Noob combi microvave question.

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

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12 Apr 2007
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Hi all.

So in my quest to be more energy efficient Im going to use the convection oven feature on my microwave more often. It came with a metal rack, but it's difficult to cook things like chips or kievs or anything greasy etc.. so I've found some round cake tin/roasting pan type things that will sit nicely on the glass turntable.. like this

Ive found a steel one and an aluminium one, which material is best/ or doesnt it matter? prices are basicaly the same for either.

Thanks

EDIT, sorry I should have put this in the cuisine forum, mods feel free to move.
 
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I got a combi microwave recently been looking into this myself, the Borosilicate Pyrex can be used in microwave, grill and oven functions, but you can only use metal in the grill and oven functions obviously.

I'm likely just going for the borosilicate Pyrex myself to avoid accidents. Please update post how that one goes for you. Also as a side note other non borosilicate Pyrex isn't nearly as good and much more prone to shattering.
 
PC777 said:
I got a combi microwave recently been looking into this myself, the Borosilicate Pyrex can be used in microwave, grill and oven functions, but you can only use metal in the grill and oven functions obviously.

I'm likely just going for the borosilicate Pyrex myself to avoid accidents. Please update post how that one goes for you. Also as a side note other non borosilicate Pyrex isn't nearly as good and much more prone to shattering.
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Will do - I didnt know about the borosilicate thing but it seems I accidentally bought a borosilicate one anyway, so happy days :D
 
PC777 said:
I got a combi microwave recently been looking into this myself, the Borosilicate Pyrex can be used in microwave, grill and oven functions, but you can only use metal in the grill and oven functions obviously.

I'm likely just going for the borosilicate Pyrex myself to avoid accidents. Please update post how that one goes for you. Also as a side note other non borosilicate Pyrex isn't nearly as good and much more prone to shattering.
Click to expand...


Ok so i've used my pyrex 'cake' bowl to cook some 'council estate cuisine' AKA chicken nuggets and hash browns from frozen.

It worked well.. but there are some caviats...

I preheated the microwave to 180c, mine beeps at me once it's pre-heated (convection only mode, not combo m-wave/convection) and then I set the cooking time for 20 mins once preheated.

They came out very slightly under cooked but I think that's because I loaded the dish up with too much frozen food.

So it will take a bit of 'dialling in' but works perfectly well.

Next experiment will be to increace either the cooking time to 25mins, or increace the temp to 200c, but only for 20 mins with a simmilar food. Or just not load the dish up with so much food, lol!

I'm pretty sure it was just the sheer volume of frozen food that scuppered the first test, a less full bowl would have been fine I'm sure.
 
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Cheers, I just ordered a couple of the same ones based on that. Next Saturday delivery though so will be patient.

Good idea about using the microwave as a preheat, I'll try that. Also my combo microwave has settings like 30% microwave, then switches to 70% convection oven automatically, these Pyrex will be fantastic for that working in all functions.

I also noticed my oven function needs a little more time for certain frozen things, I've not used mine below the 200c setting to get the most heat, though to be fair mine's just a £100 De Longhi I bought recently mostly for a simple microwave, but wanted to try a combi one out. Both the oven and grill functions work better than I thought they would, very impressed them for such a low cost and they're lot cheaper than a larger electric oven to run as well.
 
Yeh mines not a super expensive one.. A morphy richards that was about £110 I think.

Just to add i didn't use the microwave function to preheat.. The convection preheated and beeps once its up to temp and then I set the time.

I've not thought about using the microwave and convection combi mode yet.. I'll have to look into how that affects cooking times. I'm guessing it might be more efficient?
 
Mine both turned up on Tuesday, not Saturday, lucky I work from home, no worries getting them early.

Thought I'd try a recipe from the microwave booklet to start with it, apple crumble, first attempt at making any kind of crumble, intrigued by only the 8 mins cooking time in microwave mode then 3 mins in grill mode.

Amazingly it was great, didn't seem microwaved at all, really crisp and chewy crumble and really well cooked apple, leaving skin on made it even better. Added some cinnamon to the recipe made it so good, surprising how many apple pie or crumble recipes don't include it including this one. Though now I know just how much sugar is in crumbles.

The recipe uses a lot of brown sugar - that's why it tastes so good.

Microwave uses even less energy than air fryers, so that's one efficient crumble.

Those borosilicate Pyrex are so versatile for mixing cooking methods, well worth getting.
 
Sounds good.. I've only used mine in pure grill /convection/mirowave mode exclusivley so maybe that's where i'm going wrong, rather than a microwave/convection combo cook. etc.

The Pyrex dish is great though, non metalic so very versatile.:)
 
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