NTers and non-microwavers: any reviews of the Mercola recommended convection oven?

[yitlan]

This is his alternative to a microwave:
http://www.mercola.com/forms/turbo_oven.htm

Any reviews? Can you BAKE in this thing? Thoughts, comments?

[saratc]

I have a regular convection oven

Haven't used or heard of the one Dr. Mercola's advocating, but we have a regular convection oven. We stopped using the microwave almost a year now, and we purchased the Dualit convection oven. That one and the Cuisinart got the best reviews from what we saw. My friend has a Cuisinart and he's pretty happy with it. The Dualit is from Williams-Sonoma and is pricey, but we are really happy with it. You use it like you would a toaster oven, and has settings for regular baking or convection baking and you can make toast in it as well. I use the convection setting for cooking things that normally would take a long time like baked chicken breasts or a small roast and it really cuts the time.

In terms of it replacing the microwave, there's still an adjustment period -- instead of getting to eat right away when we are hungry, we have to plan a bit. The quickest you can really heat things up is about 10-15 minutes.

I would look around for reviews of the one on Dr. Mercola's site. I really like his site for information (still sometimes need to take with a grain of salt), but he sounds too sale-sy on the products he advocates.

[yitlan]

I really haven't been able to find any reviews of this one! The reason I'm looking at this one is that my mom thinks it's a good idea and it sounds like she wants to get one for me and one for my sister. One day I can get a great one, but right now dh is in school fulltime, so I don't have many options. And this one may work really well and be super convenient, but I can't find any other info on it.

Yeah, I know he's got a definite sales pitch on the products he advocates, so I was hoping someone here might have a little more insight. Please speak up if you do!!! And thanks for your input saratc.

[yitlan]

no one else?

[cloudswinger]

I have a convection toaster oven too, a europro one that has a rotisserie too. I really wanted the next bigger size, this one only roasts a chicken less than 4 lbs, and it seems really hard to find small whole chickens nowadays, unless they're natural - wonder what that means!

I did find one review, on Amazon. They apparently sell somthing similar at Target for 59 bucks.

[saratc]

I can't seem to find the review for our Dualit oven anymore. But here's a couple of sites that list user ratings for convection ovens:

http://www.epinions.com/search/?subm..._submit=Search
http://www.dealtime.com/xFS?KW=conve...FD=0&x=11&y=12

I remember looking at the Turbo oven when we purchased ours and couldn't find anywhere that had any information or reviews for it.

[yitlan]

Originally Posted by saratc

I remember looking at the Turbo oven when we purchased ours and couldn't find anywhere that had any information or reviews for it.

I know! It's frustrating. Since it will be a gift, I'll accept it gladly, but was hoping to find out some info first and pass it along to my mom. Thanks for the other reviews...I'll check 'em out.

[chasmyn]

I found this thread looking for the very same information. We're looking at getting the one Mercola recommends, and I feel the same way. When he endorses a product, he is really sales-y about it. I do trust his opinions on other things, though - he really seems to have the health of people in mind. I also cannot seem to find any reviews of this oven anywhere online. Did you ever find anything?

[yitlan]

No, unfortunately not. And I don't have it yet, either. Guess my mom lost her momentum. It's the Mystery Machine....

[chasmyn]

Well, I'll keep searching...Maybe some Mama here has one and will chime in? Maybe? :

[TudoBem]

It sounds to me like it's just a convection oven. If that's the case then it would make more sense to get a good toaster oven/convection oven. We have a Cuisinart and love it. We bake small cakes, cookies, dinner items, small pizzas and use it as a toaster.
Ours is similar to this model. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=284507

[yitlan]

Bumping this one more time. Here's another similar one:
http://www.ginnys.com/shopping/produ...roductID=80824
And the same product on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-Aeromati...UTF8&s=kitchen

I think she's interested in this one b/c it's smaller than a toaster oven and she can put it away in a cabinet. It comes with a rack that fits toast and eggs and I'm wondering if it toasts well.

[chasmyn]

I was JUST thinking about this. We haven't gotten ours yet and are thinking soon. We're considering this one:

http://www0.epinions.com/hmgd-Small_Appliances-All-Panasonic_Toaster_Oven_with_Infrared_Light_Model_N BG100P/display_~full_specs

[msiddiqi]

Originally Posted by chasmyn

I was JUST thinking about this. We haven't gotten ours yet and are thinking soon. We're considering this one:

http://www0.epinions.com/hmgd-Small_Appliances-All-Panasonic_Toaster_Oven_with_Infrared_Light_Model_N BG100P/display_~full_specs

I know this may be ignorant of me, but is infared light bad? I thought it was a type of radiation, albeit, not a strong source of it.

Also, the convection ovens... are you able to pop a plate of food in it like you would a microwave?

[chasmyn]

Hm, I actually don't know, good questions.

I Googled and found this:

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiation_n...ing/index.html

And this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared

I think you can heat a plate of food as long as the dish is oven safe, but it's slower than a microwave (but leaves the nutrients in).

[msiddiqi]

Hmmm... interesting information. So do all convection ovens use infared or just that particular one?

OT chasmyn: I read Quinn's story... made me appreciate DS even more. Your son sounded like an amazing boy.

[chasmyn]

Originally Posted by msiddiqi

OT chasmyn: I read Quinn's story... made me appreciate DS even more. Your son sounded like an amazing boy.

Thank you. That he was.

[luvmy2boys]

I did not buy the specific one that Mercola recommends, but I bought something similar:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16896100203

I've had this for several months and love it. My parents have used one like this for 15-20 years (maybe more?). I don't think ours has the infrared thing, though.

I used to have a small convection oven (more like a large toaster oven with convection qualities) and it didn't work as good as this one.

This does heat up food quickly, but not as fast as a microwave. We stopped using the microwave and what I've found is that foods take a little longer to heat up, but not *that* long. And they really do taste better. I was sacrificing so much taste just to be able to eat 10 minutes sooner. Bah.

There are 2 down sides to this oven. One is that it's hard to find pans to fit in it (although you can cook directly in it, sometimes that's not convenient). My plates are just a touch too big to put in there to reheat things. I'm using more dishes now that I can't just throw a plate in the microwave. Small price to pay IMO, but just a warning. Cake pans work nice in here for reheating things.

The other thing is that while the convection aspect of it does help to heat things up faster, it can also dry things out. I've started heating up a lot of my leftovers in a pot with a bit of water. I use Pyrex containers for my leftovers and put them in a pan of water, bring it to a boil, and then back it off to a simmer until done. Stir occasionally (for large portions). THe container will start to rattle in the pan once it starts to boil...doesn't hurt anything, but is annoying. I've started putting one of those cheap metal steamer baskets upside down in the pan, or I've even taken a metal tea ball that is flat on both ends; took it apart and put each piece in the pan and put the container I'm reheating on top. I find this method to work more quickly than the turbo oven, but there are some things the turbo oven is just better for.

I have to use larger pans sometimes, but they're easy to clean since I'm just boiling water in them, so it's no big deal.

HTH