# What's the Straight Dope on NuWave/FlavorWave Ovens?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 14, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945 "2010-02-14T11:27:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945/1 "2010-02-14T11:27:26Z")

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Okay, so these things were around for several years in the 90s, as an unremitting insomniac, I remember the informercials well. They went away for a while, and now they’re back.

We have the [NuWave](https://www.nuwaveoven.com/flare/next) which is apparently an all plastic dome and base and uses infared light, and the [FlavorWave](http://www.thane.com/products/housewares/flavorwave-turbo/flavorwave-turbo.php) which is a glass bowl with cap, which uses a halogen light, and has the added benefit of Mr. T as a spokesman.

The technology is essentially the same however, a combination of blast heat from the infared/halogen bulbs, convection airwaves created by an integral fan and conduction from the fact that the lightbulbs get things hot.

But the things sit, uninsulated, on top of your countertop, while getting hot enough to cook a turkey in an hour and a half.

These things scream scam to me, but I felt the same way about the Magic Bullet and the George Foreman grill and they both turned out to be pretty good products.

Anyone have one? Can anyone speak to the technology?

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945/2 "2010-02-14T15:30:07Z")

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From the NuWave site:

> [@](#):
>
> NuWave Oven uses a long lasting 1500 Watt SHEATH HEATER (which can last up to 30 years) similar to most conventional ovens. NuWave Oven does not use HALOGEN bulb as a heat source. HALOGEN bulbs will most likely create smoke when grease splatters, and its life span is shorter.

It sounds like the light is just for show. The real cooling is done by a resistive heating element just like in an electric oven or crockpot.

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945/3 "2010-02-14T16:29:13Z")

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Been thinking about getting one, so I’m posting to subscribe. I want to see if others have one and what they think of it.

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**Author:** ![ZSPHOBIASZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b19c9b/32.png) [@ZSPHOBIASZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZSPHOBIASZ)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-nuwave-flavorwave-ovens/528945/4 "2010-02-14T16:55:56Z")

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I think anything hot will make your food cook. But does this do it better than a real oven? That is the question.

IF you have an experiment tell us so we can know the anwser.