Microwave Oven- Think before you decide!!!. Review on IFB 25SC2

I am proud owner of IFB microwave oven for last 8 months without ANY problem. So it’s right time to share my views on it.

Why to buy?

This is the major question one should ask to him/herself that why you need to buy a microwave oven. Most of the people (including me) made mistakes while deciding about purchasing it. There are things that appease me before I own a MW oven that I would be able to roast, grill, brown, crisp, toast, cook food, and the list goes on. I did all these things for one or two months but ultimately I am using it for reheating purpose only. It may not be the same for all, and will surely be of major help to families with demanding children.

What to buy?

Once the purpose is decided, the question arises what needs to be purchased so as to solve our purpose. For those who do not have much idea regarding microwave oven, I would like to share some basics of it.

There are three things to be decided before making decision-

1. Type of microwave oven- There are three types of microwave oven:

a) Basic/ simple microwave oven- It can be used only for simple cooking, heating and defrosting.

b) Microwave with grill- It is used for simple cooking, heating, defrosting and baking.

c) Microwave with grill and convection- It is used for simple cooking, heating, defrosting, baking and crisping.

2. Capacity- The capacity of a microwave oven defines the size of the oven and the amount of food that you can cook in it at one time. To decide the capacity you should consider following two factors:

a) Family size- Larger the family, more the capacity required.

b) Usage- If you want to use oven to supplement your cooking (reheat and defrosting), even small quantity will suffice.

3. Brand- There is many brands available in market. The choice depends on your brand loyalty and reliability. I choose IFB as it is considered among the best in Indian market.

Why you should buy 25SC2?

Specifications-

1. Power consumption- 1250W to 2000W, depending on usage

   
   




2. Oven capacity- 25 Liters

   
   




3. Net weight- 16.3 kgs

   
   




4. Cooking by Turntable system

   
   

Features-

1. 10 power levels

   
   




2. Convection with temperature setting

   
   




3. Preheat facility

   
   




4. Multi stage cooking

   
   




5. Express cooking

   
   




6. Child safety lock

   
   




7. LED display

   
   




8. 3 years warranty on Magnetron and Cavity.

   
   




9. 26 Auto cook menus

   
   




10. Cook recipe book from Nita Mehta is given free

    
    

Was that called Demo?

I would like to describe the Demo I got from IFB person. Since I have never used MW oven before I was expecting a person who could explain me all the basic things related to operation. No one came for demo for few days after my purchase. Then I called IFB customer care and they finally send a person. He was totally unprofessional with least knowledge of the operation.

He showed me only two basic thing- roasting papad and heating water. I asked him few questions and he was unable to respond to any of those.

Is it worth?

There are several advantages of using a MW oven. I observed that reheating done by MW oven is far better than done by normal oven and it also regains the freshness in the cooked food. Previously rice never tasted so fresh after reheating. You can boil potatoes in a MW oven in just 2-3 min, by putting them in a thin polythene bag. There are lot many features like these.

If you want to use the MW oven for basic purpose then there is no need of purchasing convection MW oven. The basic purpose can be solved by simple MW oven. And there is almost 100% increase in prices of convection MW oven than ordinary one.

So it’s better to think judiciously before deciding the model.

I am using IFB for last eight months and I haven’t faced any problems till date. I think all the MW ovens have the same working principle so the choice is bit easy. There are some latest ovens that promise some or other things like making curd etc. I preferred IFB just because of brand loyalty, and I have to pay extra for it (around 1-2k). The similarly featured MW oven can be purchased at lesser prices, likes of Samsung, Whirlpool, LG etc.

Considering my personal experience I would recommend it, but only if you really need a Convection MW oven. There are ordinary MW ovens and even Microwave Oven with Grill available in the market in the range of 5k. I can’t comment on after sales service, as I never needed to use it.

NB: This model is discontinued from the market. In place of this, 25SC3 is available in the market with all the same features and specification as 25SC2.