An appliance question

I have a microwave/convection oven myself. I'm not sure I've ever used the convection feature, but the microwave function is just like every other microwave I've ever worked with. Take care to select m/w rather than convection and you should be fine. A microwave-safe container or plate might well melt down if you use the convection function, and a convection container might contain metal that would wipe out the m/w part of the appliance.

If you want to cook or reheat something that should be rather crisp (pizza, baguette), your results might be better with convection, but you'd need a suitable container, and I think if you use convection, there's supposed to be a (metal) rack involved; I don't think you put your container right on the floor of the oven. Convection cooking time is a bit shorter than the time required in an ordinary oven, by the way, but nothing like what a microwave will do.

Since there are all sorts of models of appliances and I, at least, have never seen a European microwave/convection oven, I suggest you ask the landlord how to use the microwave feature, just to be safe. Luckily, there will be no language barrier to overcome.

Quite a common variation on a microwave these days.

Most of them are Panasonic.

You can use them as ordinary microwaves and heat up all sorts of stuff, usually at 1000 watts of power, or you can reduce the power.

There will then be a convection element which will blow hot air into the cavity just like a home convection oven. If you have a meal that doesn't want to be microwaved you can probably put it in the convection oven. You might be used to calling them a fan oven. You use a lower temperature for less time than a conventional oven. It may be confusing if you are used to Fahrenheit temperatures because both the oven and the package will be in Celsius. No problem though, because you just dial in the temperature on the package. Expect to use a convection oven at around 180 degrees C.

Much faster to microwave though.

By the way, there are recipes out there for simultaneous convection and microwave programs. Unlike you will do much of that on holiday.

Thanks for explaining!

I don't think I'll be doing any real cooking on my trip. (Heck, I don't do it at home). I might get some frozen dinners at Sainsbury's or something along those lines, or pasties that would want to be heated up. I do remember the sales woman at Fortnum's telling me to use 180 C to reheat something for about 5 to 8 minutes in the toaster oven. I'll be sure to read the manual or ask the landlord!

I have a microwave convection oven and I use the convection function all the time. You use it just like a regular oven and using foil and metal are fine. It’s great for baking small amounts (a few pieces of bacon, a couple salmon steaks, some baking potatoes, a small batch of cookies, etc.). Some food turns out far better in an oven than in a microwave.