| Product: |
Panasonic NN-A 750 C |
| Date: |
18/04/06 (691 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Cooks all foods perfectly, looks fantastic
Disadvantages: Doesn't automatically restart when you've opened the door, dodgy shelf supports
I bought the Panasonic NNA750W Convection/Microwave Oven a couple of months ago after our basic microwave finally gave up the ghost, I’ve been so impressed that I don’t know why I haven’t bought one before.
Everything from bacon to whole chickens, fish fingers to stuffed trout and potato wedges to a selection of vegetables have cooked to perfection whether using the grill, microwave or convection cooker.
The oven itself is pretty simple to use, the display gives basic instructions each time you press a button on the keypad and the comprehensive instruction/cookery book which comes with it is also easy to understand and straight-forward. Well, as straight-forward as instruction manuals ever are…
The oven looks great in my kitchen; it has a brushed steel casing with a smoky glass door. It’s very good looking, with a smart control panel and clear display – one thing which is great about the display of the NNA750W is the scrolling tips it gives you at each stage of cooking. For example, when using the Auto Reheat function at a particular point a beeper will sound and the display will inform you that this is the time to give the food a stir.
When cooking joints of meat or chicken, weigh it first and cook using the combination setting for well browned skin/fat. The Panasonic keeps the moisture in the meat and doesn’t even dry the chicken up, which can easily happen even when using a conventional oven. You have to remember to keep going back and turning the joint as there’s no facility to set reminders, when you open the door the timer will pause and then restart once you’ve closed the door and pressed the start button.
This is where my first niggle comes into it. Every microwave I’ve ever owned will automatically start again after I’ve opened and closed the door, and I keep forgetting to press ‘Start’ on this one. This is really irritating when you’ve just turned a joint of lamb which is cooking perfectly, then an hour later realise the oven hasn’t started cooking again and the once succulent lamb now looks like a half cannibalized chop!
The only other annoying thing about the Panasonic is the shelf supports. You have to slot these in yourself when you buy the oven and they’re a piece of cake to slot in, giving a satisfying click when you’ve put them in properly. They’re also made so they don’t need to be removed when not in use. In theory. In practice they’re a damn annoyance. When cooking with the enamel tray, which is of the exact proportions to slide into the shelf supports, they’re fine. They’re stronger than they look and hold the tray firmly with no sliding, even though I know my work surface is definitely sloping backwards. But try keeping them in while not cooking with the enamel tray. As soon as the oven has been hot for 15 minutes one of them (usually the back one) will ping off onto the turntable. When another 30 minutes have passed at least two more will have popped out, which worries me when I’m cooking any sauce based dishes in case I serve it up with a renegade shelf support floating on my guests plate!
That’s it as far as bad news goes. Every other function I’ve found to be excellent.
The Auto Weight Cook facility is great, just by entering the weight of whatever you’re cooking or reheating you can guarantee perfectly cooked food when the timer goes off – just remember to turn or stir the food at least once during the cooking cycle.
Even the defrosting programme is pretty good, unlike most microwaves. I’ve defrosted everything in the Panasonic; mince, chicken, curry, bread, and only once has something started to look like its cooking. This was sausage meat which is notoriously hard to defrost by any other method than letting it do it itself in the fridge. Again, there’s an Auto Weight Defrost programme but I don’t find this to be very reliable and prefer defrosting for a couple of minutes at a time and checking how it’s going. Also, if you use the auto defrost there’s a complicated shielding process involved and I really can’t be bothered with this when I find cooking a chore anyway!
In general though, cooking isn’t so much of a chore with the Panasonic NNA750W. It’s still new enough to be a novelty, but everything about it is easier than using my Cannon gas cooker. I can confidently set the timer for a stew to be cooked and ready before I go out for the day, cleaning the inside is the easiest thing I’ve ever cleaned – well, wiped as even when I had a curry explode all I had to use was a damp cloth to get the walls looking as good as new.
The instruction book will get you fully acquainted with your new oven and has an excellent timing guide which is easy to adapt to whichever cooking method you’re using. The recipe section is great to get you started, with combination oven friendly adaptations of traditional dishes and some new ideas for what to give the family for tea.
In the box with your oven you’ll receive the enamel tray I mentioned earlier, a round metal tray and two circular wire racks. These four basic utensils can be used in every combination possible to produce anything from soufflé (and even these will rise perfectly in the Panasonic!) to a Sunday roast. Be sure to check the book before using any other trays or utensils as you have to be sure they’re completely compatible with the oven. Also, there are a few rules about which programmes you can’t use the wire racks with and the enamel tray can’t be used with all oven functions.
In case you haven’t guessed by now, I love my new Panasonic oven. Only having owned it for two months I’m completely confident with it and I don’t have to refer to the book every time I use it, which (considering the amount of programmes this oven has) is pretty good! In time, I’m certain this could replace my conventional cooker.
You can buy the NNA750W for £189 in Comet, which was where I bought mine; this includes a standard twelve month guarantee.
Summary: Next time you need a new microwave upgrade to one of these!
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Last comment:
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Bistro - 21/04/06 This sounds very handy indeed. I wish I'd had one of these whilst in bedsit/flatland many moons ago! xx |
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