Cooking The Dinner With A Light Bulb (JML Halogen Oven)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	JML Halogen Oven
Date:	11/12/08 (2647 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, efficient, easy clean

Disadvantages: Bowl gets very hot

I have wanted to buy a halogen tabletop cooker for a while now. I did buy a cheaper version some months ago but within a month it stopped working and I got a full refund from the manufacturer.

So, when I saw the JML version on TV I decided to buy one. It cost me £49 which is £10 off the current full price, less a little bit for the VAT reduction.

It arrived very well packed and I soon set up my gleaming new machine. The bowl stands on a heatproof stand and the unit that has the halogen bulb fits on the top of the bowl. Tongs and two racks of different heights are provided and there is an instruction book.

The first hing I noticed was that there were only very few recipe suggestions. I had expected to get cookery book with this machine.

The machine is very basic where heat settings and timing are concerned. You can cook at temperatures between 20 and 250 degrees centigrade and the timer runs for up to 60 seconds. There is also a 'thaw/defrost' facility and a 'wash' setting.

The first thing I did was to put water in the bottom, leaving the racks and tongs inside and add a squirt of washing up liquid. This washes the bowl in about ten minutes. After emptying the water out, turning on the heat at the highest setting for 2 minutes dries the bowl completely.

Next it was time to experiment a little. Cheese on toast, using untoasted bread and grated cheese took under five minutes to cook. Bacon is crisp and browned after just five minutes too. The beauty of this machine is that you don't have to heat it up first. You just switch it on and go.

My next experiment was a full meal.

A 1kg joint of beef placed in the bottom of the bowl on the low rack takes around 75minutes to cook. I wrapped the joint in foil and switched on.

Roast potatoes from raw take around an hour (depending on size) so I added these after 15 minutes, using a kitchen timer to remind me when to add them. These sit nicely around the meat.

Next came the vegetables. I chose a selection of root vegetable cut fairly thinly and placed them in a foil parcel with olive oil and seasoning. These cook in around half and hour so I set the kitchen timer accordingly.

After 75 minutes the whole roast meal was ready to serve.

While I was eating it I set the cooker to wash itself.

What could be easier?

The size of the cooking bowl is not specified in the booklet that comes with this machine but it measures 33 cms across and 16 cms in depth. I have cooked oven chips, pastry, grilled sausages, baked potatoes and many other things in this little oven and the results are excellent. The 1300W halogen bulb cooks things superfast but it is easy to keep an eye on them through the glass.

There is a lot of heat from this unit while it is cooking and the glass gets very hot, so extra care is needed if you have kids around. The whole thing lights up with a bright orange glow as soon as you push the handle down to start it off. (Not good on a hot day). It switches on and off during cooking to maintain the correct temperature.

The JML Halogen Oven is available from JML (John Mills Ltd) and can be purchased via their TV Channel, online, or in stores that stock JML Goods.

My favourite function is the 'wash' because it keeps the unit looking sparkling clean without much effort and I like the 'thaw' facility. Things like chicken breasts and sausages thaw much better than they do in the microwave and they don't come out looking half cooked around the edges.

Certainly worth the money and guaranteed for one year, although I would expect something that looks so well made and finished, to last longer.

Summary: Great addition to kitchen, something that will get lots of use