Designed as the ultimate home cooking companion, the Panasonic Home Chef 4-in-1 Multi-Oven is a powerful Microwave Air Fryer, Flash Xpress Broiler and Convection Oven combined in one compact kitchen appliance. With the Panasonic Multi-Oven, warm, perfectly cooked insides and crispy, browned outsides are easy and possible with six cooking options including combination Convection + Microwave and Broil + Microwave. For a healthier alternative to fried food, turn on airfry mode, which lets you enjoy a crisp bite of fries or chicken wings, without an additional countertop appliance. You can even use the Panasonic Microwave NN-CD87KS as your main or second oven, using convection bake to roast meat or bake cookies, brownies, and more. Broil with grill-like results with the FlashXpress Broiler, or use as a powerful microwave to cook, defrost, and reheat food quickly and easily using smart Inverter and Genius Sensor technology plus 20 Automatic Cook Menu Presets. With a small overall footprint (22”W x 13.5”H x 17.7”D), this stainless steel countertop combination oven still has a spacious 1.2 cubic foot interior capacity with a 14.2” turntable to easily fit a whole chicken. Plus a stainless-steel interior cavity makes it easy to wipe splatters clean. Included accessories: enamel tray, wire rack, and airfryer basket. The Panasonic NN-CD87-KS can also be built-in to cabinets using an optional trim kit, NN-TK81KCS, sold separately. Download the DROP app to get delicious new recipes every month, designed just for your Panasonic CD87KS!
Countertop Microwave Ovens
Panasonic HomeChef 4-in-1 Microwave Oven with Air Fryer, Convection Bake, FlashXpress Broiler, Inverter Microwave Technology, 1000W, 1.2 cu ft with Easy Clean Interior – NN-CD87KS (Stainless Steel)
$4.00
| Asin | B085SV35MT |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 17.7 x 22 x 13.5 inches |
| Weight | 39.1 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Panasonic |
LeonC –
Bruce E. Layne –
I love having a single over-the-range appliance that can be used as a microwave oven and a convection oven. When our old Sharp died, I bought this new Panasonic. The oven isn’t quite as tall inside, but large enough. We also gained an air fryer function, which is a great addition.
We’re old, so the modern rotary dial user interface provided a slight learning curve. Not seeing the familiar keypad for entering the time was a bit intimidating at first, but it’s a very simple matter to dial the desired time and press the rotary knob to start cooking. The user interface is the same for all the various functions – microwave, convection oven, air fryer, or kitchen timer, so the learning curve isn’t too steep. The user interface is different, but probably faster and easier than the old style keypad.
I was pleased that the programmability also allowed multiple sequential programs, and it’s as simple as programming two functions before pressing start. I use this when making homemade pizza. I make the dough but I don’t bother letting it rise. I make the pizzas with the dough that hasn’t risen, put the pizza screen with the pizza in the oven, and program the convection oven for 45 minutes at 100 F to allow the dough to rise, followed by 15 minutes at 450 F to bake the pizza. It’s very convenient. Program it and walk away, with hot homemade pizza an hour later. My only complaint is that the convection oven setting allows 100 F but the next highest setting is a low baking setting. Our previous convection oven allowed 140 F for a turbo yeast leavened bread proofing, but 100 F seems to work almost as well.
If you don’t make yeast leavened bread, the multiple step programming has other uses. Instead of a decent six minute microwaved baked potato or a good 60 minute convection oven baked potato, you could program three minutes of microwaving followed by 27 minutes of convection baking at 450 F for a restaurant quality baked potato in half the time.
As others have already stated, Panasonic should have used a larger font on the six buttons so they’re easier to read in low light, but it doesn’t take long to memorize the button positions and then there’s no need to read the tiny lettering.
The brushed stainless interior and exterior is easy to wipe clean, but the texture is very shallow so the door latch button does show fingerprints. Overall, it’s easy to keep this oven clean.
The manual is very thorough and informative, but who wants a PhD in microwave cooking? There is a quick start guide, but it’s a bit too complex. The oven is easier to use than the quick start guide would lead you to believe. Much of the extraneous information is legalese to try to prevent people from microwaving aluminum foil or placing wax paper two inches from the broiler. In my experience, most people don’t need the obvious precautions and idiots aren’t going to read it anyway.
Placeholder –
I had been using a Sharp Carousel microwave (with a power rating of 1100 W) for over 20 years. The Panasonic differs in 3 respect: it uses the newer “inversion” technology, the microwave is rated at only 1000 W, and it has a grilling element on top. It’s taken me a while to adapt (and I’m still modifying my old recipes) but I’ve reached some conclusions. First, the inversion technology really does heat the food more evenly, and makes the device much more useful. I was often reluctant to defrost food with my older machine because the surface 1-2 inches would get too warm while deeper food remained icy. And for the same reason, I rarely cooked any food in it (even homogeneous items like a hamburger). With inversion technology the food heats more evenly and I’ve started to use it for simple meals. At only 1000 W, it takes a little longer to cook food than I would like, but I assume that they reduced the power of the microwave to divert power to to grilling elements. It used to take me 1 min 20 sec to heat water for instant coffee – now it takes 1 min 40 sec; and I could make one potato in 7 minutes while now it takes 7 min 30 sec. This is not a big deal, but I would have preferred a 1100 – 1200 W microwave. Finally, the grilling element is a really nice feature. Previously (in my old microwave), frozen fish fillets came out watery. If made in my toaster oven it took 22 minutes (as specified on the fish carton). With the Panasonic, using combined grilling and microwaving, the fillets cook in 4-1/2 minutes and come out fully cooked and crisp!
I’ve noticed many complaints about the machine’s power – especially with the grill. It’s not really discussed in the user manual (but a it was discussed in the manual fro another Panasonic device and it appears to apply to this model as well) – when one selects “combined microwave + grill” the microwave power is reduced to 40% and only one of the 2 grilling elements glow. I assume that this was done to prevent too much power from being used, and possibly to slow the cooking rate down – but it does reduce the power. I have found that for some foods it’s better to use the microwave and grill sequentially rather than simultaneously (For example, I cook frozen french fries using the microwave at power 8 and then brown them with the grill on high power). But for some foods it’s simpler just to use the combination. It takes a bit of experimentation to figure out the best settings for each meal – but having the grill available really does help. It’s simpler than using 2 appliances and foods come out evenly cooked and crispy.
On the down-side, the keyboard is poorly thought out. I am used to a numeric keyboard. If I want to cook a thing Power 3 I would press “Power” and the number “3”. With this machine you have to press the Power button repeatedly as it counts down from 10 to 3 with each push. And there are 3 buttons to set the time – one for units of 10 min, one for units of 1 min, and one for units of 10 seconds. (You can’t heat something for 8 seconds or 15 seconds – you can only enter time in 10 second intervals!) Again, it would be so much simpler to press “Time” and then 1-4-0 (for 1 min 40 sec) than to press the 1 min button once and the 10 second button 4 times. I have a few other minor issues with the keyboard, but they are less important. Also as noted, the interior light is too small.
All in all, I think this microwave has proven to be more useful than my older machine and I am very happy with the purchase. But due to the reduced microwave power and it’s complicated keyboard system, it gets only 4 out of 5 stars.
Jscris –
I’ve had this oven a month. The reason I wanted this oven was for the delay start, the inverter microwave and the three-stage cooking. Those are the reasons I’m keeping it (and the fact that it would be so hard to rebox), and I may regret it. Of course I expected the convection oven to work well, too, and it doesn’t. I haven’t tried the air fry or broil, but so far it seems like a very expensive microwave oven with a bad interface.
I use a conventional or convection oven most every day and I have been unable to cook yeast rolls with good results. The fan being on top instead of in the back makes for an overcooked top and raw bottom. Even using a pizza pan on the rack over the rolls. as someone suggested. has not given good results and I’ve tried several times with different pan types. It shouldn’t be this difficult! I’m a vegetarian, so I won’t be testing meat, but I can’t imagine cooking meat in the convection oven would be safe.
I should mention that I’m not new at this, have had several microwave/convection ovens over the years, and the Toshiba 3-in-1 that I still have works great. I would purchase the 4-in-1 without hesitation if it had the delay start and inverter microwave, especially the delay start. I’ve never had a problem cooking yeast rolls in any of the countertop microwave/convection ovens I’ve had until this one. Everything that is a con on the Panasonic is a pro on the Toshiba, and the reverse is true. It seems the Panasonic was designed for people who defrost, reheat prepared food and don’t actually cook from scratch, nor does it seem like it was tested in a real kitchen. The interface is more time-consuming than necessary.
Pro
Delay start
Three stage cooking (although a pain since there’s no favorite function)
Inverter microwave
Con
Expensive
Noisy
No favorite choices, no way to save a program, so if you have a 3-section program you use frequently, you have to put it all in every time. (Toshiba has three favorite options but only two-stage programming.)
Multistage programming not available with delay start
Metal pan (included) needs to be used for convection cooking
No touchpad / not enough choices (Microwave 12 min? Nope. 10 or 15. Convection 32 min? Nope. 30 or 35.)
Probably need a flashlight (and some will need a magnifier) to see button labels
Pressing button extreme amount of times for convection temp choices and have to start over if you miss the right one (14 times for 285F!)
Cake function overcooked and dried out one-layer cake (50 minutes, seriously?!)
No way to add time to convection once started
Tray doesn’t return to original position
Button to open door rather than handle (something more to break)
Designed for those who reheat or defrost, not for people who actually cook from scratch in an oven
Items cooked from scratch with the convection oven are burned on top, bottom raw
Three button presses or a button press and dial turn to microwave one minute (no one-minute button)
Fingerprint magnet
Cooling sometimes goes on longer than the actual cooking and the end beep notification doesn’t repeat so the fan running seems like cooking is still in progress
On another site Panasonic’s answer to problems is always to use the live chat on their website. I tried that for the convection oven problem and after a long wait I was told they had no information on cooking for this model! It depends on what your priorities are whether this product will work for you.
Isaac –
This is the best oven I’ve ever used. This is the best microwave I’ve ever used. It is a great air fryer and decent broiler. However, this 4 in 1 device does have an extremely high learning curve, which is why I think some people got frustrated and gave it lower ratings. Let’s put it this way, after a while of experimentation and following the instructions extremely closely, we’re able to perfectly roast a 5lb chicken in 1.5 hours crispy like KFC, bake pumpkin pie with cream brulee like crust, warm up nachos that stay crispy in a couple minutes, and BBQ skewers or cook bacon wrapped hot dogs in 30 minutes. The point is once you dial in your recipes, they are perfect each time! You can also program different microwave power and different time intervals like for warming up a bowl of soup where I warm up at 500 Watts for 5 minutes and 1000 Watts for 1 minute so that it doesn’t just leave the edges hot with cold soup in the middle.
There are a few downsides: There is a huge learning curve because the interface isn’t very intuitive and it takes time to learn how to use each accessory for the food you usually cook, so it takes time reading the manual and experimenting with different recipes. It can be difficult to clean if you wait a long time between cleanings, but there are good instructions on how to steam clean and wipe down everything. The rack did start to change color over time, especially with bacon, but the manufacture was able to reimburse us for a replacement and now we just use foil on the rack to protect it. It is a slower broiler than a toaster oven because there is only 1 heating element at the top so things like toast and skewers only get toasted on one side, but doubling the broiling time and flipping the food solves this issue. Also, we did accidently have butter explode while trying to warm up butter, so now we just microwave on low 300 Watts for a couple minutes to melt perfectly.
Despite these downsides, after the learning curve is over with, the food that comes out of this machine is perfect each time like restaurant style so it more than makes up for any inconvenience! The results are so good that I don’t even use my full sized oven or dedicated microwave anymore unless there are times where I have to bake or microwave two things at once, but that is very rare. Stick with this machine and after a little experimentation, you won’t be disappointed.
GearHead48 –
It might not do everything perfect the first time around; but everything it did was more than good enough. I’m impressed. This is a kitchen appliance worth honing your cooking skills with. The microwave alone is worth the price of admission. The inverter technology allows you to choose your exact wattage from 1000 watts down to a 100 watts or less….. giving you almost infinate control of the cooking power; not “old school” power levels that just alternated the full on duty cycles.
I was worried that some reviewers thought the controls were confusing and difficult to master; I don’t believe that for a moment now. I’m way old and caught on in just a few minutes.
I was hesitant to take the plunge on this 4-1 model…… I’m glad I did.
ken –
Overall I like the unit. I don’t think it’s as good a convection oven as my convection toaster oven (takes longer to bake something) and I don’t understand when you’re only microwaving something why it has a cool down cycle but that’s very minor. It’s pretty much my go-to oven and microwave. Only use the regular oven if the product is too big to put into the microwave.
Logical Paradox –
First, this is a great appliance. Had a Panasonic microwave for years 10+ years that worked flawlessly and would still have it except that the door opening button/mechanism broke. That’s how I ended up in the market for a new one, and Panasonic was my default first choice.
We also had an old, beat up toaster oven that lived in our pantry and we would have to drag it out and set it up on the counter to use it. It was the right tool for many jobs where a microwave just wouldn’t do the food justice: reheating pizza, poultry or fish with the skin, or pretty much anything that should be crispy. It made a super useful small oven for when I wanted to cook or heat something too small to warrant heating up the whole over (and house). As convenient as this item was, it didn’t get as much use as it would have if we had the counter space to keep it out and ready to go all the time (we don’t). So, when I saw Panasonic was making combination units like these… it was a natural fit!
When I saw this particular unit, it checked all the boxes. A microwave AND a toaster oven? Having a second mini oven just sitting out on my counter is super awesome. We use this thing all the time to roast and reheat and even do some baking. Not only is this a “toaster oven”, it’s a CONVECTION oven. This thing makes awesome chicken wings and does a great job crisping up things.
But it’s got more. It’s got a broil option and an AIRFRY option. What?
The broil is really just “toast”, but it gets the job done. Well. Some jobs. It can make toast and does “broil”, but the element is under-powered. I’ve tried broiling steaks, pork chops, etc… it never really works out how I imagine it will. I’ve had no luck getting a decent crust to form, or even anything remotely resembling a sear. This might be because the bottom plate still spins on the broil setting and this is probably because the heating element is only proving direct heat on about half space. Whatever the reasons, the result is that long before you will get good browning, the meat will be cooked through. This is disappointing to say the least. It’s actually, I would say, inferior to a standard toaster over or convection toaster oven in these use cases.
The next let down, and it is more of a mixed bag here, is the air fry function. Now, a thinking human might ask a basic question here: “what exactly is ‘airfrying’”? And the answer from what I can tell appears to be: marketing. See, if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, there no such thing as frying something with air. Frying requires fat. Now, the idea is that you can emulate/simulate/mimic the results of deep frying a food in fat by instead coating it in a thin layer of far (coat it with some oil by tossing in a bowl or use a spray) and then subjecting it to dry heat where the air is moving very fast. If that sounds a lot like convection, that’s because it is. Most air fryers have much smaller compartments that the spacious interior of this unit. That helps allow the fryer to get all the air on the inside moving quickly enough and maintain the temperature of that air even at higher temps.
On this Panasonic, the only difference that I can tell of the Air Fry mode is 2 fold: 1) supposedly the unit runs the convection fan at a higher speed/more consistently, and 2) there’s no temperature control at all. That second part is quite odd to me. I’ve not seen any other air fryer on the market without a temperature control. I guess on this unit the temperature is cranked all the way up for the Air Fry setting? It’s hard to know, you see, because neither the manual, nor the marketing materials are clear on just exactly what it’s doing differently in this mode. But, I can tell you this: it’s not a particularly effective “air frier” compared to other options out there. I don’t have first-hand experience here, I’m just going based on the many Air Frier recipes and videos I’ve tried to follow and gotten nothing close to the results promised, and in some cases the results I clearly observed in the videos (of the recipe creator who is of course using a uni-tasker air frier).
This is not to say that the air fry function on the unit doesn’t sometimes prove useful and offer good results for me—just that calling this an air frier and expecting it to stand up to dedicated air frier appliances is a bit of an overstatement. For me, this is a let down, but not a deal breaker by any means.
To summarize: f you’re looking at this because you primarily want an air frier and are intrigued that this might also eliminate your need for a separate microwave on your counter, stop now and reconsider. Or try one out first before you commit to the admittedly high price tag here. Be prepared to be disappointed and end up returning it. If, on the other hand, you are looking primarily for a great microwave and you think having the other features would be nice, then definitely consider this. Just be aware that you may still end up wanting/needing to buy a dedicated air frier if that is something that’s important to you.
This same point should be taken with the broil/toaster function. If you’re looking for something to sear cuts of meats, or if you toast bread a lot, this might not be the droid you’re looking for. If those features are just nice to haves that you think would be handy in some niche kitchen scenarios, then by all means consider this.
I hope Panasonic improves on this design and concept, because it really is a nice overall appliance. It’s great microwave (though lower power than my last Panasonic—something which I’m occasionally reminded of when reheating large items). And it’s also a great convection oven, although preheat times are slow and heat loss when you open the door to put your food in is a big issue (it’s a problem with any oven really, but the small size here makes it a bigger problem, I think). But the notion of a single appliance on your counter that can microwave, bake, roast, broil, air fry, and everything else is an awesome one. I haven’t seen any competitor bring a unit to market with a broad a set of features. The combo cook modes are especially compelling (for example it can microwave and then automatically broil to crisp something up… something it does better in theory than reality, but does work well for some kinds of things like casseroles). I could see this being especially handy in an RV, cabin, or dorm room situation. This and an Instant Pot would be all you’d need! This is welcome addition to my kitchen as is, but a 2nd gen option needs to increase the wattage on the microwave, GREATLY increase the power of the broiler, and improve the air fry feature to better serve in that role and compete with actual air friers out there.
Last note is that this thing comes with 3 accessories required for its use: a metal plate that the manual insists is required when using any of the non-microwave cook settings without ever explaining WHY this would be (it doesn’t SEEM like it should be… but I don’t know if I want to risk it to find out), a metal rack that puts the food more in the center of the oven, and a metal basket that the manual insists MUST be used when air frying and MUST NOT be used when baking/broiling etc. Again, without explaining why. What? I mean, that makes no sense. It would be really helpful, Panasonic (if you are listening), to explain to your customers the reasoning behind the instructions in cases where it’s not at all obvious. I mean, is this just a recommendation? Because it’s written as a requirement and even as a recommendation, I don’t see the rationale. I’ve used my basket in convection mode and nothing has exploded and I’ve used air fry mode with just the metal rack and it was fine… so…
This does add a bit of complexity. The controls are also somewhat non-intuitive and you’ll have to actually read the manual if you actually plan to use the many features of this thing. The different rules for which things you need to use when cooking on which modes and which things not to use on which modes seems more cumbersome than it would be if it was explained why and increases the learning curve a bit.
One last word of caution: if you are someone who uses a microwave lid (you know, those plastic covers that keep the food you’re heating from splattering inside the microwave), get rid of that. Eventually, sooner or later, you will leave that in the oven and forget it’s in there and preheat the convection oven only to find it’s melted (or worse). Since microwaves are things we have historically not had to worry about melting/combusting things, having one that is also an actual oven does require a slight shift of mindset and alertness when it comes to old habits. No one would ever leave a plastic lid in a real oven, but with a microwave one might do so without a second thought. So, yeah, just something worth consciously noting in your brain right from the get go, rather than waiting until you melt or ignite something. I, personally, am above such errors and mistakes, of course. This is in no way rooted in my own shameful “teachable moment”. Of course not.
Genessa A –
My main reason for purchasing this was because of the air fryer option. Not too long ago I purchased the Instant Pot Vortex Air Frier, it was my first air fryer and I was so excited to use it only to be disappointed. It was expensive, yet very cheaply made and required constant cleaning! Since my current microwave was old I though this would be the perfect replacement and would allow me to also get rid of the space my Vortex was taking up on my countertop! I absolutely LOVE this microwave!!! I am still learning all the different features but after a couple weeks of trying different functions out here are my thoughts:
First off, it is very pleasing to the eye! It has a nice sleek look and the inside is nice looking too. It shipped in a huge box and I thought “oh no this is too big for my space” but after unpackaging it I found it fit perfectly. Although I purchased this for the air fryer option, I have to say my favorite feature is the automatic reheat food function. You don’t have to set a time, just pop your food in and press the start button and it reheats your food to perfection!!! No having to constantly take your food out and mix it and put it back in over and over and have some parts over cooked!
For testing out the cooking functions I used recipes from the Drop App (which is very handy by the way!) I started out with the easiest one I could find, the Udon Noodle Bowl that uses the microwave function. Everything in the dish was fresh (except the pre-cook Udon noodles) and in 5 mins it was done! Next I wanted to use the air fryer option, so I made the Teriyaki Glazed Salmon. It was really easy to make and turned out great. However, the salmon was a little funny looking when I turned it over due to it laying on top of the broccoli. I also used the Combo 2 feature to make baked potatoes to go with the salmon and they turned out just like they were cooked in the oven! I was also amazed at the fact the microwave was still clean after cooking/air frying and required nothing more than a little wipe with a cloth. My Vortex would have required a complete clean down!
Now that I was feeling more comfortable with the unit, I decided to try something a little more challenging. I made the Plant Based Meat Lasagna, but I used regular ground beef since I am not a fan of plant based. This recipe uses the Combo 1, Microwave, and Convection bake functions. It sounds like a lot, but It was surprising easy. It would have turned out perfect if I had not of accidentally put my mozzarella cheese on before I was supposed to, but aside from my over cooked cheese on top it was delicious! I also air fried some chicken tenderloins and brussel sprouts.
All in all, I am very impressed. It goes beautifully with all my other stainless steel appliances and so far has been fairly easy to use. Some of the cons I have is that after every use the fan still runs for a little (I am assuming to cool it back down) which can be a little noisy and like all other stainless steel appliances you have to constantly remove finger prints from it. The air fryer basket is very large and holds a lot, but it is not the easiest to clean. I also find it a little difficult to use the air fryer for things outside the recipes in the drop app, the owner’s manual gives time guides for a handful of items like frozen foods and meats but not for vegetables. Googling air fryer times the temperature are different and this doesn’t allow you to choose air fryer temperature so I did have to play around with the timing a bit. I have provide some images of the unit and things that I have cooked. I would definitely recommend this and it would be a great unit for a college student who lives in a dorm!
Craig E. Barker –
The inverter technology is an improvement over time-based power management. My 1991 Panasonic model died in May 2024. I removed out about 47 screws and a dozen panels find the problem, the N.C. door interlock switch. The two N.O. door switches were OK. Anyway, putting it back together was Mensa test so I bought this new one. The old one had a nice light colored interior and a bright light to see what’s cookin’. I miss that.