There is always a learning curve with these gadgets, but I think you'll enjoy how quickly things cook, that you can cook several things at once, and you won't have to heat the kitchen up to get it done.

The link below is for the Nu Wave Cooking Club and you'll be able to find some new recipes that appeal to you, as well as helpful hints, information and videos to watch.

I have a friend who lives by herself and she loves cooking in the Nu Wave so much she has 2 of them. She is disabled and uses a lot of frozen foods she orders on-line and has delivered to her home from Schwan's.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Nu Wave Cooking Club

There are no new technologies used with the Nu Wave cooker.

All ovens cook with conduction and infrared energy.

And convection ovens cook with convection, conduction and infrared.

So there is nothing new with this cooker.

For the money, I would take a look at normal convection toaster ovens, especially one with rotisserie feature.

The infrared heating element of the Nu Wave is in the top only.

A toaster oven has infrared top and bottom heating, which can make a difference in quality of cooking like making pizza.

dcarch

I was correct. Found this.

Stupid way to make a pizza.

I do see some good uses for some people whose cooking style can find the Nuwave working very well for them.

Not everyone makes pizza.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: nuwave pizza

This post was edited by dcarch on Wed, Aug 28, 13 at 9:39

My daughter and son got one, each, from their non-cooking father who really believed in the hype of infomercials. Both are accomplished cooks and find that this thing is just a boat anchor - not worth the space on the counter,since other equipment they already have does the same thing and are more versatile. The "shortened" time feature is irrelevant. If you are in the kitchen cooking a few minutes here and there are not really big improvements to getting a meal together.
Nancy

I have an older one, not the NuWave brand, but the same premise. It makes good baked potatoes. (shrug) I do admit that I seldom/never make frozen meals, frozen pizza, etc., so I might like it better if my style of cooking were different.

I'd take the money and buy a small Nesco roaster or a good convection toaster oven, but again, it's my cooking style preference.

Mine works fine and it's nice to put outside on the porch when it's hot. I don't find that chicken is any different than it is in my oven or the Nesco, but when I didn't want to turn the oven on it might be good and I'm sure it's far more efficient than turning the oven on to cook a chicken.

Annie

I have the NuWave Oven linked below. I've had it for about 2 years and use it just about every day. It came with the extender ring, but I hardly ever use that. My husband got it for me after ou toaster oven died.

Just last week I roasted a five (5) pound chicken in it, and it came out perfect. I regularly roast asparagus, russet potatoes, small baby red potatoes, summer squash slices, and eggplant slices on the taller rack. My husband makes cheese topped tortillas in it quite frequently. Or he'll make cheese topped homemade bagels. The cheese melts & bubbles & gets a few brown spots -- just the way he likes it.

It's great for heating up crispy foods. I make double batches of squash patties or corn fritters, even fried green tomatoes, and reheat them to their original crispiness without burning or over browning them.

I fix hamburgers for my husband's lunches in it too. It works much better than the George Foreman grill which steams rather than grills. The burgers in the NuWave come out crispy but don't have a char.

It has its drawback, though. For one thing, the temperature is set at about 240 degrees. So you won't get the char I mentioned earlier on quickly cooked foods (like the hamburger patties). The roast chicken, however, is well browned. That's because it's in the oven for an hour. I've never used it for steaks but I did make a tri tip beef roast in it once. It came out fine. Of course, the trick to cooking any roast is the inside temperature, not so much the particular appliance.

As DC mentioned, the convection fan & heating element are only on the top. OK for some things but not everything. The bottom of baked goods like muffins or a pan of cornbread does not get browned. They'll be cooked through, but there's no browning because not enough heat gets to the bottom. To bake muffins, you'll need to use silicon muffin cups and space them in concentric circles on the rack.

Baking casseroles is difficult because the top element cooks and browns the top before the middle or bottom of the casserole are heated through. I've had no luck whatsoever covering casseroles with foil either. Again, the heat simply does not penetrate through the foil to heat up what's below. So for casserole-type things during the summer, I use my 6 qt. Nesco or the slow cooker.

After a recent thread on toaster ovens, I bought another one to use for the items that didn't work well in the NuWave. I managed to bake a banana bread, cranberry bread, and eggplant casserole. But I eventually moved it into the garage for storage. I didn't think it warranted taking up counter space.

The NuWave is tall and doesn't fit under my counters, so I have it permanently parked on a kitchen cart. After using it for so long, I can honestly say, I wouldn't be without it. It does a good job for the limited things I use it for. It's not a perfect appliance, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: NuWave Oven

Thanks for all the input! After considering how the cooking is actually accomplished I decided I couldn't afford to risk buying another gadget that sits on my counter.