"We bought this to replace our nearly 10-year-old convection combi-microwave (Sharp R-890). I am a seasoned combi user, and we used our old oven nearly every day.
I want to start by saying that there is a big bump in the back of almost all combination microwaves. They all have that to house the fans for the convection setting. When using the combination setting or the convection setting on its own, it's loud. Most convection ovens have a bit of noise associated with the fans used to help cook the food.
Getting onto to my actual review, first the negatives:
When using the microwave setting on its own or in a combination setting, it's loud. Imagine what your hippy sister-in-law who thinks microwaves literally irradiate food are like. Imagine 1950s scifi films with deathrays. That's what this sounds like. I am not sure if it's the metal interior and fans rattling as the microwave bits do their thing, or if it is really that loud from the mechanism itself. It's loud, but you can get used to it. Unless you're planning on trying to cook on the microwave settings regularly for long periods of time, this isn't probably going to be that big of an issue for most people. It's definitely the loudest microwave I've ever used on the microwave setting.
Our previous oven had settings where you could change the level of the microwave setting when combination cooking. If this oven has it, I can't find it. Be able to adjust the microwave level means you can use it to cook cakes without the cake becoming rubbery. We've used it once for pizza, and there was a definite chewiness to the pizza that shouldn't be there. Basically, having that adjustable combination setting adds versatility and shortens cooking times without affecting food quality. We may have to resort to getting a browning dish which is silly since we bought a combination oven.
The instructions are poor, and it didn't come with a cookbook. Our previous Sharp combi oven made sure you could not only know how to work the controls, but that you had instructions for many different dishes. Following these recipes gave you an understanding of the oven, and meant you could tweak conventional recipes more easily for the combination settings.
Whether the included rack and oven tray were microwave safe wasn't clear. Despite being a flatbed, the interior is smaller than I expected, and some of our dishes that could be used in our old oven are unusable. This is partially my fault for not paying attention to the interior measurements, however, the exterior size is not any smaller, at least width wise, than our old combi oven with a turntable.
If you've read this far, thanks. Now for the positives. The flatbed is very handy, and I prefer it to turntables. The opening mechanism is nice. It is a lot easier to clean this oven than our old one. Overall, the features are decent, and it's a nice looking (if large) machine. Just having that adjustable microwave level during cooking would have meant I would have added at least a star or two to the review. If you're on a budget and want to cut down on your energy use, this is a good tool, but if you have extra money, finding an oven with more features would probably be better."
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
"Neat looking, works well, does what it should, great buy. Rating 5."
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
"Great little microwave. It’s taken a bit of getting used to not having a turntable but all good. The back of the oven is hotter than the front, so need to keep remembering to turn things round half way. Currently on the hunt for some oven racks that will fit. "
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
" It's a straightforward piece of kit, easy to use and keep clean.
In these dire energy cost times, it's much cheaper to use as opposed to my conventional oven. I can find nothing negative to report. Regards noise, it is no different to my previous microwave and doesn't bother me."
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.