oven

Jenn-Air's 30-inch microwave is a roomy over-the-range option

With this Jenn-Air 30-inch microwave oven you're paying a little more than rival models for more features and a roomy interior for cooking larger dishes.

This oven, model JMV8208BAB, doesn't have speed cook or convection, but it offers a generous 2.0 cubic feet of cooking space and lots of functionality.

The oven's features include a halogen work surface light so you can keep an eye on food as it cooks, preprogrammed one-touch electronic buttons, more/less pads for adding or reducing cooking times, and a warming mode. A 30-second pad lets you heat in short increments. … Read more

GE's Profile Advantium over-the-range taps new technology to cook food faster

You won't have to wait long for food to cook with the GE Profile Advantium over-the-range oven.

That's because GE promises that this 1.2 cubic foot oven can cook up to eight times faster than a conventional oven, roasting a whole chicken in 20 minutes, baking a potato in four minutes, and cooking a pizza in about 5-and-a-half minutes.

The Advantium, model SCA2001KSS, combines halogen lights and microwave power (950 watts) to bake, brown, broil, and grill food. GE's so-called Speedcook technology uses intense halogen light to cook the outside of your food, while also penetrating … Read more

Whirlpool SpeedCook oven offers four ways to cook

The Whirlpool Velos SpeedCook oven/microhood is a big, powerful appliance that taps the latest technology to let you cook four ways with one oven.

With 2 cubic feet of space, this oven is also roomy enough for large family or group use. (However, it weighs a whopping 88.9 pounds, something to think about if you are considering an over-the-range option.)

The SpeedCook is versatile, functioning as a microwave, an oven, a convection oven, and a steamer, so it does everything from defrosting meat to making popcorn to baking cookies to speed-heating a roast for dinner.

Different power levels … Read more

Kitchen a la carte

The thing about good kitchen appliances is that they aren't very easy to move. You can't rearrange your kitchen on a whim, no matter what you do to the living room. And taking a stove with you when you move requires more effort than the stove is probably worth. But Stadtnomaden, a German carpentry firm offer their kitchen appliances A La Carte. You can order what look like dressers: cubes that are lightweight, easy to move and have a simple design that can fit anywhere. Depending on your choices, your cubes come with a sink, an oven and … Read more

Big flavor from a small oven

When I was 19, I lived on a kibbutz in Israel, which meant that my living space was about the size of my current minivan. Back then, one of the kibbutz members let me use an ancient oversize toaster oven, and I cooked everything in it. It took up all of my available counter space, and because it had one setting--burn--everything I ate tasted like slightly burnt toast.

If only someone had told me about the Aroma AeroMatic convection oven back then.

This machine--about the size of a large crockpot---lets you broil, bake, fry, roast, boil, and grill right on … Read more

Avoid oven burns with rack guards

The thing about ovens is that they get hot--really hot. In general, this is a good thing, considering it's very hard to cook anything in a cold oven. But, if you're anything like me, you've brushed a hand or arm across some part of your very hot oven during your cooking career. Personally, I hate that, and I'm more than willing to do whatever it takes to limit that experience.

A friend who does a lot of baking recommended that I look into oven rack guards, specifically Jaz Innovations Cool Touch Oven Rack Guard. They look … Read more

Yesterday's ranges in today's kitchens

In a kitchen full of sleek, shiny surfaces and pristine granite countertops, it's easy to feel a bit nostalgic. Today's kitchen is more a nerve center than a true heart of the home, and we've lost some of the warmth and coziness that the kitchen used to represent.

Don't get me wrong--I love my modern appliances--but every so often I see something that reminds me of the kitchen I grew up in, way back in the '80s when a high-end kitchen was one with a microwave.

If your kitchen is full of ultracool appliances that leave … Read more

Three-in-one oven offers kitchen planning options

For some kitchens, finding a spot for every appliance you want can be difficult; an oven can take up a surprising amount of floor space and a microwave can monopolize counter space. And setting the microwave on top of the range is just asking for trouble.

Or is it? Thermador's Triple Combination Oven implies otherwise. This appliance is a microwave, oven, and warming drawer, all in one. You'll still need a cooktop to go with it--Thermador's line of induction cooktops are a nice match if you're shopping--but the Triple Combination Oven has the potential to free … Read more

Steam Quick removes baking messes

It seems as if every oven has some sort of caked-on mess--the buildup from spilled roasts and exploding baking attempts. The typical self-cleaning cycle doesn't do much to remove that gunk either. But who wants to stick their head in the oven and literally chip off that baked-on mess? I know I'm reluctant to go to such measures to clean an oven.

Samsung offers the FTQ386LWX range--say that 10 times fast!--with its Steam Quick feature. Rather than forcing you to break out the elbow grease, ovens with Steam Quick run a light cleaning cycle, meant to … Read more