New oven in Japan, ideas or suggestions?

[cteavin]

The last major purchase I want to make before taxes go up is a new oven. I have a Helsio and it's wonderful. I'm considering replacing it with another but I'd like to know what you all are using, what you like, and why.

I'm pretty professional in the kitchen and need an oven that has lots of functionality.

Any thoughts?

[helenjp]

Are you renting? If not, then gas would be my recommendation.

I have had OK results with both Toshiba and Panasonic, but if you like your Helsio, why not stick with it? Right now I have a 2008 Hitachi MRO-DV100, and don't like it at all. I wanted an oven with maximum temperatures well over 200C, 2 trays, and reasonably big interior, and on paper this looked like a good choice. However, if I actually use both trays, the oven temperature tends to fall disastrously. I feel that it is pretty much designed to cook smallish quantities of foods on the automatic menu ettings, but it is not an all-purpose workhorse.

[cteavin]

Like you, I have issues with the temperature inside the oven. 250 is not 250. Still, considering all it does, it's pretty good. I think it's Hitachi that makes a 33 liter oven, 3 liters larger than what i'm using.

I'm only renting, so gas isn't an option.

[helenjp]

Yes, my oven is 33L, but the extra 3 liters is not that useful, since I can't really use the extra capacity without the temperature dropping badly (and more importantly, I feel that it might be slower to get back to the set temperature than my previous ovens) - especially with baking, I am more aware of cakes getting tough and dried out from lengthy exposure to the fan as the wretched oven struggles to bake the poor cake.

The usable interior of my Hitachi oven trays (i.e. excluding lip etc.) is rouighly 37.5 x 27 cm. I assume but can't guarantee that new 33L models are a similar size - how does that compare to the Helsio trays? I remember being quite tempted by the Helsio when I bought my current Hitachi - it was just that bit more expensive.

http://kakaku.com/kaden/microwave-oven/itemlist.aspx?pdf_Spec101=2&pdf_Spec301=30-50　Kakaku.com listing for microwave ovens 30 liters and over in capacity. Very much "the usual suspects" in terms of manufacturers. Also, kakaku.com sometimes includes listings for out of date models, so if there are no vendors listed, you can assume that it's not a current model!

Edited February 24, 2014 by helenjp (log)

[cteavin]

I was in Yamada the other day. I looked carefully at both. The Hitachi's tray is longer by a bit and there is a bit more work room within.

Why did you like the Heasio at the time? For me, the water over seemed really useful, but I killed nikuman yesterday when I used it -- hit and miss. It's a hit when you follow the recipe book which comes with the oven, but it's "case by case" when you do your own thing.

It's not a bad oven. I'm pretty happy with it. I just wish the temperature were accurate at high levels. After 200 it really fluctuates.

Is yours the type which can bake bread? It's not a feature I'm looking for, but it looked fun.

[helenjp]

It's a hit when you follow the recipe book which comes with the oven, but it's "case by case" when you do your own thing.

I'm beginning to think that this may just be more and more true of Japanese ovens.Ｔhe new "environmentally friendly" standards seem to be a new word for underpowered.

Mine is not one of the newer bakery series of Hitachi ovens. It does go up to 300 degrees, and yes, it does a much better job of things like pizza than my old oven did. I tend to stick to flatbreads in this oven, because my breadmaker just uses so much less electricity.

My oven's max usage for conventional oven mode (not microwave) is 1390kw. I know that a few are rated over 1400kw for oven mode, but many are only around 1000kw. It's very easy to confuse the screaming claims of "max output xxxxxkw!!!" with oven power, but usually the microwave rating is higher, and you have to dig through the specs a bit to find the oven-mode rating. Setsuden.net lists Panasonic as the cheapest to run out of the 30L plus size ovens, so no Panasonic oven will enter my kitchen!

Why did I like the look of the Healsio? Sorry, don't remember the details.

The Toshiba Ishigama series go up to 350 degrees. The 500 series has a more sophisticated convection system than the 400 series, and the oven consumption is 1430kw, heating element output 1400kw, but the interior is 31L against 33. I did have an oven about that size, and the problem was more fitting larger pans or items in than heat/power.