A microwave is very handy in your kitchen. To use your microwave in the best way, it helps to know what all the symbols mean. Combination microwaves in particular have many different symbols. Once you know them, you’ll know which setting to use to heat food, defrost frozen meals or even grill vegetables. We’ve listed the most common microwave symbols for you.
The symbol for the fan-assisted function on a combi microwave is a fan. In this mode, heat is distributed evenly throughout your microwave. The fan ensures you can heat dishes on multiple trays or racks at the same time. Ideal for heating oven chips, quiches or crusty rolls.
Does your (combi) microwave have a rectangle with a horizontal line underneath? That’s the symbol for bottom heat. With this function, heat comes from the bottom of your microwave. This is useful if you want to cook, for example, a tray pizza or a tart. In these cases, it’s important the bottom cooks through properly without burning the toppings. Always use the bottom heat function with just one oven tray.
The symbol for top heat has a horizontal line at the top of the rectangle. Use top heat when you mainly want to cook the top layer of a dish in your combi microwave. This is often the case with lasagne and with pizzas whose base is already pre-baked.
Most microwaves have different grill functions. You can recognise these by the symbol of a rectangle with a kind of horizontal lightning bolt inside. You use grill functions to grill aubergines, tomatoes and courgettes, or to give the top layer of chicken, fish or a casserole a crispy crust. With the large grill function, you can prepare larger quantities. You recognise the large grill symbol by the 3 “bolts”.
The symbol for the small grill is the same as for the large grill, but with one fewer “bolt”. Microwaves with a small grill use part of the cavity to grill – often the middle section. The small grill is handy if you only want to grill a part of your dish. Place that part directly under the small grill.
Many combi microwaves also have a circulating grill. The circulating grill combines the fan-assisted function with the large grill. You recognise the symbol by the fan with the large lightning bolt above it. Use this function if you want to cook larger pieces of meat. The circulating grill occasionally blows hot air around the dish you’re grilling, so the inside and outside of, for example, chicken breast or roast beef cook at the same pace.
If you want to quickly defrost a slice of bread from the freezer or heat up a frozen meal from last week, use your microwave’s defrost function. This feature is found on almost every microwave, whether built-in or freestanding. The symbol for the defrost function has 2 stars with a water droplet underneath. On many microwaves with a defrost function, you select the weight of what you want to defrost. The microwave then determines the ideal wattage and defrosting time itself.
Does your combi microwave have a symbol with a fan in a circle and a horizontal line underneath? Then your appliance has a pizza setting. This setting provides extra heat from below and combines it with the fan-assisted function. This way the base of your pizza cooks nicely without burning the toppings.
Like the pizza setting, you’ll only find the crisp function on a combi microwave. This function ensures your oven chips or the base of your flammkuchen become extra crispy. It only works with a special crisp plate. That plate gets extra hot, which cooks your dish faster and makes it crisper. The symbol for the crisp function is a horizontal line with a dish above it and 3 steam puffs rising from it.
