A very good cooking appliance, but I gave it 4 start not 5 start, here is why.
I bought a Secura turbo oven a while ago from their website because they offer extended warranty. It is a perfect cooking appliance, and then we noticed there is a similar Flavorwave oven that selling at slightly higher price with less standard accessories. There must be something on Flavorwave oven that makes good even better. But to our surprise, when we received our Flavorwave oven, we immediately realized there are 3 features missing from Secura turbo oven.
First, there is no extender ring; we need to buy it separately which cost extra $30-40. Seems like this is a problem that can be settled by spending more, not sweet, but I can live with it.
Second, the Secura turbo oven has a handle safety button. You need to push the button and then lower the handle to turn on the oven heating. So it does not accidently turn on when you do not intend to. The Flavorwave Oven does not have this feature. When the handle bar is in down position, the oven turns on. Imagine you set your oven top aside after done with cooking, and definitely do not want the oven to heat again which is impossible to happen with Secura oven's safety button. This safety feature is very necessary, I highly recommend to add this feature.
Third, on the Flavorwave oven, the power cord is permanently connected on the oven top, but Secura turbo oven has a detachable power cord. We have been using Secura Turbo oven to cook and serve on dinner table. When the meal is cooked, just remove the oven top and unplug the power cord. It is convenient and do not have to worry about stepping on the power cord by accident. Just a small detail on design that can make a big difference. Flavorwave oven's platinum model 797DH has the detachable power cord design though if you have interests.
Other than these a few difference, Flavorwave and Secura oven are very alike, the craftsmanship, the heavy duty glass blow, wire rack cad power cord, even the parts # printed on the halogen bulb. Then I was told by customer service, that these two are the same manufacturer only the model #s are different. Flavorwave's 767MH vs. Secura's 777MH. Flavorwave's Platinum 797DH vs. Secura's 798DH.
Having these said Flavorwave oven cooks very well. It does best to cook your food crispy outside and juicy inside. Secura turbo oven is a newer model, but the core technologies are the same as Flavorwave oven. Had I do not know Secura turbo Oven, I would have given Flavorwave oven a 5 star.
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Okay, so I have to amend my rating to 4 stars. I still hold to my review, and that this thing is more art than science, but it is so much fun, and now that I've gotten good at playing around with it, the food is so tasty, I am bumping it up to 4 stars. The kitchen is not heated up, there is no waiting for pre-heat, there is no defrosting. Once I bumped up the temperature a little higher, moved the food around a little bit, threw away the times and temps from the instructions manual, and just messed around, everything is coming out delicious.
So, it may not cook as fast as Mr. T says it will, but seriously: I pity the fool who does not buy a halogen oven!
Flavorwave cooking is really more an art then science.
Some pros and cons:
Pro 1: Cook from Frozen! It really does defrost and cook your food from frozen, and faster than a regular oven, which is a huge plus for us busy families. When you cook chicken or fish in a conventional oven, from frozen, for let's say 35 minutes, the food comes out dry because the outside is overcooked and the inside is under or just cooked. With the Flavor-wave, it is as promised: Your food is cooked both inside and out. The chicken is juicy and the fish is flaky, there are no raw-spots on the chicken, and there are no extra dry spots on the fish.
Pro 2: Master Potatoes! It makes perfect potatoes every single time. I've tried enormous bakers, frozen fries, sweet potatoes: The fries come out crispy, and the large baker is absolutely perfect, inside and out, and fast too.
Pro 3: Huge Fun Factor! Yes, it's fun! Watching the light go on and off, watching your food cook inside the bowl. Kind of amazing, and even clean-up is playful and toy-like.
The cons:
Con 1: Not Piping Hot Food: While I am confident that the food comes out fully cooked, it does not come out piping hot, like it does in the oven. For me, it feels like cooked food that's been allowed to cool off for maybe 10 minutes. It's not a concern safety-wise, meaning, the food is clearly fully cooked, both inside and out. It's just that, food is so much better when it is piping hot, where you must blow on it to cool it down. Food does not exit the flavor-wave with that kind of heat intensity and mouth-feel.
Con 2: Simulated oven-feel: The chicken and fish comes out almost poached, to me. So the chicken is a little too juicy on the inside, and not crispy enough on the outside. Strange, almost simulated, but not quite like the oven: My salmon is flaky, but does not have that seared feel on the outside, that I might get from a conventional oven.
Con 3: Awkward Bowl: I find pulling food out from the bottom rack to be a little difficult. With chicken and perhaps meat, not a problem because you can use tongs. But with fish, you are going at it with a spatula, and on that bottom rack, because of the bowl, that means you are coming in at a downward angle, and with the round tines to the rack, awkward. I've blown it a couple times, with the fillet falling into a couple pieces before making it to the plate. The top rack, not so much of a problem, but I prefer putting the fish on the bottom rack, and potatoes and veggies on the top, otherwise the fish will drip on the veggies and taters, and that's not good for anyone.
So it's a mixed bag, and hence, the 3 stars. You will probably enjoy the Flave, but it is not a replacement to your oven. It's really convenient, especially during the week, when fresh salmon is not sitting in my fridge after a long day, and for the weekdays especially (and those potatoes), I'm keeping it.
But, the Flavor-Wave is more art than science, and it will take some playing around with it, to get things just right.
Best Deals on Flavorwave Turbo Oven
I bought my 1st Flavorwave oven from manufacture, it was pretty good. I noticed Amazon is selling at a very tempting price(Only later I realized it was sold by seller W***** Best Deals, not from Amazon). It shipped pretty fast from Minnesota, which is good, but when I received it I can tell it looks very similar with my 1st flavorwave oven, but I did notice some difference. I plugged in and turned it on, immediately the fan gave a strange noise, apparently something is wrong in there. I called manufacturer and explained what happened, they can not guarantee it is a genuine Flavorwave oven unless I can find a S/N # on the machine. I looked around and read the rep all the #s I can find on the machine. Guess what? none of them is a valid S/N #. The manufacturer will not help me if it was not bought from them directly, leaving me very upset. I am new to Amazon, did not realize there are so many complications, hoping this post will help others.
Honest reviews on Flavorwave Turbo Oven
So I bought it recently and a have used it a few times.
1. It's pretty big and bulky so make sure you have room for this on the counter or elsewhere for storage. P.s the lid is heavy too so be careful when you lift it gets quite hot!
2. I've made burgers, fries and biscuits in it pretty easy stuff. The burgers came out perfectly cooked from frozen (it's good to flip halfway thru on the meats the book says so I did) and the fries where great. It said that you use the top rack for the fries but it's difficult because it falls thru the slots (maybe for homemade as those are bigger) I did buy along with it the accessory pack (all of these items I bought from Amazon) so I used the steamer basket. Perfect. The biscuits were fine they browned well. Oh I want to tell you that the accessories are made out of non stick, best I've ever had nothing stuck at all and I didn't even spray it!Flavorwave Turbo Oven 4-Piece Deluxe Accessory Set
3. The cooking guide is not very helpful for times so you may have to play with it. It says it's a guideline for the times that's the only real beef I have with it. I would also like a more comprehensive list for what item and how hot and how long.
4. I tried the self cleaning mode and that was pretty amusing and actually works! All the stuff stuck at the bottom was easy to get out after that (I did try to clean before the cycle).
So far I am enjoying this machine and plan to make a whole chicken in it on Tuesday so more experimenting to come. As far as the claim as it cooks faster that other methods, MAYBE it is faster than the oven but maybe not a grill. Either way I am happy with it mostly because I can cook two thing at once without messing up my stove. So I hope it lasts I plan to use it a lot.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Flavorwave Turbo Oven
Three months after purchase, I was cooking some Salmon and asparagus for a healthy meal after a long day. I plugged it in, set the temp, turned it on and BOOM.. Smoke and glass everywhere, I had to immediately open the windows to ensure the smoke detector didn't go off. Food was obviously ruined, so we called the company. They were not willing to help at all, mainly because we just moved into a new house and had no idea where the receipt was. I'm sorry, I understand a receipt is required for defective products, but if your product explodes and shoots glass everywhere than that is beyond a defective. It is a danger, and I'd highly recommend people be very careful of this product. Thankfully my daughter was not in the room when it happened.
