The Nuwave 20633 Oven Pro Plus is a countertop cooker that uses conduction, convection, and infrared heat. Its claim is that they reduce cooking time by up to 50%. That’s all well and fine, but does this new device make food that actually tastes good?
After visiting the NuWave website my skepticism went through the roof. On the site, you are met with large, obnoxious payment buttons. I’m sure you’re familiar with these types of gimmicks, they go something like, “just 3 easy payments of 39.95”. It’s a big turn-off for me.
But, in the past I’ve given several “as seen on tv” kitchen products a chance, i.e. slap chop – it’s an adequate product, despite some limitations. Although I have to admit, on the whole, “as seen on tv” products aren’t usually the best. Sometimes, however, you can find a gem amid the sea of trash. Before you buy, you definitely want to check out what I discovered about this countertop oven through my research.
NUWAVE OVEN: ALL-IN-ONE KITCHEN?
When you first take a look at the Nuwave 20633 oven pro, you’ll probably have no clue what you’re looking at. It’s definitely an odd-shaped appliance. It certainly doesn’t look like a countertop convection oven, and with no size reference, you’d have no idea just how big this thing is just looking at a picture.
Fully extended with the extender ring (increases capacity) it measures 15-3/4″ x 15″ W x 16″ H, large enough to fit a 16-pound turkey or a 14-pound ham.
Performance and Durability
Have you seen the NuWave commercials? It is claimed that this little device is an “all-in-one kitchen”. With it you can bake, broil, roast, air fry, steam, barbecue, grill, and even dehydrate. That is an impressive list of functions.
NuWave claims that their ovens are able to produce cooking times that are 50% faster than other convection ovens. This is made possible because there are three different heating types used with this machine simultaneously; infrared, conduction and convection.
There is no need to preheat this oven and there is no need to thaw. You can put in frozen meat and still end up with delicious food or so claimed.
The control panel is easy-to-use and comes with pre-set cooking options or you can program your own cooking temperatures and times. You can adjust the cooking temperature by one degree at a time. You can delay the cooking start time to the time you desire. There is also a keep warm setting.
But, what do the customers think about the taste and performance of this machine?
To get a better understanding of the long-term viability of this product, I took a look at another NuWave oven, the older 20342. There are many customer reviews for this model available online. And overall, there are a lot of customers that think highly about this machine. But when you take a closer look at the reviews, you can see that the experiences are mixed. Some say that the operation and results are fantastic, while others say the exact opposite. It’s downright confusing!
I combed through the reviews and made some conclusions: The old NuWave ovens had some issues with durability (namely, the plastic dome cracking), cooking times are not as quick as advertised, and the oven works depending on your expectations and uses. If you plan on using it mostly for heating up chicken tenders and similar frozen foods, then you will probably be fine. But I wouldn’t trust this to cook a whole turkey or steak.
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Features/Specs.
- 8 different cooking functions: bake, barbecue, grill, steam, broil, air-fry, roast, dehydrate
- Can cook a 16-pound frozen turkey or 14-pound ham
- Measures 15-3/4″ x 15″ W x 16″ H
- Amber color dome
- Extender ring for added capacity
- 1-year limited warranty
What Should You Do?
The reviews for this and other NuWave cookers are mixed. One of the most common complaints that I see crop up repeatedly for the older models (20342 included) is that the cooker dome ends up cracking. This is a big problem and it’s one that would certainly scare me off. The newer models seem to be more durable.
I haven’t come across another countertop oven that claims to do what the NuWave 20633 claims. So it would be hard to offer a real comparable alternative. If you aren’t sold on the NuWave 20633, then perhaps you should search for other countertop ovens, like this one or these.
Summary
The NuWave 20633 is a new countertop oven that uses three different heating types. It has an impressive list of functions and benefits. But with all of those lofty claims comes risk. I’m not entirely sold on it. And while it could be worth the risk for some, for me (and probably for you as well) it is too expensive to gamble on especially when there are other convection ovens out there that can meet your expectations, albeit none that can do all the things that the NuWave 20633 claims to do.
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