New microwave or convection oven?

A word of caution:
I have replaced two microwaves with convection types, one in my last motor home and one in my present unit.
Unless the one you get is designed for a built in installation and exhausts out of the front, or your current installation has a way of exhausting through the wall I would highly recommend getting the "build-in kit" for whatever brand microwave/convection you get.

In convection mode, convection micros get much hotter than the standard ones. When it was first installed, the temp behind mine got up to 200 degrees F after 45 minutes in convection mode.
I did not get the build-in kit for my first installation and went through a lot of hassle getting the temp behind the unit down to a reasonable level. I ended up adding a grill above the microwave and an exhaust fan blowing air through the side of the motor home. This involved a lot of work and cutting through the side of the motor home.

The second time I got the kit and the job was much easier. There was additional sheet metal in the kit that formed ducts to move air in from the front and back out the front. It also came with decorative grills that make the installation look like it came from the factory with the unit already in place.

Note that there are some minimum clearances in back and on the sides that must be met. You should make sure the convection micro you buy is small enough to allow for the proper clearances.

I so like the Micro/Convec in our motor home that when our sticks and bricks micro bit the dust I replaced it with the same unit I have in the MH. I think I have only used the oven once in 8 months in the sticks and bricks. The new unit does it all and is more energy efficient.

Moved from Technology Corner

Our MW/Convection and stove top does all of our cooking along with the BBQ.

So no oven and that space is very useful. I added full length pull out drawers in the oven area.




Moderator's Note: Reduced photo display width to forum recommendations.

While they are more expensive, the convection/microwave ovens are much more functional and work extremely well. We cook our full Holiday meals in one be it an entire turkey or an awesome rolled rib roast. All the fixings as well. Back cinnamon rolls, roast vegetables, whatever you can do an a regular oven you can do in this thing but on a smaller scale.

NC Hauler wrote:
I recommend the convection oven. My wife loves ours. they're so many more thing you can do with it over a microwave.

X2. We use a combination unit in our house, but the TT has a regular microwave. We had a sears Kenmore unit that worked good for about 6 years, then suddenly quit last winter. We replaced it with a Samsung. It has a setting called "slim fry" that makes excellent frozen french fries, nuggets, breaded cutlets, etc.

I recommend the convection oven. My wife loves ours. they're so many more thing you can do with it over a microwave.

The first time our original microwave broke down, we took it to a repair center and they restored it back to operational. The second time, we measured carefully and shopped around. We ended with a microwave/convection oven and it's worked great.