Sanyo announces Enegreen microwave / IH oven hybrid

Sanyo is already pretty big on induction heating (IH), but the company seems to think it has found an even better way to speed up cook times while still producing food that's (presumably) edible, announcing what it claims to be the "world's first" microwave / IH oven hybrid. Dubbed the Enegreen, the oven doesn't simply offer two ways to cook your food, instead putting both cooking technologies to use simultaneously, with the IH component cooking food from the outside in and the microwave cooking from the inside out. Supposedly, that'll translate to about an 85% reduction in cooking times -- for instance, cooking a hamburger in just under two minutes. As its name suggests, the oven is also aiming to cut more than cooking times, promising a 37% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other induction ovens. Not surprisingly, all that near-instant satisfaction won't come cheap, with the Enegreen oven set to demand 624,750 Yen (over $5,000) when it's released in Japan this April.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

[Nobuyuki Idei @ Feb 22nd 2007 11:51AM]

What a scam. Microwaves don't "cook from the inside out", but rather "outside in" just like any other form for heating.

[J. R. @ Feb 22nd 2007 11:53AM]

Since when does a microwave cook from the inside out? Haven't you ever seen Mythbusters?

[Jeff @ Feb 22nd 2007 11:59AM]

Microwaves cooking from the inside out is a myth from the 70's, and I've seen it on Engadget before.

Try heating something frozen in the microwave. The outside gets boiling hot while the inside is still frozen.

[BobStuff @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:16PM]

high frequency stays on the outside, see "skin effect"

[Matt @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:24PM]

That thing looks like a microwave from the 80s. wtf is up with the styling?

[linkman2004 @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:34PM]

I don't know about other people, but I cook my burgers on a GRILL.

[jrk @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:35PM]

But where's the third kind of heat?

[Nobody important @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:36PM]

World's first?

I saw a video with Alton Brown (Food TV celebrity chef person) hawking one of these from GE at Fry's the other day. Hardly a "world's first."

[pcbuilderchris @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:46PM]

retro

[Meltz; @ Feb 22nd 2007 3:48PM]

Yeah man, that thing looks like it's from the 70s

[Liqwid @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:54PM]

But will breads still harden like a sledge hammer and potentially break teeth after being being cooled for a quick minute? (I'm talking about pizza crusts.)

[Porsche 911 @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:04PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_heating

[shmengie @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:09PM]

$5000 must be a typo, yes? or, does that include a scantily-clad oriental hoochee-mama-chef?

[Kev50027 @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:43PM]

That think looks straight out of the late 70's. Nice going on styling of a $5,000 oven, Sanyo. Sanyo has always been behind the times on styling.. and everything else..

[ashgilpincom @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:37PM]

Damn! $5k for a microwave/oven? LOL.

http://www.ashgilpin.com

[A45519 @ Feb 26th 2007 7:50PM]

First of all, this is a Japan commercial-use IH-Microwave oven, and the price is perfectly normal for a commercial-grade product that can put out over 3700 watts of power. The type of hamburger mentioned in the original release was hamburger steak, not hamburger for sandwiches. Hamburger steak is extremely popular in Japan (it is kind of like a steak-shaped meatloaf) and this product is perfect for the market. I personally go out to Bikkuri Donki and eat them all the time. It takes forever sometimes to get your food, and this will speed things up.

With regards to the style, I like the retro look. Why does Sanyo have to put something super stylistic out for in-the-kitchen products that a common customer will never see? How about Hobart giant mixers and walk-in refrigerators? Have you ever seen a 'with the times' design for those items?

Additionally, although GE has the Trivection technology, apparently you can't run the functions of microwave and heating separately, whereas this unit has an independent microwave oven mode and IH cooking mode.

Lastly, after looking at the Sanyo website, the name of the product is not enegreen (Sanyo apparently also has a supermarket showcase system with that name), but "enegreen Hybrid Cooker".