Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven

Verdict

Avoiding the restrictions that most integrated microwave ovens have, the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 is just as powerful as a full-size model. As well as flatbed microwaving, this model has the full range of oven modes, an excellent grill, temperature probe cooking and even pyrolytic cleaning. It’s expensive, as far as integrated models go, but if you want the best and don’t want compromises, there’s nothing as good.

Introduction

Integrated flatbed microwave ovens usually have some compromises and don’t quite have the full range of features that a full-size integrated oven has.

Not so with the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven, which has smart controls, automatic programmes, and a temperature sensor for precise cooking.

Available with your choice of trim and handles, this is a smaller oven designed for those who don’t want compromises on their smaller integrated appliances.

Design and features

• Plenty of room inside
• Touchscreen and smart app control
• Integrated temperature probe

Using Neff’s Flex design, the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven is available with a choice of trims and handles (brushed bronze, deep black, metallic silver and anthracite grey), so you can style it to match your other appliances (such as the N90 T66YYY4C0 hob) and your kitchen.

Stand this integrated appliance above one of Neff’s Flex Design ovens, and you can buy a trim that covers the two appliances, making them look like one. While this oven looks great, it’s the quality and flexibility that makes it stand out from its competition.

Thanks to the flatbed design, there’s a total of 45 litres of usable space in this oven, which is enough to cook chips and a side for a family of four easily. Neff has used the space sensibly, with a telescopic shelf rail at the bottom, and two additional shelf brackets.

In the box, there are two wire shelves and a universal pan for roasting. This combination makes it easy to pack out the oven.

While there’s not enough space for a Neff Slide and Hide door, this oven does at least have a soft-close door that gently clicks back into position when shut.

In its default out-of-the-box configuration, the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven is controlled using its touchscreen display. I found this easy to swipe through, and responsive.

However, if you prefer a physical control, the oven is compatible with the Twist Pad Flex remote, which attaches magnetically to either side of the screen. With this attached, you can just rotate the pad to cycle through options. Get two of these pads, and you can use one for navigation and one for control.

As the Twist Pad Flex is magnetic, you can buy one and swap it between multiple appliances, including hobs and full-sized ovens.

A touchscreen control generally makes life easy, but before I talk about that, I just want to say how useful it is having a dedicated button that brings up the microwave control. That option makes it quick to use the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven as a dedicated microwave, and doesn’t require hunting through menus, as with the AEG KMK968000M.

On the microwave page, there’s a choice of power modes (90W, 180W, 360W, 600W and Boost, which is 900W). Microwave power settings can be confusing, but Neff has included an Information button, which tells you what each mode can be used for.

As well as manually setting a power and timer, there’s an automatic defrost mode: select the type of food (bread, fish, meat and so on), enter the weight and then let the microwave do its job.

For general oven use, the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven has multiple heating modes: top/bottom heat, circo therm (fan), gentle circo therm, top/bottom heat gentle, circo roasting, circo-therm intensive, bread-baking, full-surface grill, centre-area grill, bottom heat, low-temperature cooking, dough proving plate warming and keep warm.

There are automatic modes, too, which can use a combination of heat and microwave. For example, there’s a mode for baked potatoes that uses the grill and the microwave. My one complaint is that these modes don’t tell you what power mode the microwave is set to, yet a warning appears on screen saying not to use the wire shelf if the microwave is set to 600W or higher; looking in the manual, the automatic modes tend not to use such high power modes.

Automatic cooking modes are available for a range of dishes, and many have options for cooking with and without the temperature probe. Select the option with the probe, and you have to enter the weight of the food to get the cooking time; select the temperature probe option and the ideal target temperature is selected automatically, with the oven stopping cooking when your food is done.

I prefer cooking with a temperature sensor for precision, and it’s brilliant to see this option available on a smaller oven. Normally, I only see probes on full-size ovens. Of course, you can just insert the temperature probe and set the oven and target temperature automatically.

Due to the positioning of the temperature probe connector, it’s best to plug this in before turning the oven on to avoid burning yourself.

Once the oven starts cooking, the display shows the estimated cooking time. At first, this estimate is very basic, and the oven says how far off the cooking time could be, such as +/- 25 minutes. After 10 to 15 minutes, the cooking time gets more and more accurate.

With all oven modes, there are optional settings that you can add to a cook: crisp finish to help remove moisture in food, microwave (90W, 180W or 360W), and a timer. When the oven’s timer ends the display gives you an option to finish, add extra cooking time, keep warm or leave to rest, with a timer telling you how long the food has been resting for.

It’s relatively easy to see how food is cooking, as the window is quite large. As this is a microwave, the glass does have a mesh inside that slightly restricts the view; this is true of all microwave ovens.

As well as direct control from the controls on the front, the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven is also compatible with the Home Connect app. This gives remote control over the oven, with the added bonus that options, such as crisp finish, are fully described, and notifications for when the oven has reached temperature and has finished cooking. It’s actually a very useful addition.

Keeping an oven clean can be a nightmare, but the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 Microwave Oven has pyrolytic cleaning built in – the first time I’ve seen such a feature on a small integrated model. Heating to high temperatures, this mode burns grease to a crisp that can then be wiped out.

For lesser messes, there’s an Easy Clean option that uses water to create steam to make it easier to wipe down the sides.

Performance

• Intense heat
• Good temperature management
• Excellent combination cooking

I put the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 through my usual set of tests, starting with temperature control and distribution. Setting the oven to 200°C, I added a baking tray loaded with ceramic beads. Putting this at the top of the oven, the small cavity of the N90 C29MY7MY0 means that the heat is quite intense.

I measure the front of the tray at 202.7°C and the back at a toasty 214°C. As you can see from the thermal image below, the heat is well distributed and even (warmer and whiter to the back, and cooler towards the front).

On the middle shelf, the N90 C29MY7MY0 produced temperatures closer to the target: 195.8°C at the front and 204.7°C at the back. Again, the thermal image shows that heat is well distributed.

Due to the quite intense heat, my chips cooked well, but were more towards the well-done side. When using this oven, I would dial the heat back a little or reduce cooking time, compared to using a full-size oven.

I then cooked a chicken breast with the target temperature set to 74°C. Running the oven at 180°C, I found that it did a good job, cooking the chicken properly, but without drying it out. Again, the heat is quite intense, so I’d be tempted to dial the oven temperature back a bit to, say, 170°C.

Next, I moved onto the microwave tests. I first defrosted two slices of bread, using the automated defrost setting. As you can see from the thermal image, the bread had some cool spots, but there were no frozen parts left and, after a minute or so, the slices were perfect for sandwiches.

Heating up rice in a bowl, I found that the Neff N90 C29MY7MY0 managed to heat evenly, and thoroughly, as the image below shows.

Using the combination programme, which used the grill and microwave together, I cooked a baked potato. The end result was a baked potato that was soft and fluffy in the middle and crispy on the outside.

Finally, testing the grill, I layered slices of bread on an oven shelf, and then toasted them. Here, the oven managed to toast them perfectly evenly, edge-to-edge.

Latest deals