Samsung MC32DB7746KCE3 Combi Smart Microwave with Air Fry and Steam

Verdict

The Samsung MC32DB7746KCE3 Combi Smart Microwave with Air Fry & Steam is a solid, large microwave oven with a bevy of useful functions. It’s reasonably easy to use and attractively designed, working best as a conventional microwave with a powerful defrost function. The Air Fry and Grill modes however are less impressive.

Introduction

The Samsung MC32DB7746KCE3 Combi Smart Microwave with Air Fry & Steam is part of a new breed of the South Korean firm’s extensive range of microwaves that offer a premium choice with functions far beyond what you might expect.

At £399, it isn’t a cheap option, being pitted up against the likes of the Sage Combi Wave 3-in-1 and Smeg MOE34CXIUK as a do-it-all microwave that can act as a convection oven, grill, combi oven, and even an air fryer. I’ve been testing Samsung’s latest offering to see whether it can stack up against the best microwaves thus far. Let’s find out.

Design and Features

• Very large on counter
• Simplistic controls, although more granular in the SmartThings app
• Exhaustive function list

Even against other larger microwaves with a similar 32-litre capacity, the MC32DB7746KCE3 is quite the behemoth. It dwarfs my trusty Panasonic to the point where it can’t fit on my kitchen worktop width-ways, and has to be moved to sit facing the edge of the worktop, especially with the additional exhaust at the back taking its total depth to 515mm.

The microwave’s black, glossy finish is attractive, although has two odd knock-on effects. Firstly, it can be quite attractive for fingerprints – even when moving the microwave around to take photos with clean hands, I noticed the odd print that needed to be wiped off. In addition, it meant the control panel in lower light conditions was quite difficult to read.

On that point, the MC32DB7746KCE3’s control panel is especially simplistic, with small symbols corresponding to each of its functions. Press the dial in and it’ll beep, before allowing you to choose cooking time, temperature or the type of food you’re cooking, such as on the Auto Cook or Air Fry functions.

This more minimalistic approach takes some getting used to, especially compared to more conventional options such as Sage’s 3-in-1, which has tactile buttons and dials. More granular control is offered by Samsung’s SmartThings app, which allows the MC32DB7746KCE3 to be controlled via a phone. In here, you can easily choose a cooking mode, time, temperature and even the weight of food you’re cooking. You can then send the function instantly to the MC32DB7746KCE3, where you’ll need to press the start button for it to actually start the process.

Functionality with these different modes range from especially useful to more of a gimmick. The likes of the standard Microwave, Convection and Air Fry modes have some genuine utility, as does the Power Defrost mode (even if you can only choose from a small selection of food types to defrost).

The Auto Cook function, as with other Samsung microwaves, provides a list of food types you can cook almost at will. Unlike other more affordable Samsung choices though, there are different lists to choose from, including everything from frozen prawns to muffins and different types of dough you can prove.

In addition, the MC32DB7746KCE3 also comes with enough space inside for fitting a large dinner plate, as well as some handy accessories including two different trivets with unique heights, and a baking tray.

Performance

• Excellent as a more conventional microwave
• Air Fry function feels slow
• Impressive defrosting skills

Given that the MC32DB7746KCE3 is more than just a simple microwave, it required quite a lot of testing to best gauge its various modes. The most interesting of them to me was its Auto Cook function, which is where I started my testing with some salt and pepper crinkle fries, These were put on the Frozen Oven Chips function, which recommended 19 minutes. In that time, some of the chips hadn’t cooked, and needed to be put on Air Fry at the maximum 200°C for a further 10 minutes. Even after half an hour though, the chips weren’t too crispy, but came out piping hot and with a golden colour.

I also tried some breaded shrimp on the Air Fry mode at 200°C for 10 minutes using one of the trivets. These cooked in time and came out crispy, with the trivet paying dividends in helping the batter to crisp up.

As much as the trivet helped my battered shrimp, it didn’t necessarily help the fortunes of some turkey sausages I cooked on Air Fry at 200°C. In a normal air fryer, these would take between 10 and 12 minutes, although they took close to double that time at 23 minutes in the MC32DB7746KCE3 to in an internal temperature of between 75 and 80°C.

I rounded out my testing of the MC32DB7746KCE3’s Air Fry mode with some chicken schnitzel, which took 20 minutes at 200°C. They ended up golden brown and reasonably crispy when cooked on the trivet, although still took close to double the amount of time that they would in air fryers such as the similarly-priced Ninja Combi.

The MC32DB7746KCE3’s ability to defrost was a lot more successful, however. In attempting to defrost 400g of salmon using the Power Defrost mode on the Fish setting, it took 3 minutes where the microwave estimated 5.5. It was the same story with 600g of steak on the Meat setting which took 6 minutes as opposed to the MC32DB7746KCE3’s estimate of 10.5 minutes.

Power Defrost also worked a treat on two slices of bread, where it defrosted them fully in just 50 seconds. It was the same with defrosting some rosemary and sea salt focaccia, which took around 3 minutes where the microwave had estimated 3.5.

I also cooked the focaccia using the MC32DB7746KCE3’s Convection setting at 170°C for 10 minutes to warm it through. It was well browned, and cooked to a warm internal temperature of 60°C.

As a conventional microwave, the MC32DB7746KCE3 impressed too, working well to reheat some tomato pasta for one and a half minutes. It was stirred halfway through and came out wonderfully, with the sauce not dried out and piping hot.

I also melted some cheese on the chicken schnitzel I cooked and warmed some bacon for 30 seconds, and the MC32DB7746KCE3 did it all admirably. In addition, I also used its Grill function to try toasting some tiger bread, which took six minutes, and while the bread was toasted, it was only slightly browned.

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