Can anyone give me any advice? I want to buy a microwave / convection oven and would appreciate some suggestions and advice.  Do they make any difference to fuel bills? They must be more fuel efficient than heating a big oven just to, say, heat a pie or garlic bread. I had a look in Currys and there were so many to choose, any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I have used a combination microwave, convection oven grill for 5 yrs now and haven't used my oven on the cooker at all since then - so much cheaper to run as the convection oven cooks the food more thoroughly and quicker, but then I was a chef so used them in my working life.  I can do a roast dinner with traditional roast potatoes in 40 mins using the hob for mash and non roasted veg.

I like sanyo's just got myself a new one, eldest having the old which is still going strong and still has replacement parts available when you need them such as turn table/runners, grill rack etc.  Was very fortunate with both mine as I got them during closing down sales only paid £149 for my latest one on thursday a mere £50 more than the old one.

Thanks for that. what model number is it?

Sanyo EM-FL90 Microwave oven with super showerwave fan oven and powergrill according to the instruction manual.

Thanks for this post, got my electricity bill this morning eeeeeeeeek! I think I'll be using my combi oven more. It's got to be more economical than the oven that came off the ark! I've looked at the instruction book for mine but it's a bit basic. No recipes, timings etc. Do you know of a website that can help? Also do you do cakes in yours?

Anything you cook in your normal oven can be cooked in a covection/microwave one best place I've found for recipe books is on Amazon - trouble is my kids have 'borrowed' them so not sure how long it will be before I see them again lol.

All you have to remember is a convection facility moves the heat all around the food being cooked so reduces the cooking time because the heat is hitting all sides and cooking more evenly, so your usual checking done towards the end of normal oven cooking needs to be done earlier.  You can guage it easier too coz the window allows eye level viewing and access so it catches your eye as you move around the kitchen.