We recently finished our minuscule kitchen, complete with oven and hob. We were using our old microwave temporarily but now need to replace it.
I could do with some advice from you helpful people.
We have a place for a standard-sized microwave but actually could do with a mini-oven and- most importantly - a good grill! How can you have good cheese on toast without one of those?
Needless to say, we have only the one slot. My experience of combination microwaves has not been good, especially on the grill front. We found a mini-oven (very expensive) with what appeared to be a real grill in it - not the feeble imitations you usually find in mini-ovens. However, that would leave the microwave problem.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to a possible compromise of some sort?
|My daughter has an air-fryer - never used one until now - they are brilliant. They are indeed mini-ovens - cook anything in them that is cooked in a normal oven but quicker and more economic. Would highly recommend; couldn’t do without microwave, a mini oven - with GRILL !! - and an air-fryer covers all choices. Why not go for mini-microwave, mini oven with grill - and then add an airfryer on spare space on counter-top. My daughter had to buy a small stacking set of shelves and she put air-fryer on the top shelf - with kitchen appliances and ‘stuff’ on the shelves below. Set-up works well and doesn’t take up much space. There are ways to get what you want !!
(Not sure about the ‘cheese on toast’ bit - cheese would melt but not ‘brown’ on top - not tried it - but don’t think it would work). This is where the ‘old-fashioned’ cookers win over today’s split oven and hob - the grill pan at eye-level was perfect for grilling - and for warming plates !! Sometimes the old-fashioned ovens are the best !!
Probably the sort of thing that you want to physically see before you buy so you can check dimensions and it really does what you need it to do. Are there any big électroménager sheds near you? Amazon.fr have some black friday (con?) deals
We have an amazing neff microwave oven combo, is just fabulous! Grill and oven settings, goes as low as 30 c for dehydrating. I’ve even hatched chicks in it!!!
Thank you very much everyone for your suggestions. I do have an air fryer but don’t get on with it, unlike most people, I think!
The grill is the most problematic and you are quite right @Mark - I do need to see it to be sure it is going to work in the space I have. I was just thinking that you would all be able to give me some ideas to start from, given my very limited space.
I shall certainly check out Neff, @toryroo - thank you.
I vote with the Air-Fryer party. I’ve got a two-drawer Ninja. Selling my 60cm built-in oven paid for it. I don’t miss the oven at all. Anyway, it was an electrical extravagance to use it just for me - one pizza at a time.
Me too, I do cheese on toast in the air fryer not sure it browns on top though but I like the result well enough not to notice.
The mini oven has only been used for warming my plate before serving.
Micro is for re-heating coffee and making sauces, oh and now I have managed to buy creme anglaise (almost if not quite, custard) that heats up in there too.
A friend was gifted an air fryer and has only used it a handful of times. She tells me that the cooking results have been OK but she is slightly concerned that so much of it is plastic and wonders about the health implications.
I really don’t like them. Admittedly, I bought a cheapie to try it out and of course that was almost completely plastic so who knows about health implications. I don’t use it now.
I’ve been looking at some combination jobs - microwave/convection/grill nd one or two do look practical but I have another problem with them.
If they have mini-oven capabilities, they seem to require at least 30 cm or ari space above them and of course my available slot isn’t much more than that in total.
Has anyone use a mini-oven and put a layer of something insultating above it instead of air space? Or wouldn’t that be safe for other reasons?
I’m a bit confused as to what type of oven, and what ‘slot’ you mean. If you have a conventional enclosed slot deigned for a built in unit, then you must install a built in unit. You can’t take a conventional unit designed for countertop use and enclose it. That would be very dangerous as countertop units require space around them for ventilation whereas built in units are designed differently to make use of more restricted ventilation space behind and above them. Basically, you have to conform to the manufacturers recommendations.
Putting insulation over an air vent or top which is meant to dissipate heat would be extremely dangerous.
Thank you for your reply @hairbear and sorry about the ambiguity. When I referred to a slot, I meant the space between the top of the fridge and the wall unit above it. It’s just a space and has been used for a microwave. Sounds like it needs to continue just being a microwave!
Ah, OK. So it’s open to the sides, but not much headroom above. If it’s only a small headroom I wouldn’t be too comfortable putting a countertop oven there, and if you did it would need the unit above protecting from the heat as you’ve already suggested.
