Customer Reviews

MorningWare HO-1200 Halogen Oven

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I received this oven in December and since then I've cooked a 13-lb. stuffed turkey, salmon fillets, a 4-lb. chicken, a casserole of stuffing, a lemon pie, peanut butter cookies, fajita vegetables, sliced sweet potatoes, and a frozen pizza. It took some trial and error but I think this will work well for me. What I like most about it is its pristine appearance and how easily it cleans up after use and then stores away out of sight. I like the fact that the timer alerts me when it's through cooking and I can watch the progress myself through the clear plastic container. I like that it requires no preheating and doesn't heat up the kitchen. I like that I can pause and interrupt the cooking to adjust the dish or add sauce or seasoning and then reset it to a new cooking time or temperature. I'm even becoming competent at using it to reheat coffee or my cold dinner. It's important to keep the food the correct distance from the heat source, or utilize aluminum foil to slow down the browning process or to allow food to steam through. I think this is a keeper for me as I continue to experiment with it.

I tried cooking with this oven three times - fresh pork spare ribs, a frozen bottom round roast (approx. 2 lbs.) and a frozen blueberry pie. Day one: the ribs - the Cooking Chart states that they take 15-17 minutes per side. Well, after over one hour of cooking, they were FINALLY finished. Day two: frozen roast - the Cooking Chart does not give time for roasts, so after searching on the internet, I estimated cooking time for a frozen roast at approximately 30-35 minutes per pound for medium-well. At two pounds, the meat should have been done after 70 minutes. After two hours, the roast was beautifully brown and smelled heavenly. On to the cutting board it went. My husband cut it in half to check for doneness and, low and behold, it was FROZEN!!!! We ended up slicing the roast into "steaks" and cooking for another half hour. The crock pot or oven would have been easier. Now let's try dessert. A frozen blueberry pie. After reading numerous reviews about these types of ovens, it was frequently reported that they do not cook the bottoms of things as everything has to be turned over half way through the cooking time. So I covered the top of the pie tightly with foil and cooked it upside down at 400 degrees (the default temp.) for 30 minutes. I then placed it right side up, removed the foil and baked at 325 degrees for an additional 45 minutes. The pie looks great and tastes good, too. But 75 minutes in an oven that claims to reduce cooking time by up to 50%?? No way. The instructions on the box advise baking the pie in a conventional oven for 55-60 minutes, 15 minutes LESS than it took in the Morning Ware Halogen Oven. I purchased this oven as I work full-time and like to enjoy a home-cooked meal with my husband, but my crockpot will remain my stand-by for weeknight meals as the halogen oven is useless. Not only does it NOT cook things in less time than a conventional oven, it also requires far more "babysitting" as food MUST be turned over half way through cooking time in order to cook evenly. I plan on calling customer service tomorrow to find out how to go about returning this oven. Even with the cost of shipping and possible restocking charges, it's better than having a $100+ gadget gather dust in the basement.

I just received this oven for Christmas, and I've already used it three times with excellent results! I cooked an 8 pound ham in under an hour, and it was the juiciest ham I have ever made. I also cooked Italian Sausage from frozen, as well as a 2 pound London Broil from frozen - both in under 30 minutes. It really does work as well as they say. This is my favorite kitchen gadget :)

The Halogen oven is wonderful in the summer months - I've avoided putting on the kitchen oven because this is PERFECT for those items that need browning.

The directions are sparse, but the item is just like any other appliance - you must figure out how to use it with your needs.

My first project - a bunt cake on Saturday. I didn't use the 3" extender and the top was crispy brown and the bottom was raw. I should have made two layers - and used the 3" extender to avoid the overbrowning and increased the cooking time.

Second project -Browning corn chips on a Hot Sunday - the chips were perfectly warmed and crisped in three minutes. Excellent

Third project -Cooking breaded chicken breasts. I microwaved the frozen chicken breasts for four minutes, stuck in the chicken into the oven for 12 minutes on each side and had perfectly cooked chicken without heating up the house.

This oven is great for pizza, oven fries, anything that you would normally have to heat up an oven. It does take some tweaking, but being able to bake cookies on a hot summer day is going to be wonderful. This will also be helpful in the winter with tailgate parties and using the oven to make cocktail franks and other snacks off the generator.

I got the Morningware oven for Christmas. First, the base was cracked. Okay, I can live with that. Then, the power head would not stay attached to the plastic dome. Hmmm...well, let's try to cook anyway. The final straw - the machine would only recognize minutes - as soon as the number of set minutes was reached, it would shut off. Totally. After repeatedly trying to reach My Secret Pantry, where we bought this thing, we finally got through, four days after Christmas. The representative said he'd heard of these problems before and would send UPS out to pick it up by Wednesday and then they'd credit my account. It's Thursday, and the oven is still sitting here, and we can't get through to MSP. They have a recording that says to leave your name and phone number and they'll call you back, but that seems to be an outright lie. I've left my number four times and they've yet to call back. If I ever get my money back from MSP, I'll buy the Nuwave Pro from Amazon and see how that goes...
An update - I wrote that yesterday, and MSP called this morning - VERY apologetic. They admitted they dropped the ball and rescheduled a pickup. However, they credited my account as of now, before the pickup. Way to go, MSP! I recind my criticism of their customer service.