FAQ: What is a convection microwave oven?
Question: I know what a microwave is.
I have had several microwaves in my lifetime, starting in the 80s… but, I am curious to know… what is a convection microwave oven?
Also, I’m pretty sure I know what a convection oven is, but I’m not sure how (or even why) you would combine these two types of ovens!
Answer: If you have read our FAQ titled ” What is a convection oven?“, you probably already have a pretty good grasp of what a convection oven is and how it works.
But, as far as how (or why) you combine these two cooking technologies… well, that’s a bit more complicated. So, here is the answer in layman’s terms…
A convection microwave oven actually combines the advantages of microwave oven (fast cooking time) with the advantages of a regular oven (browning and cooking from the outside in).
Most people are aware of some of the disadvantages of microwave cooking… one of which is the tendency to cook everything from the inside. If you cook any sort of meat in the microwave, you can forget about cooking meat to medium rare or medium well. Cooking meat from the inside out in a microwave just cooks from raw to well-done, with very little in between.
Also, conventional microwaves do not have the ability to brown the food they are cooking. Although manufactures of microwave dinners have come up with ways around this (using material that covers the food, collects the radiation and converts it to heat), the ability to use a microwave to brown a home-cooked meal still eludes us.
The downside of a traditional oven is that it’s difficult to speed up cooking time. Turning up the heat usually just burns the outside and leaves the inside cooler and uncooked, leading to potentially dangerous situations when it comes to cooking poultry or pork (aka food-borne illness).
Combining these two technologies (convection and microwave) allows one to compliment the other. The convection portion uses fan to force hot air across the food and speed the outside of the food, while the microwave radiation rapidly cooks the inside of the meal. That way you are able to produce meals that are cooked sufficiently both inside and out.
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