in order to understand the benefits of built in microwave combination ovens we first need to understand the difference between these versatile built in appliances and their traditional plug in cousins.
When you open the door of a microwave combination oven what is first evident is that there is no turntable.
This is because these ovens are what is known as flatbed microwaves.
In a traditional turntable microwave, the waves are produced from a generator on the side of the oven. The waves bounce off the metal inside the microwave and are distributed and then absorbed by the food. The Microwaves cause the molecules in the food (mainly the water molecules) to vibrate, creating the heat that cooks the food.
A turntable is required to ensure the waves are as evenly distributed as possible within the food. The beam of microwaves are focused from the generator onto the base of the microwave and then bounce around the oven distributing amongst the food but most of the microwaves are absorbed at the initial point of contact. This is why traditional microwaves require a turntable to ensure more even distribution in the food.
In a flatbed microwave, the microwaves are generated by an antenna at the top (or very rarely the bottom) of the oven and in many ovens a Microwave Stirrer blade which distributes the waves more evenly within the oven, and amongst the food directly from the source, negating the need for a turntable. The extra space gained from not having a turntable can instead be used for heating larger volumes of food.
In addition most of the built in microwave and microwave combination ovens utilise inverter technology. This changes the way the power is delivered. In a microwave without inverter technology the power is always delivered at the same full power but when we reduce the power level, the machine delivers the microwaves in bursts of time dependent on the power level chosen, so a low power level will result in bursts with longer gaps between and a higher power has shorter gaps between the bursts.
Inverter microwaves can deliver a continuous range of power levels rather than operating at fixed intervals. This means they can adjust the power output according to the specific requirements of the food being cooked, providing more precise and consistent heating. This helps to ensure more even cooking and prevents overcooking or hot spots in the food. They are also more energy efficient which may waste energy by cycling on and off at full power.
Of course the huge benefit of a microwave combination oven is that is first and foremost a traditional oven as well, and gives you flexibility in your cooking by allowing you to not only use it conveniently as a microwave oven, or as a traditional oven without microwave, but also and probably most importantly can combine the traditional oven functions with low power microwaves, to speed up the cooking of a dish but still maintain the browning and crispness that occurs with regular oven cooking . By cooking using a microwave combination function, you can often carve up to 50% off your cooking time without compromising the result.
One of the best examples is reheating a frozen met pie. In a traditional oven it can take up to 50 minutes or more to reheat the pie, but the result is crispy pastry and moist filling. Using just microwave, the pie can be reheated in less than 10 minutes but the pastry is sodden and unappealing and often the filling becomes dry and overcooked. By combining the benefits of the traditional oven heat which will result in crisp pastry but with the addition of low power microwave, we can achieve that delicious pie complete with moist interior and crispy pastry in less than 20 minutes.
In conclusion, the evolution of microwave technology, from traditional turntable models to innovative flatbed designs and the integration of inverter technology, has revolutionized cooking efficiency and versatility, offering precise heating control and energy efficiency while providing users with the convenience of microwave cooking and the benefits of traditional oven functions in one appliance.
