I have a confession: I hate microwaves. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t grow up with them, or that I get paranoid about accidentally putting aluminum foil inside one by mistake. When given the chance to test a microwave, I usually steer clear.
While some microwaves are better than others (that’s why we have an entire guide dedicated to finding the best microwave), the average model will perform almost like-for-like with a similarly-priced and sized alternative.
But when IKEA announced its new GÅTEBO 3-in-1 microwave, which can not only reheat but also grill, and even air fry, I was unusually intrigued. For $199, can IKEA really replace three appliances in one handy countertop machine? I decided to put it to the test.
You may like
Now, I’m only one day into testing this microwave, so you’ll have to wait another week or so for my full hands-on review, but here’s my first impressions after getting the GÅTEBO on my kitchen countertops.
Hands-on with the IKEA GÅTEBO Microwave
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
This thing is big and it’s heavy. I had a job getting it out of its cardboard box, and had to displace my toaster to make room for it on my (already straining) kitchen countertops. But if it can act as an air fryer and microwave in one, I’d say that’s a more appealing trade-off.
With so many settings to choose from, and some slightly ambiguous icons to choose your desired one, I was pleased to see the inside of the microwave had a clearer explanation of which button correlated with which setting. The instruction manual was also super informative, walking me through the various settings, how to operate them, and even advising cooking times for different types of food on different settings.
The GÅTEBO can air fry, defrost, grill, warm up tea / coffee, and combine microwaving with air frying or convection cooking. I’ve tried three of these settings so far, and here’s what I thought.
Well, it microwaves!
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
There is such thing as a bad microwave, and the GÅTEBO isn’t one of them. But in my experience, there’s only so good a microwave can be. It’s got a lot of different power settings and a slightly confusing timer setup (I got used to it after a couple of tries), with the classic Start / +30 Seconds button. That’s my go-to when reheating leftovers for office lunches, so when it came to warming up some pasta for my partner’s lunch, I did the same thing.
After three minutes, the cheesy top was bubbling, but the center was still a little compacted and the sauce quite solid. I added another minute to the heating time and found that the pasta was ready to eat after that. So, four minutes for a plastic container of pasta. Pretty standard for a microwave.
I also used it to heat up some soup for my own lunch. In my experience, soup can often come out boiling hot around the edges of the bowl and still cold in the middle, but the GÅTEBO did a good job of warming it through, with only one mid-way stir from me. It took three minutes and 30 seconds to get my tomato and red pepper soup hot and bubbling. The bowl was piping hot, but fortunately I was using the grill setting to make a grilled cheese to dip in it, which gave the soup time to cool down (and become portable!)
You may like
Grilling was sluggish but does the job
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
I usually cook up a grilled cheese on the stove while my tomato soup warms up in a saucepan, but I decided to go all-in and cook both my soup and my sandwich in the GÅTEBO.
Slightly nervously, I slotted in the metal grilling insert and set the microwave to grill mode, adding five minutes to the timer. If I were doing this in the broiler of my oven, five minutes would be more than enough to cook a grilled cheese on both sides, but I found the top of my sandwich was still a little soggy from melted butter when the machine (handily) reminded me to flip. So I added an extra minute, and flipped at the four-minute mark.
After six minutes, my sandwich was toasted on both sides and I achieved a good cheese pull when cutting into it. I found that the bread was quite dry as opposed to the grilled cheese sandwiches I make on the stove, but it was also a lot less hands-on, which made it a worthwhile trade-off.
Ok, it does actually air fry
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
I’ve dedicated an embarassingly large portion of my life to testing and evaluating the best air fryers, so when any appliance claims to replace my beloved Dreo ChefMaker, I regard it with some skepticism. But seeing as the air fryer setting is one of the main selling points of the GÅTEBO, I threw in some frozen french fries and cooked them on the included air fryer basket.
You can choose your temperature all the way up to 240°C / 460°F, which is actually hotter than the maximum temperature in my air fryer. The machine pre-heats and then allows you to choose a cooking time before it begins frying. My frozen fries advise just 10 minutes cooking time when air frying, but according to IKEA’s instruction manual, the air fryer takes 21 minutes to cook frozen french fries. I decided to check my fries at both intervals.
After 10 minutes, my fries were soggy and anaemic. So if you’re wondering if this machine can replace an air fryer, it definitely won’t cook as fast as your typical Ninja or Philips model. But I added another 11 minutes and returned to find my fries sizzling and surprinsgly evenly cooked.
My partner said they tasted like McDonald’s fries. They weren’t browned or crunchy, but they were hot, greasy, and surprisingly satisfying.
My first impressions
(Image credit: IKEA)
While I don’t see myself getting rid of my air fryer any time soon, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the IKEA GÅTEBO so far. It’s intuitive to use, with a useful manual and clear labelling, and it’s also well made with an attractive build.
I’ll be running many more tests in the next week ahead of my full review, but as first impressions go, the IKEA GÅTEBO has my stamp of (provisional) approval.
Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
More from Tom’s Guide