room to spare. That also means it holds a casserole full of frozen veggies.
I have never once wished it were larger. I can’t imagine what larger item i would want to put in it.
We use it all the time. We use it to cook fresh and frozen vegetables, to reheat food, to make a mug of cocoa, and my husband makes oatmeal in it.
But when i want to roast a turkey, i use the oven.
My regular oven has a convention feature, and it’s fabulous. I don’t know how I’d feel about having that in the microwave, though, because the microwave might be hard to clean. The regular oven also has a self-cleaning feature.
My choice for a microwave involves one with inverter technology. This allows you to reduce power levels on a constant sequential basis as opposed to having the magnetron tube switch on and off in order to reduce power when less than 100% of power is desired.
We replaced a standard-height over-range-mounted microwave with a low-profile model a few years ago and have not one single time wished it was “taller”. It kind of blew our minds how much wasted height (for our needs) is in the bulkier models.
All of the microwave/oven style air fryers get poor reviews in the air fryer category compared to the basket style models so I wouldn’t bother. Get a microwave that is good at being a microwave.
Pretty much every single microwave in the world is made by Midea:
so I’d look at UI and price above anything else. In particular, I just want a +30 seconds button that instantly starts the microwave as soon as you press it, no need to hit the start button afterwards. Probably 90% of my microwave usage is just that one button. The other thing I care about is that defrost is easy to use as it makes up the other 10% of my usage. Apart from that, it’s a commodity that I replace when it breaks and nothing more.
Unless you’re intent on getting new, there’s always someone trying to get rid of an old microwave so you can get quite decent models with only a little bit of use for 1/4 the price of a new one if you’re willing to have a bit of patience.
Yep, unless space is the key issue, multi-purpose devices are usually inferior in efficiency, performance and convenience vs single-purpose devices. You will probably seldom use the secondary functions, and the primary function may be somewhat compromised by them.
I bought a combination microwave/grill (that is, grill in the UK sense - broiler in the US) - the grill element inside the cavity meant that taller vessels we used in the previous microwave no longer fit, and also when the grill was used, the entire top surface of the unit got quite warm - potentially damaging items on it - especially things like car keys with a battery in them, or bars of chocolate - thus ‘on top of the microwave’ became no longer a usable space for conveniently putting things. I was glad when it finally broke down and we could replace it with a normal microwave.
More recently, I bought a combination pressure cooker that is also a slow cooker and a sous vide bath and yoghurt maker (and this was because in our current kitchen, there is no room or storage for both slow cooker and pressure cooker) - I’ve only really used it mainly as a pressure cooker (it’s pretty good at that) - once or twice as a slow cooker (but why bother since pressure cooking yields pretty similar results, and a lot quicker)
I also vote for keeping things separate. We had a microwave with a radiant element at the top, which was supposed to be able to function both as a m’wave and a conventional oven. It did perform both tasks adequately, but since we also have a double oven, it was of no great benefit except when entertaining.
The top element failed eventually, and since there are now only two of us, a smaller microwave is most useful for heating soup, defrosting chicken legs (prior to roasting) or heating up supermarket ready-meals.
We still have the oven and do use it as it is actually pretty efficient. Our slow cooker is also in frequent use - more so these days.
My parents‘ microwave is above their oven, which I find convenient. Of course, they did that when they remodeled their kitchen. The microwave is lower than a microwave which is above a stove, which is also good.
Your microwave should be a dedicated device because the large majority of its usage is going to be microwave related; i.e., defrosting, frozen dinners, warming coffee/tea, and reheating leftovers. Also, convection ovens as add-ons have a high rate of failure. Believe me, I know because I had two convection ovens as add-ons fail, and I did a lot of research on it. Also, make sure your microwave is big enough to hold a full sized dinner plate, high enough to house something like a Dunkin’ Donuts XL coffee cup, and powerful enough to do the job.
If you are looking for an all in one device, I suggest the Ninja Cooker. First of all, it is the only electric grill that grills chicken golden and crisp and tastes like it actually came from a grill. It also pressure cooks, air fries and cooks like a crock pot. It takes up amazingly little space for something that can do so many things.
Huh. We have a standard height over-range mounted microwave that also functions as a light and a vent (to outside). I sometimes use most of the height (for a tall mug, for instance) but more importantly, i can’t think why I’d want it to start higher up. That would create more room above the stove, which i don’t need, and would make the stuff in the microwave above eye level and harder to see. Also, it would no longer line up with the existing hole in the wall to vent air outdoors.
I guess if i were remodeling the kitchen i might build cabinets that came down lower above the microwave.
We bought an instant pot, which does slow cooking, sauteing, pressure cooking, and “keep warm”. I love that i can set it to pressure cook a pot of soup and then keep it warm overnight. So i can start the soup right before bed. It’s also more convenient as a pressure cooker for beans and such than the old stovetop model we used to use. And it makes excellent yogurt and rice.
I think certain appliances work much better as ‘multi-use’ devices than others, such as the Instant Pot, and a toaster oven we purchased a couple years ago that performs many different things- it toasts, bakes, air-fries, etc. It works great, but the way it’s doing the different functions is just by using different applications of the same heating elements. Same with the Instant Pot-- it’s just using different applications of heat and pressure.
Microwaving, on the other hand, seems like a very specialized task-- you have a magnetron creating microwaves blasting the food. To try to shoehorn other functions into a microwave seems like asking for trouble.
Yeah, I think the instant pot (that name isn’t common here even though the devices are - I think they’re called combination cookers here or something) is a bit of an exception to the multi-device thing, probably because the modes of use lend themselves to the same overall design - a pot with a lid and a heating element controlled by a timer/thermostat. Makes sense for it to do different things that all need that basic configuration.
Do not buy GE. GE appliances (they made Kenmore stuff also) are not GE, but a brand bought by a Chinese company, and when they break you will find that obscure parts like the motherboard are not available for months on end.
I second the inverter tech recommendation. Cooks much more effectively at partial power. Seriously improves defrosting functionality. If you only use full power though, I don’t think there is any advantage.
I mostly use the microwave for vegetables, and it does wonders with frozen peas or beans.
Panasonic is the only brand I know of that has the tech. We have a big countertop Panasonic and it is a very nice machine
I don’t have an air fryer, we have a good convection oven and not a lot of extra space. People that do have them seem to really like them.
