I’ve been in Japan for almost a month and I still don’t have a microwave. Of course I want to get one but I want to make sure I get a decent one. I was at ドンキホーテ today and saw what looked like a microwave, grill, oven combo or something.
This is probably a dumb question to ask (sorry I grew up in a western country), but since it says it also functions as an oven, that means I could bake with it? Like make cookies and stuff like that?
I do like to bake and I’d love to start baking for my coworkers soon so it would be nice to have.
19 comments
Yep. Just make sure to get a decent sized one.
In addition to size, make sure its maximum temperature and whether it has a fan/not according to your need.
Oven/microwave combos are pretty common, you can buy them from any of the denkiya or order one from Amazon.
Yes, I have one .. it’s not perfect or the equivalent to a real oven.. but it functions ok.. biscuits and cookies are tasty
You can try , but the ones here are so small you will get like 5 cookies max in one 😅
Yep! They are pretty amazing. I have one and the oven goes to 250 Celsius. I don’t bake but I do a lot of oven roasting.
So, some folks have mentioned max temp, but let me be a bit more specific.
If you buy an oven with a max temp of 300, that means it will PREHEAT to 300, but will only actually cook at 250, and even then only for about 5 minutes, at which point it will revert to its functioning max of 230.
If you buy one with a max of 250, it will preheat to 250, but will have a functional max of 200-210 (I can’t remember, but it’s lower than you want for many breads).
I recently replaced my Toshiba Ishigami Dome which I really liked, but it went on the fritz right after the extended warranty ended (funny how that always seems to happen). This time we went with a Hitachi Healthy Chef with similar specs, but about 10,000 cheaper as the Toshiba of the same tier. After having used it for a few weeks, I think I preferred the old Toshiba, and kinda wish I had just paid the extra for the newer version.
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Edit: I bake a lot. Sourdough breads, yeasted breads, cakes, cookies, etc. I also do roast chicken, veggies, etc, and use the oven at least weekly. Expect to spend 40,000 to 50,000 minimum for one that goes to 300 (again, functional max of 230)
Edit to the edit: Oh, and everything will be in Japanese, menus and all. Something as simple as preheating will require navigating a menu of some kind, possibly 3-4 layers deep. And you MUST enter a time (max 90 minutes usually) which means if you’re unsure of exactly how long something will take you just set it for 90 and use other timers.
Edit to the edit to the edit: Most of the ‘selling’ features on modern ones is that they have 100s of “recipes” built in that use sensors and whatnot to cook the food. Mine actually simultaneously uses microwave, oven, steam, and fan assist for stuff like grilled fish. That, however, means that I have to be SUPER careful not to have metal cookware, aluminum foil, etc., if I’m using any of the pre-loaded recipes that use the microwave function along with the oven (which I have only done once so far, though admittedly it worked pretty well).
They also draw a lot of power, so be careful what else you use at the same time. Combo oven, hotpot, toaster oven = circuit breaker does its job and flips off.
Yes. I had one back in the day. Check to make sure it’s legit like actual dial with oven temps and such on it. I used to do whole roast chickens in that bad boy!
Yeah they’re a thing, and there’s a huge range from absolute crap to really good. My first was a cheap nitori one which was more microwave than oven – you can do about 4 cookies or muffins at a time but it tended to just burn the tops of stuff before it cooked the insides. Now I have a tabletop convection oven with microwave function but I ignore that and just use it as the oven! It’s pretty good, decent size with two trays so i can do an entire batch of cookies or a roast dinner, etc. expect to fork out for a decent one, but think about how long you intend to stay, too. I wouldnt be investing in a ¥50,000+ oven if I was only planning on staying a few years, unless I REALLY liked baking and oven-based cooking
Yes, those combo ovens can run as a microwave and also as a regular oven for baking. You need to be careful about the listed microwave wattage and oven temperature as the max is often not what the oven can hold continuously.
I have a Toshiba ER-XD3000 which is a microwave and convection oven that also has a steam function which is really nice for fish, veggies or to ferment stuff. As a convection oven it can reach 300°C but only hold that temperature for 5 minutes after which it goes down to 250°C which it can hold continuously. That’s still enough to make a really nice Pizza.
The microwave can run with up to 1000W for 5 minutes which makes heating up stuff super quick. The 5-minute limit is not really a limit as there is nothing you want to microwave for 5 minutes at 1000W.
I have a Hitachi combo and use it 90% for microwaving, and it sucks because it doesn’t have a turntable. You can put in frozen ground beef to defrost and what you’ll get out is a frozen block with spots of fully cooked beef.
Yes. They are pretty handy I have one that can additionally function as a steam oven. Skip the wifi nonsense and look for cubic liters and temp range. The only thing I don’t like about the one I have is it goes from 45° to 210, then jumps to 250°> it wasn’t a deal breaker but that gap is kinda of infuriating. Also, everytime I open it I have to hit the start button, it doesn’t just keep cooking.
I am on the Panasonic bistro team. There are lots of different combo microwaves etc. but I love this one because it has over 400 recipes preset (in Japanese). It does microwaving, baking, grilling and steaming. Not cheap, but I love it. Of course you can cook your own recipes, but I love how I can prepare the recipes they have and push one button and then just come back and have my food ready.
Other than a microwave, get yourself an oven toaster. best way to make toast and heat up other baked goods. We use it daily, and probably more than the microwave.
I have one.
They do cook things like actual ovens – mine goes up to 250c.
Be careful if you’re buying one intending to bake things though – they generally only have heating elements in the top, so baking cookies or grilling stuff will work but a cake or bread is very difficult. It’s really more like a broiler than an oven.
I do bake bread in mine, but it takes double the normal cooking time with some inventive use of foil to make it bake without burning the top. Anything that needs heat from below like Yorkshire puddings is near impossible.
I can recommend one if you’re in the market for a microwave anyway and don’t own a toaster, but if you already have a microwave then it’s not really worth buying one for the oven function on its own.
just bought one from sharp 2months ago and so far it’s amazingly good. the previous one we used was from sharp as well and it just broke down after ~5 years. the manual’s pretty clear and detailed on every specific function. just a tip to save a bit of money when purchasing, buy a model that’s released 2-3 years ago. it’s basically the same capacity and functions as the newly released they just add more to their included recipe book lol
Microwave Oven combo オーブンレンジ are incredibly toxic to birds. Just PSA for any bird owner here! (Same goes for air fryers)
Everyone’s talking about fairly pricey ones…I got an Iris Oyama piece of crap for like 15000 yen and it works perfectly. The microwave goes up to 1000 watts and I’ve been able to bake at over 200 degrees with no issues. I’ve done roast meats, yeasty breads, pies, cookies, muffins, everything.
Tell me what I’m missing here?