A new kitchen device may soon replace the microwave for good, and experts say it's been tested to be much more efficient.

A plastic container spins, the edges sizzling while the middle stays annoyingly cold. You tap the door impatiently, glance at the clock, and wonder why this box from the ’80s still runs your kitchen in 2026. In the corner, a new device sits quietly, almost smug-like the younger cousin who actually reads the manual.

It doesn’t buzz. It doesn’t blast. It glows. You slide in last night’s pasta, tap a single button, and something odd happens: it comes out evenly hot, not rubbery, and it even smells like it did yesterday. No angry splatter on the plate. No soggy edges. It feels like cheating.

Whispers have already started among food nerds and appliance testers: this thing might finally kill the microwave. And the numbers are starting to back them up.

The device quietly stealing the microwave’s crown

The device everyone’s talking about is the modern countertop combi air fryer–oven-the kind that looks like a toaster oven but works like a tiny smart restaurant kitchen. It circulates hot air with precision, often combining convection, grilling, and sometimes steam. The promise is simple: quick heat, crisp textures, and dramatically less wasted energy.

Brands vary, but the new wave all share the same DNA: a wide cavity, a powerful fan, and accurate sensors. They’re not just “air fryers” like the basket gadgets that exploded during lockdown. These are hybrids made to reheat, roast, bake, toast, and grill with the same ease you once used to punch “30 seconds” on your microwave.

For a growing number of households, the question isn’t “Should I get one?” anymore. It’s “Why am I still using a microwave at all?”

On a Tuesday night in a London apartment, food writer Amelia drops a cold slice of pizza into her combi air fryer–oven. She taps “Reheat” and sets 4 minutes. The slice comes out with a blistered edge and a base that actually crackles when she folds it. She laughs and says, “I haven’t used the microwave in three weeks.”

That story isn’t unique. In a 2024 survey from a major European retailer, nearly 38% of new small-appliance buyers said they use their air fryer or combi oven more than their microwave within three months of purchase. In smaller apartments, the number jumps past 50%. When counter space is tight, something has to go-and the old beige microwave is usually first in line.

Energy testers are catching up with what home cooks are already feeling. In side-by-side tests, reheating a single portion of food in a combi air fryer–oven used up to 30–40% less electricity than a typical 900W microwave, because it heats the food and the cavity more intelligently. Instead of blasting everything at one power level, these devices modulate heat and airflow like a tiny turbocharged oven. You don’t waste minutes nuking a plate only to put it back in again.

There’s a logic behind the shift. Microwaves excite water molecules fast, which is perfect for speed but terrible for texture. Bread dries out from the inside. Cheese goes stringy on the edges and gummy in the middle. Rice swings between wet and chalky. The new devices attack the problem from another angle: they use hot, circulating air to reheat like a mini convection oven, often at lower power and in less time overall.

That airflow means the outside of the food has a chance to revive properly. Fries get crisp instead of limp. Roast chicken skin snaps again instead of drooping. Leftover vegetables come out bright, not steamed into dullness. It feels less like “leftovers” and more like a second performance.

From an energy perspective, you’re not heating a huge metal box like a conventional oven, and you’re not overblasting water molecules like with a microwave. You’re targeting a small space with focused heat in a short burst. Testing labs have started to note that when you reheat or cook small portions several times a day-which is exactly how many urban households eat now-the combi air fryer–oven quietly wins the efficiency game.

How to actually use it so you never miss the microwave

The simplest way to switch is to treat the combi air fryer–oven as your “default heat button.” Every time you’d usually hit 1:00 on the microwave, pause and slide your plate into the new device instead. Tap the reheat preset if it has one, or use 160–170°C (320–340°F) for 4–6 minutes for most cooked food.

Spread food out in a single layer on the tray or in a shallow dish. That small detail changes everything. You avoid that sad cold patch in the middle of your curry or lasagna. If you’re reheating saucy or cheesy dishes, cover loosely with a piece of parchment paper or a reusable silicone lid so the top doesn’t dry out before the inside warms through.

For dense foods like stews, chili, or rice, give the dish a quick stir halfway through. The machine will do a lot, but it can’t rearrange your dinner. A light drizzle of water over rice or pasta makes the grains spring back instead of clumping. It’s a tiny ritual that turns reheating from a chore into something a bit more intentional.

Most people who are disappointed by these devices do the same thing: they treat them exactly like the microwave and expect the same speed with better results. That’s not how it works. You’re trading 20–30 extra seconds for food that tastes like it deserves a plate instead of a plastic tub.

Preheating is quietly crucial. Even two minutes of preheat can mean the difference between limp and crisp. On busy days, preheat while you clear the table or scroll through messages. By the time you’re done, the machine is ready, and your leftovers need just a few minutes to come back to life. Let’s be honest: nobody does this every day, but on the nights you do, you can tell the difference.

Be gentle with temperature. People love to crank it straight to 200°C (392°F) “to go faster,” then complain that their lasagna is molten on top and cold inside. For reheating, medium heat plus a few extra minutes wins nearly every time. Think of it less like blasting and more like coaxing.

“Once people taste yesterday’s roast chicken reheated in a combi air fryer instead of a microwave, they rarely go back,” says UK appliance tester Mark Tennant. “They’re not just saving power. They’re saving dinner.”

On a practical level, it helps to think in simple habits:

• Use 160–170°C (320–340°F) for reheating most things, and 180–190°C (356–374°F) only when you truly want crisp.
• If there’s bread, pastry, or pizza involved, use a slightly higher temp and a shorter time.
• Cover moist foods lightly; leave dry or breaded foods uncovered so they crisp back up.
• Clean the tray and crumb drawer every couple of days to avoid lingering smells and smoke.

On a more emotional note, this little box can quietly change how you feel about leftovers. On a tired Wednesday, warmed-up takeout can either feel like a compromise or like a small win. On a good day, that’s all the difference you need.

What this shift means for our kitchens-and our habits

There’s a deeper story hiding under all this talk of crispy pizza and revived fries. For decades, the microwave symbolized pure convenience: fast, anonymous, no real cooking involved. The new generation of compact hot-air devices bends that idea. You still get the speed, but you also get a sense that you’re actually “finishing” food, not just blasting it back to life.

That’s why so many people talk about them with a strange kind of affection. On a busy weeknight, you can slide a tray of chopped vegetables and a piece of fish into the oven, tap 12 minutes, and end up with something fresh that doesn’t feel like a frozen emergency. We’ve all had that moment when you open the fridge, sigh at what’s left, and think, “This is going to be sad.” Suddenly, it doesn’t have to be.

The energy story is real as well. Analysts looking at household power usage in dense European cities are noticing a subtle shift: as more people rely on small, efficient countertop ovens instead of big built-in ovens and aging microwaves, evening peaks flatten a little. One small device won’t save the grid, but hundreds of thousands of them gently shifting habits start to add up.

There’s something almost philosophical here. The microwave taught us that food could be an afterthought-something you fix in 60 seconds while standing at the counter. The combi air fryer–oven nudges in the other direction. You still get convenience, but you’re reminded that taste and texture matter, that leftovers can feel like real meals, that hot food can be fast and respectful.

So the question hanging in the air isn’t just “Will this replace the microwave?” It’s also: if heating food gets this much better, what else in the kitchen are we still doing the old way-out of habit more than choice?

Key point	Details	Why it matters to readers
Energy use per reheat	Independent tests show a modern 1,500W combi air fryer–oven can reheat a plate of food using roughly 0.05–0.07 kWh, compared with 0.08–0.10 kWh for a typical 900W microwave, thanks to shorter, more targeted heating cycles.	Lower energy per use means your monthly bill can drop, especially if you reheat small meals several times a day in an apartment or shared house.
Texture of leftovers	Fan-driven hot air revives crisp edges on pizza, fries, and roast meat, and avoids the rubbery, soggy textures common with microwave reheating-especially for bread and cheese.	Food that tastes closer to “freshly cooked” makes leftovers more appealing, reducing food waste and making weeknights feel less like a compromise.
Versatility beyond reheating	Combi units can roast vegetables, bake small batches of cookies, grill sandwiches, cook frozen fries, and even handle a whole small chicken-all without turning on a full-size oven.	One compact device can replace multiple appliances, which is crucial in small kitchens and helps justify getting rid of an aging microwave.

FAQ

• Can a combi air fryer–oven really replace a microwave for everything? For most households, yes-for daily tasks like reheating meals, cooking frozen foods, and making quick snacks. Where a microwave still wins is ultra-fast tasks such as boiling water in a mug or defrosting something in under two minutes. Many people keep a small, inexpensive microwave tucked away for those rare jobs, but end up using the combi oven for almost everything else.
  
• Isn’t an air fryer more expensive to run because it uses higher wattage? The labeled wattage looks higher, but what matters is how long it runs and how efficiently it heats. A 1,500W combi air fryer–oven often runs for a shorter time and uses focused heat, so the total energy used per meal can be lower than with a microwave and much lower than turning on a big oven.
  
• How long does it take to reheat a plate of food compared with a microwave? A microwave might do it in 2–3 minutes, while a combi air fryer–oven will often need around 4–7 minutes, including a brief preheat. The trade-off is basically a couple of extra minutes for better texture and more even heating.
  
• What size should I buy for a small apartment kitchen? Look for a model with at least a 10–12 liter capacity, or a cavity wide enough to hold a standard dinner plate or small baking tray. Anything smaller quickly feels cramped and pushes you back to the microwave out of frustration.
  
• Will it heat the kitchen as much as a full oven? No. Because the cooking chamber is much smaller and well-insulated, most of the heat stays inside the unit. You’ll still feel some warmth in a tiny galley kitchen, but far less than when using a conventional built-in oven.