Panasonic NN-CS596S

Faultless since November 2010 – Gave this appliance 4 stars in 2012. Updated it to 5 stars today as we have had it almost 13 years. All the functions still work. It is still used pretty much every meal. The only time it stops working is after a power failure when somebody accidentally puts the child lock on, or puts it in shop – demo mode. Takes a minute to look in the book and… Read more ·  1

find the unlock procedure. Oven light stopped working a few years back, but I haven’t got around to fixing it as I didn’t think we would have it so long. Glass shelf lasted well until somebody dropped it a couple of years ago. I think it was worth the money.($700-$800)

Great Microwave / Convection / Grill with Steam – A microwave that can do grilled cheese on toast and work as a smaller regular oven. The steam functions are useful, but can only be combined with microwaves and this is not able to cook with steam alone, or in combination with convection etc. in the way newer models can. Still steam function is great for reheating and for many foods produces a… Read more ·  1

better result than microwaving alone.

I have seen many comments on rust with microwaves both steam models and regular models. This machine has been in use for around 15 years now and there has been no sign of rust and no special maintenance has been required. The glass tray exploded some years ago... probably developed a crack and water went into the crack. Water reservoir broke after being dropped on the floor but we were able to get a spare part for the water tray and just use a regular plate in place of the glass tray.

Bad quality – Had been used it for less than 3 months......get rust inside of the oven! This oven cost me $1500 CAD plus tax for that...... not even last for 3 months! Beware! Stay away from this produce unless you like to suffer the process of struggling with the panasonic customer care representative for settlement.  Show details

I love this....But I'm not IN LOVE with it – I bought this appliance about 4 maybe 5 years ago. I wanted a good little microwave with convection settings. It does grill, oven, steam (albeit...not that great), microwave and most importantly it proves dough...(I'm an avid baker of bread). Quite honestly I think the greatest value from this machine comes from the grill and oven… Read more

features. They are actually quite excellent. I can cook more than one dish at a different temperature at once now. No complaints with the oven and grilling feature. 100% A grade. Heats quickly works well. Nice and hot.

The steamer really confuses me... it kind of just wets your food and you have to use it with the microwave. Meh. The microwave is okay too. I love the fact it doesn't rotate like a normal microwave. But that may be what makes it heat a little...well unevenly. Some bits are like they've been sent through a Hadron Collider and others are nearly at absolute zero.

The door opens down and I totally love that feature too.

Okay, my beefs with this appliance....come from the actual way to use it. Dials that make you want to physically abuse the machine every time. Argh. The pre-programmed functions are just pointless. They are not intuitive to use. I've had it for years and I still have to have a think every time I touch the machine. Double Argh! I would consider myself to be extremely tech, computer and gadget savvy. I just ask the question.... Do the people that do the R&D for these actually ever use them. Like at a home... for real. It seems like a lot of wasteful firmware that could have been done differently. Seriously.... visitors, guests and my fiance are totally thrown when they try to use it. It's really fun to watch them though.

For some reason.... the end beep doesn't work any more. That's fine, but quite odd.

All in all, I like it. It's useful. I bake great bread because of it's wicked ability to prove. Great door, great oven, great griller...meh everything else. I try to love it. But, it's not one of those purchases that I feel fuzzy about for years. They could improve on what they have and make an absolute knockout follow up model. I'll keep an eye out for it perhaps.

Touch Pad stopped working time to time – In spite being very expensive, I bought this MW oven considering the features viz. steam function, Temp range up to 300 deg Celcius that no other over offers. It worked great initially but within 6 months the touch pad stopped. working. I was unable to use convenction/grill and steam functions. MW part and preselected menus were working. … Read more

Panasonic has taken lot of time - more than a month to get the pad replaced. Then it started working again as before. After few months wherein warranty was also expired we got the same problem again. I have to pay for this fault off course and then in total period of 3 to 4 years the pad goes faulty for 4 times.

Its big loss for me and I have decided to throw this and go for OTG for baking purposes.

My nearly new Best friend – I felt moved to write this, after reading all the other reviews. My microwave is over 3 years old & I love it. I specially like that I can thaw out frozen meat using steam without browning the edges (my old microwave did that). The oven heats pies etc quickly as it has these special functions like crisp top. The only thing I don't like is that… Read more

the roof is hard to clean. I have used the special cleaning program but unfortunately my husband uses only one setting - High. We regularly have minor explosions going on particularly with bolognaise. Everthing is wipe able except the ceiling as the grill bars are fixed to the top - you can't just wipe the top like normal microwaves. If a microwave designer is reading this I think this type of combi oven is brilliant but you need to have a slide out ceiling for cleaning.

December 4th 2014 Update:

Alas, my love affair with my microwave has ended ..... It gave up the ghost on the weekend. Out of warranty. Costs $45 to get a quote and I have to travel. It worked well for 3 years but when you consider what I paid (close to $800), I may as well have bought a cheap microwave and replaced it annually. I'm off to Aldi!

Great little oven - steam function a little slow – I felt I should write something after seeing all the negative reviews here (despite being based in Singapore). I've had the oven for about a year and seen about 8 months use out of it (there was delay to my moving to a new place,never mind). The microwave, grill and convection function has been used about every other day and I've never had a… Read more ·  1

problem with the machine. I live in an apartment with a tiny kitchen so this was the only sort of oven I could fit.

I've baked cookies, salmon en croute, cheese on toast, reheated pizza; miso cod - all fine. The combination programs are especially good if you can figure out the complex instructions... The only thing is that the steam function is rather underpowered and takes quite a long time to eg reheat chinese buns. However, if you do that sort of thing in a rice cooker or wok, it takes an equally long time, so I think people should get real with their expectations.

I had a regular ariston oven in my parents place that used to regularly trip our entire flat's circuit breaker when it felt like. Compared to that, this little guy is trouble-free. Maybe it depends if you end up with a lemon... Does what it says on the tin; cheaper than the Healsio competition; multifunctional and compact Steam function is slooow. Grill element very hard to clean if you manage to explode an egg yolk in the microwave.

This is our only oven - it is used every day and so far, hasn't nissed a beat – We needed a multifunction oven as our new place didn't have one built in. Since our previous Panasonic microwave lasted over 25 years (so far - now has been given to other family member), we thought that would buy some brand loyalty... In the Steam Convection Microwave category there is not much to compare with, although the Sharp is supposed… Read more

to be good, but unfortunately, it was too tall for the space we have - so we didn't really have much choice but to get the Panasonic.

The microwave is unusual in that there is no turntable, so there will be hotspots here and there, the sensor function seems to decrease these quite a bit.

Its best function I think is to be able to add a shot of steam while roasting, baking or grilling to ensure that the food doesn't dry out. The auto menus are pretty reasonable as well.

The product has not missed a beat so far, having been used constantly since November 2010. Hopefully this will continue. Might get an extended warranty just in case. Versatile. We bake, microwave or steam with it for almost every meal Was pretty expensive. Hopefully faults with others will not affect this one

Terrible – Don't get enticed by the steamer capability. You should avoid this Panaosnic Mirowave oven at all cost. It doesn't work, it's expensive and Panasonic doesn't care. If you spend almost $1000 on a microwave you would expect it to work for more than two year and have far better customer service. Looks nice but doesn't work I have had this microwave… Read more

for just over 2 years. The steamer function broke just after the one year warranty expired and consequently I have only been able to use the microwave function since. I've had to replace the control panel once and now it has broken again. I'm throwing it out. It's expensive ($1000),it doesn't work and Panasonic has been of no assistance.

Onto second program selector board – 1st unit replaced within 2 months because touch panel stopped working and knobs to select micro time stopped working. Harvey Norman replaced complete microwave, now 3 years down track same deal, will replace with a different brand. Before this, a microwave would last a good 20 years. Technology these days doesn't necessarily translate into… Read more

longevitity but it is false logic becaue if you buy a brand that lets you down you don't buy that product again, it maybe a throw away society but this is getting rediculous!! Um, I'm struggling, it's an expensive cooking device it should'nt be a pro that it should do what it was sold to do!! expensive paper weight!!

Bad – Poor reliability, fault code H98, inverter board failure (£150GBP if you are out of G'tee and large standby power consumption.If you have one and it's still in G'tee don't worry, just don't accept a repair as this is a COMMON fault, take a refund or a credit and buy something else. Our previous Panasonic microwave failed after 3 years, yes it was… Read more

the inverter board that packed up. It's a good looking thing in the kitchec, being stainless steel and being a steamer is a bonus. The standby power consumption, 80 watts, it's like leaving the lights on ALL the time. This needs to be addressed. Reliability is poor, our failed after 3 months.

perfect size can fit almost any casserole dish inside – can fit almost any casserole dish in the barrel type microwave, it has the best defrost options, easy to use, 1200 watt, easy to clean the inside, best microwave ever purchased simple to use and clean out its hard keeping the stainless steel clean from finger prints Show reply