This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online
WIRED enlisted the help of two-Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall to try out three combination microwave ovens in his kitchen at Michael Wignall at the Latymer. Each was tested for accuracy, performance and ease of use. Choux pastry, chicken and vegetable dishes ensured a variety of settings were used.
PANASONIC 32-LITRE NN-CF873SBPQ
This achieved the best results with vegetables -- they came out nice and moist. On defrost mode, however, it half-cooked the sausage ends but left their centres partially frozen. The choux pastry also needed five minutes longer to cook than the other two models. Michael Wignall found the pastry too light in colour, but he was pleased by the rise and cooking result. In the combi-grill test, the chicken skin was crisp and nicely coloured, but after eight minutes it was still undercooked. "Food shrinkage was kept to a minimum thanks to the slower cooking process," says Wignall. 7/10 £420
RUSSELL HOBBS 30-LITRE RHM3003
Wignall reported that this model -- the smallest on test -- had the coolest-to-touch exterior of the three ovens, and thought its size would work well in smaller kitchens. "I like the ergonomic design and stylish white finish," he says. "In convection mode, the carrots came out shrivelled and rather dry inside. And after 20 minutes' cooking, the choux pastry came out undercooked with no rise." Using the combi-grill feature, the chicken needed more cooking time than the other two models as, after eight minutes of cooking, the bird was barely warm. Wignall had to switch to microwave mode for a further five minutes to achieve results he was happy with. 5/10 £128
SAMSUNG 35-LITRE MC35J8085CT
This model's HotBlast feature offers an ultra-speedy way to cook, which impressed Wignall. He also liked the Keep Warm setting -- a feature found in professional built-in ovens. "Although the carrots came out slightly dry, this model did best in the choux pastry test," he says. It came out golden brown, dry on the outside and moist on the inside, just as it should be. Wignall found the Samsung also delivered the goods in the combi-grill test, with "a crispy chicken skin that retained the juice". It also had the fastest defrost feature, "but it gives a minimum defrost weight of 200g, so you will get inaccurate defrosting results for items smaller than this," he notes. 8/10 £400
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
