I just woke up and turned on the TV, and I'm watching this infomercial for the Flavor Wave oven. Has anyone heard of this? http://www.flavorwave-oven.net/ Is it for real? This thing seems too good to be true. If anyone has one of these and can give a review of it here, it will really help me to make a buying decision. Why does it seem too good to be true? It claims to cook frozen foods faster than a microwave oven, while, unlike a microwave oven, keeping all the flavor of the food intact. Straight from the freezer to the Flavor Wave, and you have a meal. For example, on the informercial, the guy took two rock solid frozen ribeye steaks, stuck them in the flavor wave, and they were fully cooked in under an half an hour (I think), and they looked tasty! For you engineering nerds out there (like myself), the "secret" is that it uses all three types of heating, conduction, convection, and radiation to cook the food, where as a conventional oven uses predominantly convection to cook, hence the longer cooking times in a conventional oven. This would be so sweet if it is as they claim. I come home from work every day, never have time to cook, and so end up agonizing over where I should go to get somethig to eat. With the Flavor Wave, you just take whatever's in your freezer (chicken breasts, steaks, ribs, even a whole chicken) stick it in the machine, and you have a meal in no time, OR SO THEY CLAIM.
Weird... I was looking to get one of these and had been doing some research on it. I've never bought an infomercial gadget in my life (unless you count the George Foreman grill! ). It's not exactly something overly revolutionary even though their descriptions make it seem that way. If I recall, it goes up to about 340 degrees F, and I remember reading that the thing was big. Most people that owned the gadget said it cooked food better than the GF grill (which isn't really saying much). If you want something comparable that's been around about a decade : do you remember those Jetstream Oven infomercials? I believe WalMart used to carry those. I don't know if they still make them, but like I said, this isn't exactly something new.
Just looked up the Jetstream Oven. I remember seeing it on TV. It cooks by using a hot vortex of air (convection). The Flavor Wave apparently takes this one step further and claims to cook using a hot vortex of air AND radiation heating (infrared radiation), which in the infomercial they claimed on the penetrates to the interior of the item you are trying to cook. I have no idea if the added radiative heating is significant, or if it's just a sales gimmick. I can't find much in the way of reviews on the net. Is there such thing as a site similar to cnet.com, except for appliance reviews instead of electronics reviews?
http://www.epinions.com/Thane_Flavorwave_Oven_Small_Appliances/display_~reviews You can also go to groups.google.com and search for what people have to say about it in the newsgroups. Tons of comments in there. I think you work for them... and you're trying to make me buy one of these things. Must... fight... the urge. The only thing I hate about it is it's big. Is any part of it dishwasher safe? I'm thinking it's a beast to clean if not. Trying to fit that clear lid into a sink may be tough in some sinks.
moomoo, Well, it looks like we're the only 2 interested. Email me if you get one! Let me know how it goes. I found a couple of other similar products, but don't think they're necessarily any better.
I'm a huge fan of the Delonghi Convection Oven... I use it more than my conventional oven... go to Williams-Sonoma.com
Infra-red technology has been around for a while, yet it hasn't taken much of a hold in the cooking industry. It's not that expensive to produce, so the best I can guess is that it doesn't work as well as these guys say.....which one of those guys at epinions confirms to a point. From the sound of it, it does well with some types of cooking, but not well with others. I'd like to think of myself as a pretty accomplished cook, but I have to admit, I've never cooked with it. I'd like to give it a try, but even finding information on the Internet about infra-red cooking is trying. It sounds like a purchase of one of these things will be a gamble. If you just want something small that cooks better than a microwave, I'd probably suggest a tried and true technology like a convection oven. You can get convection toaster ovens fairly cheap. Occasionally, when I'm warming leftovers, I'll use the microwave to get a particular dish warm throughout (but not too hot), and then finish it up in the convection oven. Take for instance, leftover eggrolls, I can turn on the convection oven to 350, and while it's warming up, pop the eggrolls in the microwave for a minute. Then I put them in the convection for a few more minutes. When I pull them out, the inside is steaming, but the outside is as crisp as when they first came out of the fryer. Anyway, that's my $.02
Anyone here have the Showtime Cooker? I always wanted to get one of those, but never got around to getting one. I have a friend who says its awesome, but I have never seen it in action.
