With Cauliflower Cheese and Bread!
It appears that Steam is the IN THING when it comes to home cooking and baking, and I have been given the unique opportunity of testing one of the latest Steam Combination Microwave Ovens on the market – I’ve been testing the Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S. Steam ovens have been around for a while, once only the playthings for affluent or famous chefs and professional bakers, their benefits are well documented, especially when it comes to cooking vegetables, fish and baking bread; steam or bursts of steam can improve the crusts and textures of all yeast-raised bread and delicate fish can be cooked in a gentle haze of steam when being baked, which enhances the flavour and keeps it moist, and by steaming vegetables in the oven, it cuts back in excessive “stove-top” pots and pans.
The Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S is a marvellous beast! It’s sleek, modern without being too Damien Hirst and boasts an awesome selection of combination cooking and baking programmes. There was an INITIAL problem with fitting it into my kitchen, which is large and well fitted, but even so, a shelf had to be taken down in order to accommodate its rather tall dimensions – it’s 5cms taller than my old microwave, and needs a minimum of 15cms clearance around it. However, once it was slotted into its new home, it looked fabulous and has been used EVERY DAY since I received it over a week ago. So, what do you get for £499? You get a fabulously useful combination microwave oven that almost replaces the need for a big family cooker, especially when there is just the two of us. The Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S offers the following features and programmes:
- A very large 32L flatbed oven, with no annoying glass turntable that goes round and round AND that cuts back on what you can cook and bake in a standard microwave oven.
- A handy 2-Level Convection Cooking facility – this means you can cook on TWO levels, just as you would in a normal oven, and I have cooked this way several times now.
- A 1300 watt Quartz Grill which means RAPID heating and is ready to grill in under a minute.
- Steam cooking – this is the icing on the cake with this oven, and provides healthier options for cooking fish, vegetables and poultry, as well as being a fabulous function for baking bread. The steam cooking can be constant, used as a “burst” of steam when needed or used in a combination of other functions such as convection cooking and grilling.
- A VERY easy to use programming panel – swipe and touch LCD display provides smart and easy operation with small icons to represent each cooking function: the functions on offer are – Steam; Convection; Microwave; Grill; Turbo-Cook; Timer and Clock; Chaos “Auto” Defrost; Auto Steam Programmes and Auto Sensor Programmes. I found it VERY easy to operate after only two cooking sessions, as all you have to do it touch the appropriate programme icon, and then slide the slider bar to set the time OR the weight of the food that is being cooked. There are also start and stop icons too.
- Five VERY handy accessories and recipe book – with each oven you get a concise operation manual and recipe book, glass tray, steaming trivet, wire shelf, enamel shelf and drip tray. When steaming vegetables, as I did when I made my cauliflower cheese, you just sit the prepared vegetables on the steaming trivet over the glass drip tray and away you go – I WILL be featuring several recipes over the next few weeks where I used this method of cooking, but suffice to say, my raw cauliflower was cooked to the par-boiled stage as need for cauliflower cheese in 10 minutes. (There is also a water tank too)
- Self-cleaning panels – this combination microwave oven is also simple to clean with catalytic self-cleaning and fluoric coating on the walls and roof of the cavity, making it simple to wipe away grease and grime – this was an absolute Godsend after my butter splattered everywhere when making my cheese sauce!
- Intelligent cooking technology – it boasts the latest microwave technology that features intelligent Sensor Cooking option that makes preparing perfectly cooked food even easier. Simply select the type of food you want to cook, rather than inputting a time, power or weight, and the sensor analyses the humidity inside the oven, letting you know the exact moment your food is ready to eat.
One of the most exciting aspects about the oven, for me at least, was the facility to be able to bake bread and cakes; the convection function can be heated up to 240 degrees centigrade and circulates hot air around the oven to bake everything to perfection, and with that extra burst of steam, my home-made bread was baked to perfection. (I normally add a bowl of hot water to the oven when baking bread) The water for the steam is added to a water tank that sits under the oven to one side – on the opposite side there is a drip tray that captures the excess water that is created from the steam. Thus far I have roasted a chicken, baked bread, made cauliflower cheese and steamed vegetables with fish for healthy diet meals, and I simply love the oven – it’s perfect for everyday cooking when there are only the two of us. It would also be very handy for a family, as I mentioned before, the large flat-bed cavity provides greater cooking space which can save you time and money by cooking two dishes simultaneously.
I will be sharing several recipes over the next few weeks with you, all of them have been cooked in the Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S, you can also cook them in normal oven too, of course, but I do urge you to consider buying this amazing oven if you are in the market for a new microwave oven! Karen
Cooking Power: (IEC) 1000W
Dimensions: H39 x W49.4 x D43.8cm
Oven capacity: 32L
Disclaimer: I was sent the Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S for free and in return for an honest and unbiased review; all views and opinions are my own and I was not paid to write this post. I shared this review with my readers as I was very impressed with the performance and ease of use with this combination steam microwave oven.
My first recipe using this oven and coming soon will be:
Weight Watchers (low-fat) Baked Cauliflower Cheese
Read Jan’s (A Glug of Oil) review for this oven here:
Review – Panasonic Steam Combination Microwave NN-CS894S
These were also baked in the oven:
Apple Rose Tarts for Mother’s Day
Made With Pink says
Fabulous review Karen. I’ve always been a bit skeptical as to whether or not a steam oven was really necessary or just hype. You’ve swayed me 🙂 The cauliflower cheese looks incredible as well! Can’t want to see the recipe.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks! I steamed the cauliflower in the oven, then made the cheese sauce in the oven before baking it in the oven and it only took 45 minutes from start to finish – I am SUPER impressed with it, and it really is worth it’s £499 price tag, as it is like having 4 ovens in one! Recipe coming soon! Karen
Monique says
We just bought a new Panasonic Inverter..not the same I know..but we had been pleased w/ our other Inverter that was 16 yrs old and just decided to stop working Tuesday morning~Great products.
Karen Burns-Booth says
They are great products and my old microwave was a Panasonic Inverter too, and has been packed away for the day we might need it as an extra oven, as there was nothing wrong with it! Karen
freycob says
This looks stunningly good! Wonder if Mr.G will let me have one in place of my aging microwave?
Karen Burns-Booth says
It TRULY replaces a big and EXPENSIVE to run cooker for most daily cooking and baking Rosie! Jan and I BOTH love it! Karen
Jan says
Great review Karen and can’t wait to see your recipe for cauliflower cheese. I really love this oven and use mine almost daily for something or other. Its so much quicker heating up than my regular oven. The steam feature is brilliant.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I agree 100% with all you say Jan and like you, I am using my oven every day too….I’ve been baking bread in it a lot, and it comes out wonderfully. Karen
Alison says
Fab review. I hadn’t realised you could get steam and mircowave combos. It looks brilliant
Karen Burns-Booth says
It works like a dream Alison and is particularly good for baking cakes and bread!
Monica says
Have not yet found a recipe for a loaf of wholemeal bread, or even white bread. I am keen to use the steam function while making bread and cakes. Any suggestions please where I might find these recipes?
Karen Burns-Booth says
I will have a look…..I am sure there is one already shared here, but I was moving house at the time, so I may not have posted them.
Penney Poyzer says
I’ve been looking for a combi microwave steamer over for a while now… your review has really helped – I’ll be buying one of these bad boys!
Karen Burns-Booth says
I can heartily recommend this combi-steamer microwave oven Penney, I use mine every day. Karen
Jason Lim says
Hi Karen,
I’m looking at this model. Would you recommend it? My purpose is to have a multipurpose all in one combi oven and steaming is a must have. Have you faced any technical faults thus far since using this oven about more than a year ago?
Thanks,
Jason Lim
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Jason, having used this for over a year now, I can recommend it 100% and I love the combi-oven and steam programmes, especially for baking and poaching/steaming fish and vegetables. I’ve had no error messages or any technical faults since getting it, and I do use it everyday. I really cannot think of anything negative to say about the appliance, other then it is larger than other combi-microwaves, and therefore may not be suitable for small kitchens where space may be at a premium. Karen
Jason Lim says
Karen, thanks for your response, appreciate it!
john/helen cheney says
good morning karen please can you let me know where i can get you recipe book for the new steam micro ect oven i have got e new electricq and it looks to be a copy of the panasonic i am sure it will be of use as there is no book available for the electricq and i am willing to take a chance many thanks john
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi John – the recipe book came with my Panasonic Steam Microwave – maybe email them? I will ask my contact and get back to you! Karen
éric Martin-Bonnet says
Hello Karen
I am éric i wanted to know if you are steel happy using the Panasonic and if you had any problem with it because i want to buy it…
I had a samsung MC324GAKCBB (october 2016) multifunction microwave with steam too but… i had problem from the beginning with the steam then after one month no more steam (error code) and in march second error code they tryed to repair it during 3 month no solution so normally they accept to give me the money back and i would like to buy this panasonic…
you can imagine that i am now a bit afraid because of my very bad experience with the samsung…
thanks for your reply, bravo for you pages of test very very useful
and sorry for my english… I’m french… 😉
best regards
éric
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Eric
I have had my Panasonic Microwave Oven for well over a year now and I use it every day, and so far, there have been NO issues with it and no error messages too.
If there was anything bad to say about it, I would say it, but the only negative is the size, as it is bigger than usual microwaves, but I am honestly very happy with it!
Karen
Eric Martin-Bonnet says
Thanks for your help Karen
Have a nice Summer
Eric
Karen Burns-Booth says
De rien, vous aussi!
Anamika26 says
I have been using a Panasonic microwave for more than one year with good performance. This microwave has Inverter Technology that spreads the waves evenly and I get evenly cooked meals all the times.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I LOVE mine and use it every day!
Susan says
I have been using top of the line Panasonic genius microwave ovens for the last 34 years. They are very reliable and long lasting. I just bought the Panasonic Premium nncs896s yesterday. Thank you for all the information you provided, it helped me make my choice easier. I am looking forward to many years of fine meals.
I am from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I am so glad that my review helped you make your decision! Karen
Charlene says
I am interested in this type of microwave oven. I do a lot of heating up in my regular microwave rather than doing much cooking. Can you just heat things up like leftovers or even a cup of coffee?
Karen Burns-Booth says
You can do both of those things in this microwave. Karen
Mike Swan says
Hi there, great review, thanks. We have a similar Panasonic but when we steam it produces a huge amount, inside (floods), outside, through door etc. While I appreciate steam is steam and some must escape, does yours fill the floor of the microwave with water and does steam pour out of the side of the door. Curry’s had it for 3 weeks and said no fault but we don’t think they did anything. I would appreciate you sharing your experience please, thanks
Mike Swan
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Mike, I have never had that problem – it does generate a lot of steam, but it doesn’t fill the base of the microwave as you mention. Hope that helps, Karen
Marion P Lindner says
I live in the USA!! We use inches and degrees, is there Information on this!! I would also like to know if there are any special requirements as to Electric and outlets!! Does it have turbo cooking and defrost?? My Panasonic microwave has inverter Technologies and Sensor cooking, does this oven have these features?? Thanks!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi there, I live in Europe and we only use metric but I have a handy conversions page here: Kitchen Tips and as for the technical information, you would need to ask an American supplier as I suspect the specifications will be slightly different than my model as we use different wattage etc. Hope that helps, Karen
Steve Watson says
Brilliant Oven
SOoooooooo Easy, So Good