Do you want to know immediately which model we have chosen? Our winner is: Toshiba Microwave Oven with Sound On/Off ECO
With the invention of the Microwave Oven, we have changed the way we cook and heat food.
Initially, they were not meant for the preparation of complicated foods but their use was only to heat the food.
Instead, thanks to technology, a microwave oven allows the most varied types of food through different cooking methods.
Due to its compact design and ease of use, it’s often purchased as a real substitute for traditional built-in ovens. It plays a big role in the modern domestic kitchen.
Why Use A Microwave
Microwave oven offers a long list of advantages over traditional cooking and there are several reasons that make it a good investment. The main ones are:
- Rapidity: it acts in a very short time, so it is possible to cook any food, even frozen, with unthinkable speed. Lunch can be ready in a few minutes, for the benefit of the time that today is an increasingly valuable asset.
- Practicality: for cooking it is possible to use a container made of glass, ceramic, pyrex, porcelain and so on. If you do a quick search in which accessories can be used, you will find a wide overview of what can be inserted in the oven.
- Economy: the cooking speed is higher than that of a normal oven and this allows you to save on your electricity bill. Moreover, foods can be cooked and served in the same dishes so you have fewer pots and pans to wash.
- Safety: a microwave oven is completely safe because safety devices prevent it from operating when the door is open. Furthermore, there are no flames or gas inside it, so there is no heat.
- Nutritional properties: foods cooked in the microwave oven remain unchanged both in appearance and in the organoleptic characteristics. The rapidity of cooking does not disperse the vitamins and mineral salts contained in fruit and vegetables. The same goes for meat proteins, eggs, and fish.
How It Works
When we activate the microwave function, a special tube called “magnetron” is activated and produces microwaves. These, bounce all over the cavity and influence the stillness of the water molecules present in the food.
The water molecules begin to oscillate up to produce about 2,500 oscillations per second (2,5 GHz). Reaching this speed, water, fats, and carbohydrates absorb microwave energy in a process called “dielectric heating”. The resulting friction produces heat which cooks the food.
This video gives a nice explanation of how microwave ovens work.
How To Choose A Microwave Oven
There are different features to consider when choosing your best Microwave Oven. Let’s have a look at the most important ones.
Types
The first factor to consider when choosing a microwave oven is the cooking method available and the respective power. Let’s see below what cooking methods you can find:
- Simple microwave oven: these come in many sizes, they are cheap and usually used for reheating food or preparing simple snacks
- Microwave plus grill: the food cooks with microwaves and is browned thanks to the activation of the resistance in alternating phases. The resistance can be retractable or serpentine and allows you to get a delicious “crunch effect”. This method is perfect for cooking meat as it allows liquids to be left inside
- Convection oven: this technology, in addition, uses a fan to get air movement and cook food from the inside out. It’s perfect to bake and roast things slowly.
- Steam: usually this particular model belonging to a high price range. The action of microwaves creates steam inside the cooking cavity and thus allows food to be cooked.
Programs And Controls
With a good number of programs, the use of the oven is much easier. Many microwaves integrate a series of preset programs that help you to cook food, heat, defrost and so on. Advanced microwave ovens cook food according to food weight and automatically select the power to be used.
Other important features are:
- Security lock: many ovens don’t let you activate them inadvertently. A very useful feature if you have children in the house.
- Acoustic signals: signal at the end of cooking (not all turn off independently).
- Rotating plate lock: the rotation of the plate allows the food to cook more evenly. But in some case, it is better to have the plate locked
- Bad smell remove: eliminates bad smells from the cavity;
- Steam cleaning function: clean the oven thanks to the aid of steam;
- Stand-by display: put the display in standby if not used for long periods of time.
- Touchscreen: simple to clean and usually have some extra digital features.
Design And Dimensions
The dimensions are almost always connected to the internal capacity of the cooking cavity, which can vary depending on the models.
The choice between a more or less spacious microwave is subjective, as it is linked to the space available in the kitchen and to the number of people for whom cooking is necessary.
Materials
Both external and internal materials are essential when it comes to safety, robustness, stability, and durability over time.
It’s better to prefer solid materials like steel and always check that the door closes well.
Accessories
Depending on the use you want to make of the microwave oven, it is important to see which accessories your model is supplied with. A typical list of accessories to consider is:
- Roller ring: this is used to support the turntable.
- Turntable: the main cooking surface that can be easily removed for cleaning.
- High rack, Low rack: to be placed on the turntable, it can be used to cook two dishes at the same time.
- Crusty plate: it is used to brown food. It is used to keep food crispy.
The Best Microwave Ovens For Home Use: Top Reviews
To help you choose the best microwave oven for your use, we have examined different models of different brands.
For each of them, we have created a list of pros and cons that we recommend you read carefully.
Panasonic Microwave Oven NN-SN936B
The Panasonic Microwave Oven with 1250 watts of power and a capacity of 2.2 cubic feet, offers a continuous cooking flow for uniform cooking and a delicious taste.
A cool feature is the advanced Inverter Turbo Defrost that speeds up defrosting time. To this characteristic is added the Keep Warm Feature: that keeps soups, sauces or sweets hot and ready until the time of being served.
A great combination in case you have family members who arrive home at different times.
The compact design of the Panasonic NN-SN651B unit devotes less space to electronics and provides far more interior capacity. It fits neatly on countertops.
Pros
– 14 auto-cook options
– Short cook time
– Good interior capacity
– Turbo Defrost feature
Cons
– Quite a lot of buttons to use
– Closing door not very robust
Toshiba Microwave Oven with Sound On/Off ECO
In case you want to have something ready to eat fast, this Toshiba Microwave Oven is the one for you.
A cool feature is that this microwave senses the amount of steam produced during cooking, and automatically adjusts for optimal results.
There are Quick-Touch preset buttons for commonly microwaved foods like pizza, potato, popcorn and more. Press one of the pre-programmed buttons and the microwave settle according to the kind of food.
This model can be turned on for 1 to 6 minutes at 100 percent power by simply touching the number of minutes you need. The user interface in its entirety is well thought out and simple to use.
A unique feature of this microwave oven is the 50% reduction in power if the ECO mode is activated in standby. Toshiba has well thought out how to save you money on your electricity bill and help the planet.
Using this microwave in maximum safety is not a problem at all. You can stop the microwave at any time by pressing the red Stop button if you see something strange and it is also equipped with a child safety lock to avoid unpleasant situations.
Pros
– 10 power levels
– DIfferent pre-programmed
– Clock
– Kitchen timer
– Large digital display
– Black Stainless Steel exterior
– Possibility to deactivate the microwave buzzer
Cons
– BEEP sound is quite high
Sharp Microwave ZSMC0912BS
This Sharp Microwave with a compact and modern design is ideal for snacks, beverages, frozen food and reheating. Thanks to its small size it can be placed anywhere in your kitchen.
The microwave has a modern style, composed of brushed stainless steel finish and scratch-resistant glass. You can control your settings by a touch button display with a blue led light.
Its 900 watts of power give you rapid reheating and fast cooking. For better cooking management there are 11 different power levels.
Pros
– Easy to clean
– Useful automatic settings
– 11 power levels
– Convenient popcorn, Beverage and reheat settings
– Time defrost and auto defrost
Cons
– Plastic over the buttons is delicate
– It tends to move when you pull the handle
Farberware Black FMO16AHTBSA Microwave Oven
The Farberware FMO model comes with 1300 watts of cooking power. It comes with 10 power levels allow you to adjust from 10% to 100%. It stores your preferred cooking settings in its internal memory and the multi-stage cooking functionality adjusts cooking level allowing for the perfect finish.
This microwave oven not only has big power to meet all types of cooking requirements, but it also has custom settings to handle the most challenging food preparation. With all the built-in options it’s easy to cook, fry and steam allow your meals without compromising taste.
It has an intuitive digital interface with 1-3 minute express cooking and a +30 seconds button. The LED display shows the cooking timer.
Pros
– 10 power levels
– Multi-Stage Cooking
– Energy saver mode
– Defrost by time or weight
– Smart sensor
Cons
– No in-depth manual instruction
– A little bit noisy
COMFEE’ EM720CPL-PMB Countertop Microwave Oven
This Comfee Countertop Microwave Oven has many user-friendly features. It is possible to turn off all the acoustic sounds and the child safety lock prevents children or others from using the microwave.
There are useful one-touch buttons that let you cook in an easy way popcorn, potato, pizza, frozen vegetables, or reheat a beverage/dinner plate.
The large LED display shows a kitchen timer as well as the cooking time remaining.
There are different smart Cooking options like:
- one-touch express cooking for up to six minutes
- pre-programmed cooking for common foods
- time/power level cooking.
- defrost by time or weight, depending on your needs.
Pros
– Turn of all the beeps (sound button)
– 11 power settings
– Removable glass turntable
– Compact size
– Different defrost type
– LED digital control panel
– Interior light
Cons
– With 700 watts sometimes need to reheat longer
Our Pick
There are several models available in the market, so finding the right microwave oven model in terms of space and performance may seem quite complicated.
We have analyzed 5 different models and our preference is without a doubt the Toshiba Microwave Oven with Sound On/Off ECO.
We like the stainless steel silver design, handle design, and the easy single push-button start feature. All the buttons are very good spaced compared to other models. The internal LED light is very useful during night operations.
Another plus is the possibility to deactivate beeper and when necessary turn it back on. This is a wonderful feature for those who don’t want to disturb a sleeping person or baby.