Microwave Oven Buying Guide – 10 Important things to know before buying Microwave Oven
Microwave Oven Buying Guide
In this microwave oven buying guide, First we are going to see what is microwave oven and how it works. Also you will learn lots of things about microwave oven in this guide. So do not skip any parts and read the full article. Lets jump into the guide.
1. What is microwave oven?
An enclosed chamber with a heat source inside is called as oven. Here if the heat source is microwaves, then it is called microwave oven. Electromagnetic waves passes through the food and it cooks the food. In this kind of cooking food cooks faster than the traditional ovens.
2. How microwave ovens are working?
Inside the metal box, there is a microwave generator called magnetron. When turn on the magnetron, it converts the electricity into high powered radio waves. Magnetron sends these waves into the cooking chamber through a wave guide.
These waves are reflected by the metal walls (stainless steel) many times. Now we assume that the chamber full of high powered radio waves. If there is a food inside the chamber, it cooks by the waves which produced by the magnetron.
Waves penetrate the food, and vibrates the food molecules. While vibrating the molecules, it hits the another neighboring molecule. Here the heat energy is produced through friction by hitting another molecule. Produced heat is now cooks the food.
Waves cannot cover all the food area, so the turntable turns the food and makes the food cook evenly. We hope you understand how the microwave ovens working. Well, What are all the types of microwave oven available in India?
3. Types of Microwave Oven
Solo Microwave Oven
Solo Microwave Oven has only one source of heating element which is microwaves. In this solo microwaves we can make rice, noodles, pasta, reheat the food, defrost etc.
Grill Microwave Oven
Grill Microwave has the same functionality as described in the solo microwave, but additionally it has the heating coil in top. So, we can grill the food using this oven. Also, we can combine microwave and heater element for fast cooking.
Convection Microwave Oven
Convection is nothing but the hot air. It circulates around the food inside the chamber. It has 3 heating sources. Microwave+Grill+Convection.
Convection microwave has all the required elements to cook all kind of foods. So, we can call it as multi-purpose oven. But it has only single heating coil on the top. We can me cakes, cookies, pizzas, defrosting, reheating, simple cooking and grilling.
Solo vs Grill vs Convection Microwave Oven
| Items | Solo Microwave | Grill Microwave | Convection Microwave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Re-Heat Food |  |  |  |
| Defrosting |  |  |  |
| Milk, Tea,Coffee, Rice, noodles, Pasta |  |  |  |
| Grill, Kebab, Tikka, Tandoori |  |  |  |
| Bake Cake,Bread, Brownie and Pizza |  |  |  |
Few best microwave ovens to choose
4. What is the Microwave Oven power level? Which unit to measure?
Generally the power output levels of the microwave ovens are measured in watt. Each ovens are mentioned them in different ways, but the output levels of the microwave ovens are in watts. For example, Some ovens are mentioned 1 to 10. Here the scale of 1 to 10 is low to high. Some microwave ovens are mentioned from 10 to 100(Percentage). If it is a 900W oven, 100 means 900W.
In few models, they have mentioned the wattage itself. i.e, 100 to 900. In some other model, it is mentioned as low, medium, high. So basically, if the wattage decreases, it is considered as low power, and the cooking time increases.
Power level changes according to the size of the microwave oven. Most Indian microwave ovens range from 700 to 900 for daily routine usage.
5. Models of Microwave Oven
Apart from India, There are variety of models available to choose. When comes to India, there are limited models only available. Here there are 2 major models available, 1. Counter top (Most popular), 2. Built-in.(Less familiar).
Counter top
The counter top models are so popular in India because of our life style and usage. Also it is cheaper than the Built-in models. Easy to change its position. It is more compact. No need to allocate space specifically for the the oven, it can fit in any small space on your counter.
Buil-in Microwave Oven
Built-in Microwave oven gives great look to your kitchen. Seamless design fits any type of cupboard. These microwave ovens are costlier than the counter top microwave ovens. Cannot move once it is fixed. So preplan needed before doing the modular kitchen works. These ovens are comes with larger capacity than the counter top.
6. Capacity of Microwave Oven
In this microwave buying guide, next we are going to see which capacity to choose for your kitchen. To understand better we have given a chart below.
Capacity choosing guide
Family Members | Solo Microwave | Microwave + Grill | Convection Microwave |
|---|---|---|---|
1 or 2 | 17L - 20L | 17L - 20L | 20L - 25L |
3 to 4 | 20L - 25L | 20L - 25L | 25L - 28L |
5 and above | Above 25L | Above 25L | Above 28L |
This capacity recommendation is just for your reference. It depends on other factors like, what we are going to cook, how frequent we are cooking how much we are cooking.
Reviiew.in team suggest to get the best size for all is 25L – 28L. Also if buying a multi-purpose oven called convection microwave oven will be a best choice.
7. Cavity material of Microwave Oven
In this microwave buying guide, next we are going to see cavity material of the microwave oven. There are 2 types of cavity materials available in the microwave oven. 1. Stainless steel, 2. Ceramic enamel.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel is good conductor, so basically it transfer the heat fast, also reflective capability of the stainless steel is more. This is why 90% of the microwave ovens are made with stainless steel. But in the longer run, if not maintaining well, corrosion occurs.
Ceramic Cavity
Ceramic cavity is good for non-sticky property. So it is easy to clean. Maintenance also less, also it last longer than the stainless steel. But it will take little longer to heat inside the oven. Only few models only available with the ceramic cavity.
8. Which utensils to use?
In this microwave buying guide, next we are going to see which utensils are suitable for microwave, grill and convection.
Utensils to use
| Cookware Type | Microwave | Grill | Convection | ||
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Whenever you shopping for OTG or Microwave oven, carefully check whether it is Oven safe or Microwave safe. Some utensils are mentioned as Oven and microwave safe. So you can consider them. Don’t use any metals in microwave mode (particularly sharp metals). Apart from this, we can use some kind of papers like parchment paper or butter paper.
9. Microwave Oven vs OTG Oven
In this microwave buying guide, next we are going to see which oven is better. Actually microwave and OTG are different heat source, so what we are going to consider for this comparison is Convection Microwave vs Convection OTG Oven. See the difference between Convection microwave oven and Convection OTG Oven.
Convection Microwave vs Convection OTG Oven
| Specifications | Convection Microwave | Convection OTG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
We hope this chart will helps you to choose the best one amongst these two kind of ovens.
10. Modern feature of Microwave Oven
In this microwave buying guide, next we are going to see what are all the latest features available in microwave oven.
Smart Oven
Now a days the technology growing rapidly, so all of our gadgets are changing to smart. In smart microwave oven, you can connect your oven with your smart phone to control the oven, get alerts about the food and etc.
Rotisserie
This function gives your convection microwave oven as an all rounder performer. Only few models giving this feature in the convection microwave ovens.
Child Lock
Child lock is default in all the microwave ovens. So no need to look this feature while buying.
Auto-Cook menu
Digital Display
While choosing the microwave oven, check whether the smart display or digital display available. Digital display gives you clear picture of what is happening inside your microwave oven.
In this microwave oven buying guide, we have covered almost everything as a customer point of view.If anything missed out, or if you have any doubts regarding the microwave oven please comment on this article. Also if you think this is useful, then share with your circles. Thanks for reading!!
