All types of cooking in one oven and a Child - proof lock
Disadvantages:
Not large enough for big families, but would be good as a backup
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
My old microwave was looking worse for wear so decided to look for a new one. As my main cooker had a grill included in the oven, which I find very inconvenient at times, I thought a microwave/grill combination would be my best bet.
I visited Comet and found that there was a huge variety of ovens available, but one stood out amongst them and that was the HINARI Lifestyle Model MX780CEG. It did more than I originally wanted - Microwave, Grill and Convection, with a microwave/grill and microwave/convection combinations - but at the very reasonable price of £54.99 it looked a very good buy.
As you can see from the picture above it is an attractive looking oven and with outside dimensions of 458w x 295hx488dmm and oven cavity dimensions of 309w x 206h x 334dmm, it is not that much larger than a convensional microwave oven.
That was 22nd February 2006, and I have now tested all it's five cooking methods.
Normal microwave cooking ====================== The maximum power level is 800W and you can set the cooking time from 10 seconds to 1 hour and 35 minutes. It has a glass turntable and I was very satisfied with HINARI Lifestyle performance both for cooking and defrosting. My rating ****
Hot air convection cooking ===================== I found this equally as good as using my main "fan assisted" oven. It pushes hot air through the oven cavity which browns and crisps food quickly and evenly. As my conventional oven has no automatic timing facility, I found it great to be able to walk away and let the Hinari time my cooking for me. For the two of us it was great for casseroles and the Sunday roast, but it would be a little small for large families without using a normal oven as well. Although I have not tested it yet I feel there would be a saving on electricity due to the smaller size of this oven. See what my next bill says! My rating *****
Grilling ====== Again this has an automatic timing function, which I find very useful. In the very informative manual it states, "Grill cooking is particularly useful for thin slices of meat, steaks, chops, kebabs,sausages and pieces of chicken. It is also suitable for hot sandwiches and au gratin dishes." I have found this to be very true and the fact that I can cook in my main oven and grill in the microwave oven, or vice versa, at the same time is very, very convenient. My rating *****
Combination cooking ================= Microwave and Convection and Microwave and Grilling. I must admit that I have only tested each of these once, but found them very efficient. There are built-in programmes which allow you to set the timings. I tested this facility by microwaving a cottage pie and then browning the top using the grill and microwaving a small joint and browing it off with the convection. They both worked very well, but I don't think I will be using them very often. My rating ***
Defrosting ======== Worked efficiently. In the manual there are some useful hints. One thing I didn't know was that the general rule-of-thumb says defrost for 5 minutes per pound of frozen food (11 minutes per kilogram). I thought you might like to know this just in case I am not the only dumbo. My rating ****
Other Facilities ============ There is also a multi-stage cooking programme and auto menu cooking which I have not had reason to try yet and most important of all there is a CHILD-PROOF LOCK.
Conclusion ========= I found, with the use of the very informative handbook, all the facilities of the HINARI Lifestyle MX780CE were easy to use and I have been very impressed with the outcome of all the cooking methods available.
I would recommend the Hinari Lifestyle Microwave MX780CEG oven with grill and convection. It is very reasonably priced and would be ideal for a small family, as a back-up oven for large families or where there is limited space in a kitchen.
For information the power consumption for each process is as follows:
Microwave 1200w Convection 950w Grill 950w Microwave power output is 800w Oven capacity 20 litres.
Thank you for reading my review.
More details
Durability
Satisfactory
User's Manual
Excellent
How much did you pay?
£54.99
Any repairs?
no
Special features?
Child-proof lock
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