Hamburgers are one of the many foods that infrared countertop ovens can cook.
The Flavor Wave oven and the NuWave oven are both infrared counter-top ovens marketed as quick-cooking alternatives to conventional ovens. While compact, infrared counter-top ovens are advertised as capable of cooking entire meals---even whole poultry---in half the time a conventional oven takes. Though the appeal of both the Flavor Wave oven and the NuWave oven is comparable, the two products also have some notable design differences. Does this Spark an idea?
History
While the Flavor Wave oven emerged on the market in 2005, the NuWave oven comes from a longer line of infrared counter-top ovens, which the manufacturer, Hearthware, began making in 1997.
Dimensions
Both the Flavor Wave oven and the NuWave oven have roughly the same interior size, with the Flavor Wave measuring 12 inches in diameter and 6.6 inches deep and the NuWave oven 12 inches in diameter and 6.5 inches deep. The real difference is in the weight---the NuWave oven weighs just 9 pounds, while the Flavor Wave is much heavier at 21 pounds.
Heat Sources
Both the Flavor Wave oven and the NuWave oven use infrared heat to cook the food throughout. However, both also use two other types of heat, and they advertise the threefold heating mechanism of infrared, convection and conduction. The difference between the two ovens is the source of the conduction, or the direct heat source. The Flavor Wave oven uses halogen lamps, while the NuWave oven uses a sheath heater.
Temperature Limits
The Flavor Wave oven offers a higher maximum temperature of 500 degrees, while the NuWave oven reaches only 350 degrees. Both ovens, however, use temperature conversion charts to adapt different types of foods and translate recipes from conventional ovens to infrared.
Accessories
The Flavor Wave oven comes standard with multiple racks, tongs, a lid holder, a manual and a cookbook. The NuWave oven comes with cooking racks, a carrying case, an instructional DVD, a laminated cooking guide, a cookbook and recipe cards. While the NuWave oven's cooking guide and DVD are in both English and Spanish and the cookbook has some Spanish translations, Flavor Wave's manual and cookbook are English language only. Both ovens also have an optional extender ring that customers can purchase to increase the volume of the oven.
Promotions
Both infrared counter-top ovens offer some additional promotional items (for a shipping and handling fee) with the purchase of the oven. The Flavor Wave oven's promotional item is a 5-in-1 slicer, while the NuWave oven has two promotional items---a multipurpose blender and a pizza baking kit.
Tags: Flavor Wave, NuWave oven, Flavor Wave oven, Wave oven, counter-top ovens, infrared counter-top, infrared counter-top ovens