Previous Panasonic microwave ovens have come under some scrutiny. Most of which have been laid to rest with the new and improved Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ. It lets you do more than most Panasonic microwave ovens have done in the past and all with more convenience too.
Making dishes such as tandoori chicken, roast lamb, roasted potatoes, to superbly grilled fish… the Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ makes it a breeze and gives you the professional results that you could normally expect from a fine cuisine, all from the comfort of your own kitchen.
While it’s listed as a microwave oven, it does have the convection oven and grill built into it. The instructional book supplied with it along with the recipe book, explains the 13 different pre-programmed functions, and what they’re best used for.
With the square enamel shelf, as opposed to the turntable in older Panasonic microwave ovens, you get the added convenience of using the whole interior of the oven, without sacrificing on space.
What you get in the box
- 1 x Microwave oven (27 L capacity)
- 1 x Instruction manula
- 1 x Recipe book
- 1 x Square enamel shelf
- 1 x Square wire shelf
- 1 x Square glass tray
- 1 x Anti spark ring
It’s ideal for proving bread and giving a crispy crunch to your pizza bases. Something that can be difficult to accomplish with other microwave combos.
Key details of the Panasonic Microwave Oven
- Width-531mm
- Depth-534mm
- Height-328mm
- Weight 17.5Kg
- Capacity – 27 L
One thing to note here is that while it’s listed as being 531 mm in width, you are going to need a larger space to house the microwave. For safety reasons, the unit needs adequate ventilation of 5 cm for the left vent and an additional 10 cm for the vent on the right hand side.
If your kitchen has a built-in standard housing of 60 cm for a microwave oven, then this isn’t going to fit. You’ll need at least 66 cm for housing the microwave.
What we like
- Easy to set up
- Intuitive controls
- No turntable, so you get to use the entire interior of the oven.
- Micro and convection settings, can be used for cooking on 2 levels with the supplied metal shelving
- Quartz grill requires no additional time to preheat, making it more economical than traditional grills (Ideal for browning the top of a shepherd’s pie or grill a bit of fish)
- Simple to use power levels, for defrosting and cooking on low, medium or high settings. Some other Panasonic microwave ovens use percentages to select the power settings, which can be difficult to calculate. The Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ uses straightforward power level settings. The watts for each power level are supplied in the user manual.
- Unlike older Panasonic microwave ovens, that used auto-sensor technology, when you had to wait to find out how long your dinner would take to cook, you can simply key in the weight of your meat, chicken, fish or pies, and the display screen will immediately display your cooking time.
- Has an energy saving standby mode that only uses only 0.1 watts
Of all the Panasonic microwave ovens, this is by far one of the most enhanced combo ovens to date. With the square racks, you can prove your bread, bake crispy pizza bases, and roast more potatoes than you would with any other combo microwave that uses a turntable.
You can also benefit from the economical Quartz grill that requires no additional heat up time, such as older Panasonic microwave ovens sometimes required. With the Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ, you simply select your setting and it’s ready to go.
What we don’t like
- The controls could be made simpler
- The instructions aren’t as clear cut as some other manuals for earlier Panasonic microwave ovens
- Of the 13 pre-set programmes, there isn’t information supplied about which setting employs which temperatures, which can leave you guessing when you want to adapt to your own recipes for baked potatoes with a crisp finish or the likes.
- Unlike older Panasonic microwave ovens, there isn’t an auto-sensor to detect moisture of foods. The Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ relies on you keying in the correct weight and then cooks it. So you’ll need a set of weighing scales if you’re cooking meats or fish.
- Requires additional space around it. 5 cm to ventilate the left and an additional 10 cm on the right, so a standard 60 cm housing in modern fitted kitchens isn’t going to work. The unit is 51 cm and with the ventilation requirements, you’ll need at least 66 cm space to accommodate the Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ.
Final Say
In comparison with the criticism of some older Panasonic microwave ovens, the Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ has definitely put things back into perspective. With this combo microwave, you can not only get crispy golden brown potatoes, baked faster than traditional ovens, but you can you also make great use of the supplied recipe book, to cook deliciously tasting dishes, that will definitely tantalize your taste buds.
From delicious and tender roast chicken, to a succulent lamb leg, served up with some roasted potatoes, the Panasonic NN-CF778SBPQ, will have it done for you in a fast, economical, time saving, and effort free manner, giving you delicious dinners without the hassle.