Experimenting with making hot sandwiches in the microwave with a device from Japan’s 3COINS

Can you really get crispy grill-marked sandwiches without the grill? It seems that everyone in the SoraNews24 editorial office is getting the bug for hot sandwiches, especially since they’re made easy just by using a microwave.

This time around it’s our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori who has got some wheaten cravings to satisfy, and so he swung by 3COINS , Japan’s affordable lifestyle brand, and picked up the Kitinto Microwave Half Hot Sand Maker for 2,750 yen (US$17.40).

The main body resembles a glasses case, and though it is made of silicone, it feels surprisingly sturdy when picked up.

Opening it up, there were metal plates inside.

Perusing the recipes in the included booklet, all of which take about three to four minutes to cook , Go skipped past offerings like the chocolate and banana sandwich.

In the end, he instead opted for a simple and classic sandwich: ham and cheese .

Go opened the body, laid down a slice of bread, and placed butter, ham, and cheese on it.

He folded it over, and closed it with the latch.

The instructions say that it supports Japan’s eight-sliced loaves, but the thicker six-sliced loaves also seem to work just fine.

All that was left to do was to stand it upright and place it in the microwave for three and a half minutes at 600 watts.

The body gets ridiculously hot, so Go was extra careful when taking it out of the microwave, and when opening it.

When he did open it, what appeared before him was a magnificent hot sandwich, with the cheese still bubbling furiously in the places where it was exposed.

Go’s expectations soared, and when he took a bite… So delicious! The surface of the bread was crispy, and the insides piping hot.

Go felt that if someone were not told that it was made in a microwave they never would have expected it.