Sharp AX-1200S SuperSteam Multi-Purpose Oven, Stainless

Product Description

Sharp's new SuperSteam Oven offers a unique combination of the healthiest ways to cook, all in one versatile appliance: SuperSteam Convection, Steam, Convection and Microwave. SuperSteam Convection is a combination of two types of cooking: superheated steam and convection heat. Sharp uses state-of-the-art technology to superheat steam. Unlike conventional steam, superheated steam helps brown and crisp foods on the outside, while adding moisture to the inside. When combined with convection cooking, the results are exceptional. Foods that are good for you look and taste better than you ever expected. The AX-1200S can also be used for traditional steaming, for microwave cooking or as a convection oven for baking or roasting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89120 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Color: Stainless
• Brand: Sharp
• Model: AX-1200S
• Dimensions: 17.25" h x 21.75" w x 18.37" l, 51.00 pounds

Features

• Oven for microwave cooking, traditional steaming, or convection cooking
• SuperSteam Convection option combines steam and convection heat; reheat and defrost
• 1.1-cubic-foot capacity; control panel with LCD display; auto cooking categories
• Includes 2 baking trays, 2 nonstick racks, a steam basket, guide, and cookbook
• Measures 20-1/4 by 21-3/4 by 17-1/4 inches; 1-year limited warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, this all-in-one microwave oven allows for making healthier choices when cooking at home. The versatile appliance can be used for microwave cooking, traditional steaming, or as a convection oven with temperatures ranging from 100 to 450 degrees F for baking or roasting. It also provides a SuperSteam Convection option, which combines two types of cooking--superheated steam and convection heat--in order to brown and crisp while retaining moisture and natural flavors. The oven provides a spacious 1.1-cubic-foot interior, which measures 13-3/8 by 14-1/8 by 10-1/8 inches, and its user-friendly control panel with an LCD display ensures simple operation. Choose from a range of automatic cooking categories: in Microwave mode, it offers six Sensor Cook settings, reheat, and popcorn; in Steam mode it offers vegetables, fish/seafood, and poached eggs; and in SuperSteam/Convection mode, choose from balanced meals, poultry, meats, fish, vegetables, pizza, and convenience foods.

Customer Reviews

nice looking, works well, interface a bit complicated
First off this is a VERY attractive appliance. The picture on the website does not do it justice, as weird as that may seem. It is substancial, well built, and looks and feels like something from a professional kitchen. Even though the measurements are documented, the oven just seems bigger. Personally, I think it's too big for a counter and would be best mounted into a unit. There could be some problems with mounting because you absolutely DO need the recommended space above, behind and to the sides - you can't get away with putting it up against anything if you plan on using the steam feature.

Good things:
The convention over works exactly as it should - I made a cake and it came out super-fluffy and perfectly cooked in and out, and very moist. Also made a sandwich and the bread was nice and crispy and the tomatoes inside were perfectly cooked. I made two chickens - one with the steam and one without. Both were good, but the one with the steam did get brown (lightly) and looked better, although they both tasted great and moist.

Microwave works fine. Downside is that there is no spinning wheel, so you have to stir and flip things around - AND - the microwave keeps stopping to tell you to do that. A bit annoying.

Although the job wheel feels very expensive and all the options are laid out well - I would prefer some buttons, espcially with the microwave. You can't just pop something in and start nuking. YOu have to press the microwave button and then use the wheel to go down one selection and then press enter and then use the wheel to spin to a time and then you can finally hit start. They should have moved that up one level to make it faster.

You get several well built pans and racks with this, which is very nice bonus.

The instructions are overwhelming, but when you actually go to use the oven, it makes sense.

Putting the water in for the steam function is very easy - a little box/cup thing comes out, you fill it and put it back in. done.

The auto sense microwave warming part works really well. I always want to doubt that it will work, but it actually does.

Overall it's a very intelligent unit, looks gorgeous and can completely replace your oven and microwave. Downside is that interface, which although it is slick, I don't much care for it and seems to require more thought than I care to put into microwaving something.

I would give it 4.5 stars because of that - but really it's a very nice oven.

One more thing - oddly enough, it does not put out excessive amounts of heat compared to your regular oven. You can open it during cooking and not get blasted by heat (although you should be careful). And cooking the chickens didn't heat up my whole kitchen or apartment like the oven usually does. The steam will kick up the humidity, but not that much.

Not Just a Microwave!
This is a well-built kitchen equipment with simple lines, nice and handsome details. Even the handle alone is made of solid aluminum. Compared with my other kitchen appliances, the Sharp AX-1200 can take the place of a microwave oven, a steamer, and a convection oven. The only thing that it cannot do in our household is toast a bread. Anyway, it is quite too big to assume itself to be another toaster. Now, there is only one footprint for these different appliances, and it performs superbly in all of the three types of cooking I am familiar with. And then there is the 4th type which is a combination of steam and convection which is intended to make meat brown and at the same time retaining moisture and nutrients. For a medium sized family, we are using it more often as opposed to our regular sized oven. At 1.1 cubic ft, it is an obvious choice for less energy consumption.

A kit is an option that is available if you want to mount it on a cabinet. Just FYI, the suffix S and K (as in AX-1200S and AX-1200K) stands for S=stainless and K for Black.

For a brief energy comparison: The AX-1200 is rated at 700W as a microwave which is just half the wattage of our old micro. Our toaster oven is rated at 1450W, just the same as the AX-1200 when it is performing as a convection oven. Our plastic basket Oster steamer is 600W.

The first things that surprised me is how it cooks a simple bag of popcorn. In our old microwave oven, we know it has to be exactly 1:52. Using the popcorn sensor setting, I was worried that our kitchen will smell the whole day with burnt popcorn as the time exceeded the usual 1:52. But I let it run just to find out what's gonna happen. Voila, a perfectly popped/cooked popcorn.

Our cookies are done with crispy crust in 14 minutes using the convection function. Cinnamon buns were perfect in 16 minutes. Using the steamer function, we got our 4 ears of corns sweet and juicy in half an hour. Frozen dim sums takes about 15 minutes. You need to fill up a small reservoir of water and empty another when you use the steamer. But if you are using a cheap basket type steamer like what we used to, then you know how much hassle and mess to clean up each removable piece after wards. This oven, you just need to empty the water and wipe the inside cabin of the oven.

I am not too ecstatic about the combination supersteam and convection. I takes longer to do its preheat and it takes much longer for the food to cook.

A first it looks more complicated to use because of its many functions. But it can be exciting to play around it the first time you place it on your counter, it is a lot of fun. That's when we found out that the LCD screen is much friendlier than it looks. It actually tells you step by step everything you need to do. Put more water on the reservoir, do not put any metal rack while microwaving, remove water from the drain, preheating, cooling, and many more. It is an intelligent device, no more second guessing.

It is such a pleasure to cook with this kitchen tool. A great piece of engineering. It even has a child lock. The price is a bit stiff :(. But that is usually the case for a new technological experience.

Pros:
- 4-in-one. Microwave, convection, steam and combination supersteam/convection.
- good results
- single footprint
- less preheat time as compared to regular sized oven
- gorgeous.

Cons:
- a bit of a learning curve to familiarize with all the functions
- you need to remember to remove the metal trays if you are switching cooking function from steam/convection to microwave.
- combination supersteam/convection takes much longer in both preheat and actual cooking time
- the 2 front legs may need something like a Poster Putty, 2 oz or Blutac to keep from slipping as the weight is concentrated at the back.
- Microwaves should have flat electric plugs so you can place the oven at least closer to the kitchen wall.
- the oven goes into a cooling period that may last up to 13 minutes after using the convection (even after the food was taken out from the oven). What if I want to turn off that function to conserve energy?
- a bit pricy

Commercial quality at a non-commercial price
I had a friend who had one of these built into her kitchen. My first thoughts were (in my head): rich people, grrr! Restaurants also commonly use these (called combi ovens because they cook in three modes: micro, convection, and steam), although a commercial oven like this would run at least two to three times the price. Now that I've tried it I have to wonder if these shouldn't be standard equipment in new homes along with a glass cook top. Singles, couples, and condo owners might want to consider having one of these installed in their next kitchen along with a glass cook top rather than a full sized oven and microwave.

This uses far less energy that an electric oven. At 700 watts, it even uses less energy than my microwave which was surprising. My microwave, a GE Spacemaker XL 1800 uses 1100 watts and can't cook nearly as many types of food as this oven. Although the price is a more by a few hundred dollars, I think the upgrade to the Sharp Supersteam makes sense because it can do so much more.

It's also more versatile in that it can steam, microwave, or even use convection to heat and cook foods. It is large enough to bake a batch of cupcakes, roast a chicken, or make meals for up to four people at a time. I made brownies for my first dish and following the directions on the brownie mix, I didn't need to change anything and they came out more moist than if I had baked them in my full size oven. Next, I made a variation of a recipe in the included cookbook and baked some salmon brushed with seasoned mayo and sprinkled with dill. It came out moist, delicious, browned, and wasn't dried out like it would be if I grilled it. Tonight we made Asian Style Meatballs, which was one of the included recipes and they were.. delicious! The recipe book has thirty seven recipes to get started which undoubtedly will get modified to suit your own tastes. It's also easy to look at the recipes and make adjustments based on what vegetables and seasonings you have on had, but the recipe book will go a long way in providing a road map for the ovens capabilities and cooking options. There is also five pages of charts detailing portion sizes, cooking times, oven settings, preheat/no preheat, and more to help guide you in adapting recipes should the need arise.

Although this can function as a microwave, I'll continue to use my GE microwave since it's installed above my oven, but I plan to use this Sharp Supersteam in place of my traditional oven on every occasion except for Thanksgiving dinner. I did like the ipod style scroll wheel. It looks so much more upscale that having a numbers pad. You just dial your cooking selections along with the cooking time. It guides you every step of the way including asking if you'd like to preheat the oven.

My main complaints with this oven are:

1. Lighting is poor. It only has one light, which is much darker than my microwave.

2. Since the door pulls down this would not be ideal to mount high since you would have trouble seeing your food and are more likely to burn yourself. My friend has hers mounted waist high, but up to chest high should be okay, or use it on your countertop.