this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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It's called a crisper. As in, to make the surface of food crisp, instead of using a crisper pan, or wasting single-use crisper sheets or bags. Pretty standard in medium range microwaves.
Add a $10 metal fan, and now it's a convection oven too!
I'm surprised they haven't added an extra $5 motor and a skewer to also have a roaster function... but maybe that would be pushing it too far?
You may be thinking of "(id)IoT", not "smart". You have a "smart"-phone because it's a phone-"with extras"; similarly a "smart" microwave doesn't mean it has (id)IoT for your smartphone to use, it means the microwave comes "with extras".
Why do you want a "microwave, convection oven, with a crisper" have any "smarts" to switch from one mode to the other? Well, for example to defrost, then cook, then crisp some piece of food... without having to stay over it and switch functions manually.
Ideally, it would also come with a thermometer and humidity sensor (that's another $5 in sensors) to detect when the food has defrosted, then cooked.
Having an (id)IoT function... well, you might have a particular recipe on your phone, or on the internet, or want to check on how it's doing from the sofa. Adding a webcam to live stream an image of your food, would cost another whooping $20... but I would rather duct tape one that's reflashable with a custom firmware, so that's debatable.
BTW, all these sensors, IoT, and "smarts", are doable with an ESP and a bunch of SSRs. I know, it's like some extra $20, and you should NEVER open a microwave without a solid grounding (pun intended) in basic electronics... but it's all DIY-able. Oh, and once you have an ESP, you can also add an RGB LED strip to it for a few extra bucks, because why not.