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Often there are queries regarding selection of ovens for home needs. Following are the two posts which I felt like sharing with my viewers on the topic discussed in the blog
Dear Gayatri garu
I am regular visitor to your site. Your
video recipes inspired me to purchase a microwave oven. Basically we
are andhra brahmins. I need oven for daily basis usage like u use for
small quantity cooking like that and also for making cakes and biscuits
to my daughter aged 5yrs. Can u give me your suggestions which type i
can select?? I do not have any idea on ovens usage so i need your help
badly. After going through your kitchen aid i have doubts which i need
clarifications from you. 1.If i purchase solo type oven ,will it work
for baking cakes and biscuits ?or I have to purchase both solo and
convention separately ??? As you rightly said i want to reduce repair
costs to minimum. We can purchase an oven but cost of repairs also we
should keep in mind at the time purchase itself is my idea.If i
purchase solo and convection models separately then these two will work
for my needs ?? gayatri garu kindly help me. with advance thanks
Chidambari
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Chidambari Garu,
I belive you are in India only and write the following.
Let
me share my experience candidly. For day to day cooking for small
families, micro-wave solo model is sufficient. Because the oven cavity
is small, the quantity of food to be cooked is also small, the general
800 watts microwave capacity is sufficient. This oven in India costs
around Rs 2500 to Rs 4000. After three four years when a magnetron
needs to be replaced it costs around Rs 1500 maximum. Micro-wave oven
can only cook, it cannot bake.
For baking we need a convection
oven for good results. In convection oven air needs to be circulated
inside the oven during baking for which we need a fan inside. Imagine
an OTG oven with a fan inside. Such type of ovens are not available in
India atleast at Vizianagaram where I reside.
Higher ranges of
Micro-wave - cum - convection ovens only have a fan inside the oven.
Nowadays many companies are marketing their lower range products as
convection models even without a fan inside. You need to spend at least
Rs 12,000 and above only for getting the lowest range of the
microwave-cum-convection model with a fan inside. The baking in these
ovens is a real pleasure, because the temperature and timings are
electronically controlled and exact.
You get a mid-range OTG for
Rs 4500 to Rs 5500. If you modify it as shown in my video "Dum-Biryani - 2" to some extent you would get a Convection type of effect. You need
to experiment to arrive at the baking temperatures and timings with
lots of patitence. OTG has very few parts which need maintenance for
which the repair costs are almost zero.
If you spend Rs 12000
and above on the microwave-cum-convection ovens, you get everything
neatly packaged into one. The negative features are, the micro-wave
cavity is large for which a higher power magnetron would be used thus
consuming higher electricity costs for daytoday use. Even if a small
part goes out of order, both convection and micro-wave modes would not
work and the repair costs are relatively higher compared to the solo
models of OTG and Microwave.
I started with the biggest oven
available in India with all the features after paying Rs 18000. Believe
I use micro-wave oven every day and spent almost Rs 22000 for repairs
in the last 6 years on this oven itself. Every time it looks promising
that with this repair it would work excellently. During these 6 years I
was forced to purchase a solo micro-wave which works without problem
and the magnetron was replaced after two years. I purchased an OTG and
modified it for my requirements. Thus I want to caution my viewers not
be carried away by the features of all-in-one type of ovens. These are
good for occasional use by not for daily use. Segregate your needs and
purchase accordingly or end up buying three ovens like me. I don't set
an example here, mine is a case of caution.
I hope you are more
confused after reading the post!!! Be cool and take a decision which
suits you best. I just highlighted the facts. With three ovens at home
it has been long since I have gone to the market to see what new
models are available. I am out of touch !!!
Gayatri