Is Microwave Better or OTG? 

Who doesn’t carve a dessert on weekend days?  and desserts definitely take us to baking! Baking is a sweet blend of science and art.

For baking you use your microwave oven, right? no wonder why your cakes are soggy most of the time!

Microwaves and OTG (Oven, Toaster, Grill) are the most popular kitchen appliances for baking, and although many people think they are the same, the fact is they actually are not.

Even though microwaves have been popular for decades, lately, they actually began to step back as OTG ovens have started to take over. 

In the next few lines, the mystery is going to be deduced as we answer the million-dollar question “Is Microwave Better or OTG?

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What is an OTG Oven?

OTG ovens are smaller versions of conventional ovens, in which heated coils are utilized for preparing food. Moreover, this type of oven features a thermostat to help in regulating the temperature levels and cook the food evenly.

OTG ovens are considered to be the sole for baking bread, muffins, pizza, cookies, cakes, tarts, and sourdough.

And they also deliver high performance in toasting, broiling, and grilling food items. In addition to the rotisserie function that you can use to make delicious paneer tikka, kebabs, meatloaf, baked cutlets, baked samosas, and baked vegetables.

How Do OTG works?

OTG ovens are systems composed of heat-resistant steel wool, fiberglass, and special chemicals.

When all of the components work together, electric resistance is formed in the OTG, which in turn begins to generate heat when current is gone through it.

The process of using OTG is straightforward, all you need to do is simply insert the food item into the unit. Then the food will be ready to cook on a stovetop or over an open fire.

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What Is a Microwave Oven?

Modern microwave ovens are perfect kitchen appliances for quick food preparation and reheating. They allow you to grill, bake, and defrost in addition to the auto cook function they offer that makes food prep a breeze.

Regular microwave ovens allow for cooking delicious instant idlis, dhoklas, cakes, mug pizzas, mac n cheese, omelets, biscuits, scones, and lots more food items.

One more notable feature of this type of oven is that it can be used indoors and outdoors, kudos to its portability.

How Does Microwave Works?

This is how Microwave ovens work. Each unit is a high-frequency radio wave, so when the water content is heated inside the food particles, the heat converts to steam. Allowing food items to cook evenly and quickly.

That is the reason why preparing food in the microwave oven makes your meal ready in almost half the cooking time it will be taking when prepared using a regular conventional cooking way.

Researchers state that cooking food in the microwave oven takes less time and energy, the reason is it doesn’t need preheating, which means that you don’t have to waste your time waiting for the traditional oven to be heated up.

The Difference Between an OTG Oven And a Microwave Oven

Whether you want to heat your meals or bake cookies and cakes, OTG ovens and microwaves both are lifesavers. But you need to know the major differences between them to be able to make the right decision about which one to buy.

Working Mechanism

Here is how an OTG oven works: when you turn it on, a number of nickel or chromium coils start to generate heat continuously. The heat produced from these heating coils helps is essential for the food prep process, no matter what cooking mode is set.

Along with the heating coils, the OTG oven features an in-built fan that distributes heat uniformly over the entire unit. This fan’s benefit is that it ensures the full meal is exposed to an even level of heating, resulting in uniform cooking.

On the other hand, microwave function with the assistance of microwaves that heat the water molecules inside the food, which allows them to cook.

Each microwave out there is manufactured with a special unit called a magnetron. Magnetron’s main function is producing microwaves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation that food items can absorb. 

These electromagnetic waves have a frequency range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz, which is found between infrared spectrums and radio waves.

Features

On the inside of an OTG oven, you are going to find multiple floors of racks. These many racks allow you to bake many batches of cakes or cookies in one go, which comes in very handy for big families and those who bake and cook large quantities of food.

On the exterior of the unit, you are going to find the temperature and time knobs that allow you to pick the preferred cooking time and heat settings. Boosting the diversity of use, and making it more straightforward to perfect your meals.

On the other hand, microwave ovens have additional features. They are manufactured with LED digital display that is ideal for helping you monitor the settings easily. Moreover, they also feature button controls, that allow you to select between the temperature, cooking mode, and cooking time.

Utensils

You should only be using utensils that are made of glass, aluminum, or silicone when using the OTG, and some users consider this as an advantage as they don’t have to spend money on special kitchen utensils because these are some of the most regularly used materials at every kitchen.

On the other hand, for cooking in a microwave, you have limited options. You can only use plastic, silicone, and glass utensils. 

You should never use avoid metal utensils while preparing food in a microwave, the reason is that electromagnetic waves get absorbed by water, sugars, and fats, but they are not absorbed by metals and plastic, which means using metal utensils can result in a short-circuit in the microwave.

Spacing 

As mentioned above OTG ovens feature many racks, allowing you to have many trays on top of each other and cook multiple batched of food at a time.

On the other side, microwave ovens feature turntables with rotates, allowing food to cook evenly, but in this setup, you can only place one tray or food item at a time. And you might find it hard to place some dishes inside.

Utility

OTGs feature knobs and dials that allow you to customize the temperature levels and the time it takes to bake a certain food item. Furthermore, its gradual heating mechanism allows it to cook food evenly and provide great results when baking a variety of items.

On the other side, microwave ovens do not have separate temperature control. Some microwaves feature low, medium, and high heating settings, but they do not have the ability to adjust the exact temperature, which all need when baking food. 

However, because of their quick and even heating process, they are ideal for reheating and cooking food instantly.

Efficiency

Cooking in OTG ovens takes a long time. They are engineered to heat gently in order to improve the texture of the food being cooked and to help in preparing food evenly.

As for microwaves, they are quite more efficient. They take less time than OTGs in terms of power consumption which is beneficial in the long run.

Capacity

OTG units have a maximum capacity of 60 liters, which is completely suitable for usage if you want to prepare huge quantities of food.

While microwaves have a capacity of 32 liters on average. So, when you want to cook lots of food, you may need to do it in many batches of food, which isn’t a preferable thing for big families who want to cook big food batches in one go. 

Price

OTGs take longer to heat up food, but they are significantly less expensive to run than microwaves, especially if you need to heat up food for more than one serving. Toaster ovens are usually cheap and won’t cost you much money in the long term in terms of power usage.

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When to choose an OTG?

OTG is the best choice to make in the following cases:

1. If you love to bake and prepare delicious pizzas, cakes, cookies, and buns at home. 
2. If you want to start your own cake business 
3. If you barely reheat food or have no problem reheating meals on the stovetop.

When to choose a Microwave Oven?

A microwave is the best cooking appliance to purchase in the following case.

1. You are not interested in baking or don’t bake frequently. 
2. You reheat the meals on daily basis.
3. You do not have a stovetop/LPG cylinder connection, thus cooking in a microwave will suffice till you do. Cooking in a microwave on a daily basis may also raise your electric bill. As a result, that is something you must consider.

OTG Vs Microwave: Which is Good for Health?

As pre-mentioned microwaves use high-frequency electromagnetic waves to prepare food items and that’s the main reason for their instant cooking and reheating powers. 

Researchers found that high-frequency waves are not at all good for humans over the long term, the reason is they make the food radioactive in nature, which causes cancer and destroys the nutrients and vitamins found in food. 

So, if you are using your microwave on daily basis, owing to nutritional loss, you will find yourself ending up spending a lot.

FAQ About “Is Microwave Better or OTG?”

Final Thoughts

Convection microwaves are a win-win situation. A  convection oven comes with a heating coil pre-installed, similar to the ones seen on OTGs.

Furthermore, they have various modes that allow you to heat or bake food all in one cooking appliance. Actually, you don’t get as much space as you would with an OTG, but don’t worry nothing will happen to the taste. 

But if you are a professional baker, getting a large OTG is the best choice to make. It will provide you with everything you need and help you in getting outstanding results.