BUYING new microwave

Now a rice cooker is a waste of worktop space for me. It’s so simple to cook rice in a saucepan. I sometimes bring the water to a boil for a few minutes then put the lid on, turn off the heat and it’s cooked within 15/20 mins.

Monica my Dh managed to burn spinach in the microwave! A small amount does not need 10 mins microwave time! The saucepan as well as the spinach was exceedingly well cooked and I ended up buying a new MW because I could not get rid of the burnt plastic smell from inside. 🤢

Vegetables - it basically steams them - chicken, salmon, heat up milk for latte or hot choc, for one person it's invaluable. Bought a basic one as I don't like digital, just one dial for heat choice and one dial for minutes. Cheap, Curry's, Russell Hobbs.

I have a 900W Samsung microwave, it does just about everything, but, I have to study the instruction book for an hour to be able to do anything except of course defrosting or anything simple.
It was a present.

I have a microwave rice cooker. A lidded plastic container you put rice and a measured quantity of water into and then cook for a specific length time and provides perfectly cooked rice every time.

Bought a Goodman British made

Had an all singing all dancing Panasonic Combi for many years. Not only was it too bulky for my new, smaller kitchen when I moved, but I found I no longer used all the features now I live alone. I got rid of it and replaced it with a smaller Panasonic 1000w version, quite basic but with the simple features I need. Excellent! I chose Panasonic again and will do in the future as the layout of the digital panels are pretty much the same, making it easier for lazy me to switch over!

I have got a Bosch 900 watt microwave.I have had it for over three years and it hasn’t missed a beat.It’s solid metal throughout and is robust and well made. I have had cheaper makes in the past and none of them compare with this one.I wouldn’t be without it.

i recently bought a panasonic nn-e27jwm from ao.com in white as i wanted white to match my other gadgets.
it's 20 litre capacity and 800 watts - quick enough and big enough for just me.
unfortunately it's out of stock on ao.com's website but it's listed at £99. i paid extra and got them to take my old microwave away as i had no way of disposing it. and they do a next day delivery.
i'd recommend it highly as it does everything i need it to do - indeed i haven't yet explored everything it can do.

never use it for cooking meat from the beginning. Great for cooking veg and you can get it precisely as you want, not overcooked and as I live alone small amounts. I love jacket potatoes but they must be finished properly with good skin, so used to start them off in the microwave and finish in the oven. Microwave cooks from inside out, so ensures it is cooked right through and saves oven times. These days have air fryer so finish on bake in that. Good for fish especially something like smoked haddock. No fish smell lingering in the kitchen and again can be precise in amount of cooking. Also fine for single amounts of casserole etc that I have made and frozen so can choose last minute and defrost and reheat if I have just dashed in or in a rush to get out. When my back is very painful and cant stand and cook the microwave comes to my rescue with my frozen things.

Get the simplest one possible with a dial heat setting. Those with many functions never get used! less annoying beeps also. And cheaper!

Norah

Just curious. Not a debate, just a question.

Do any posters actually use a microwave? For what?

We had one, I never could work out upside to using it, I believe it moved to one of my husband's buildings (as one is there) or to a daughter.

I use mine for pre-cooking jacket potatoes, heating milk for my coffee's, re-heating left overs and vegetables and so many other things, i use it every single day. I have the most basic one you can find. i was given one this week almost new with a door that opens by gripping the door instead or pressing a button, which makes the microwave slide on the kitchen top. I love the new one, so now i have 2x 800w side by side.

We bought one in the early eighties it was a Philips model that was huge. As my husband had just joined the police I used to batch cook meals so all he had to do was put it in the microwave to reheat either when he came off an early shift or before he went out on a back shift. Plus our dogs loved scrambled eggs so it was easy to whip up a batch for them.

I bought a sharp flat bed 900w - no turntable and easier to keep clean. It’s just a microwave not combi but I found I didn’t use the comhi facility in my last one

Mine is a Sage Combi 3 in 1. It is larger than models without so many features. I bought it because of the air fry function, as I'd hoped to get rid of the enormous Ninja Foodi. In the end, I've kept (and use) both.

The Air Fryer in the microwave works well, but doesn't hold quite enough for my needs, which is why I've kept the Ninja. It's a dinner plate sized tray, about an inch deep. It's excellent for roasting vegetables and fast re-heating things that you want to keep crisp and would go soggy in a microwave, but there are no shelves to put more than one thing in at once, and there is nothing like the capacity of an Air Fry basket.

The oven feature is great, and means you don't need to heat the gas oven (which is also good in summer when you want hot food but not a hot kitchen).

The microwave has lots of features, such as softening butter or melting chocolate, and a 'Smartcook' list of items that have built-in settings. There is a 'bit longer' button which remembers the settings but gives them multiples of 30 seconds more if they food isn't cooked enough. It feels complicated at first, but you get used to it, and if people don't want to learn all the different options it's easy to operate as usual by just selecting a power level and set the time yourself.

The grill works, but doesn't have enough power - it's faster to heat up the one in the small oven whilst the dish is cooking in the combi thing.

The only thing I don't like about it is that to use the oven, grill or Air Fry options you have to use a tripod with the crisp plate on it, which means you have to keep putting it in and taking it out, depending on what you're doing.

Overall, it replicates functions that I have available elsewhere, but does some of them more efficiently in various ways. I recommend it, but I am a lover of gadgets, and enjoy learning new ways to do things.

Mine's a Hotpoint, built-in to match my oven. I use it for warming up soups and ready meals. Jacket potatoes started in the microwave bake in about half an hour in the oven. It has many functions I haven't managed to comprehend, but use it just as I would a more basic machine.

Must say I dread having to replace our ancient one - so simple, just 2 settings, defrost and cook.
Perfectly adequate!
Why they have to be so complicated now, I really don’t know.

We bought an Asda microwave and grill, 800 watt microwave, 1000 watt grill, it’s not huge, and cost £79. It’s used for defrosting; cooking fish just for me, jacket potatoes, frozen vegetables and heating up tinned veg/soups.

Witzend

Must say I dread having to replace our ancient one - so simple, just 2 settings, defrost and cook.
Perfectly adequate!
Why they have to be so complicated now, I really don’t know.

They don't have to be . There are plenty of basic models on sale. Some People (eg me!) like faffing about with gadgets though, so I'm pleased we are catered for, too.

I bought a DeLonghi AM82 800W microwave from Argos not that long ago but I hate it. The turntable keeps falling off it's stupid circular runners.

M0nica

i have just bought the cheapest one I could find that matched my kitchen decor and fitted in the space provide What else matters?

I agree, after having had all sorts of fancy combi-microwaves over the years I've settled for a really simple £50 microwave from Tesco. I keep it on a deep shelf in one of my kitchen cupboards, leaving the door open when it is in use. It does everything I need as I use an air-fryer to crisp anything that needs crisping like jacked potatoes.
I'm not sure if it is 800 or 900w but it seems to work just as fast as the very expensive microwaves that I've had in the past. If it does go wrong I'll simply replace it.
I insured the old microwaves as they were very expensive - just as well as some only lasted a couple of years.

MissAdventure

Jacket potatoes, heating up beams amd things, to save using a saucepan

Cooking a small amount of veg.

Same here. Also obviously the occasional ready meal, or reheating food the second time around, typically pasta, rice, gravy or meat sauces, heating milk for my coffee.

aggie

Porridge, scrambled eggs , vegetables, custard , sponge puddings , reheating my coffee 🤣

Oh yes, of course, porridge and home made sponge puddings.

farmgran

I had a panasonic for years until one day smoke started coming from it and I took it out and threw it on the lawn. I don't miss it!
I'm thinking of getting a rice cooker but not sure of which brand is best.

I did get a rice cooker (Sage) but found that I never used it as I can cook rice so simply using the absorbsion method in a pan on the hob.
I simply bring it to a gentle simmer, cover tightly and set the hob timer as required. The rice cooker was quite big, didn't save any time and took more cleaning than a simple pan,

Bea65

They are a time saver as yes you can heat/reheat and get on with other chores..like reading and posting on Gransnet my black microwave is about 10 years old the turntable has stopped turning and the enamel is cracking...so have looked on Amazon and other retailers like Argos and Currys but so far haven't found what I want...think I'm overthinking it

Our local Tesco normally have them in stock, mine digital, black and cost just £50.

I have a Samsung combi, which microwaves, grills and is also a convection oven. It has a clear digital display and it's not difficult to work out the instructions for each mode. I use it all the time and hardly ever need to use the main oven. I've had three of them over a period of about 25 years. The first one was a big beast and could be heated up to 250C. The second one heated to 220C. My most recent one only heats to 200C, so cooking takes slightly longer.