The main advantage of a microwave oven is speed: through microwave cooking, it is possible to shorten the defrosting of food and heat and cook quickly and easily. But the defrosting function is only one of the possibilities offered. The Microwave Oven is also perfect for heating food quickly and without dirty pots unnecessarily. The complete models also allow you to cook food from scratch, thanks to advanced grill or steam cooking features.
The microwaves emitted from the oven directly hit food, ensuring uniform cooking and preserving the nutrients. In addition, many models are equipped with preset programs for cooking particular foods to simplify everything. If you are looking for a new microwave oven for your kitchen but do not know which one to choose, this guide is for you.
Table of Contents
How to choose a microwave oven: Types and Characteristics
The first thing to do is ask yourself what to use a microwave oven. A standard economic microwave oven will suffice if you are looking for a basic model to defrost food and heat leftovers from the night before.
On the other hand, if you want a complete model with additional functions to cook food from scratch in the traditional oven, you must opt for a more technologically advanced product.
In addition to the intended use, there are some important features to consider when buying:
- Power: the first factor to consider is because depending on what you are going to cook or heat and its amount it depends on how powerful the oven should be a microwave. An adjustable power allows greater versatility and control over overconsumption.
- Capacity: the capacity level of these appliances is indicated in liters and will give you an idea of how much food, solid or liquid, you can put inside them from time to time. If you are alone or in pairs, a small model will suffice, while if you have a large family, opt for a larger model to heat everything at once.
- Overall dimensions: capacity affects the dimensions of the appliance. Carefully evaluate the space. You have been available on the kitchen floor because the most advanced and capacious models can also be huge.
- Functions and programs: with or without a grill? With programs dedicated to all types of food and cooking or without? With ventilated or static cooking? These are purely personal aspects, but the more your model works, the more versatile it will be.
- Combined oven: some of the best models integrate a traditional oven’s functionality into microwaves. If you want to avoid buying two different ovens, it is worth considering this option. They are more expensive than the other models, but certainly more complete.
- Accessories: the selection also evaluated which accessories are supplied. Revolving plates, grills, crisp plates, and steamers are the most common.
Duration and Maintenance
Like the traditional oven, even a microwave oven needs periodic cleaning to guarantee efficient performance. Being an appliance that comes into contact with food, it is essential to clean the various components carefully, eliminating residues, encrustations, grease deposited on the walls, and bad smells.
It would be ideal for washing it after every use, but in the absence of time, it will be sufficient to sanitize it regularly (in the case of daily use, once a week, or every two weeks). For cleaning, you can use water, lemon, bicarbonate, or vinegar for the most stubborn encrustations or specific products for the oven.
The best microwave oven for efficiency, functions, and low consumption
Panasonic, Farberware, Westinghouse, and Samsung are among the best microwave oven manufacturers, ranging from $60 for basic models to $200 for the most advanced and complete.
To make purchasing even easier, these are the top 10 best microwave oven models on the market today for quality of performance, price, and consumption with relative characteristics, prices, and descriptions of the main features.
- 【Pre-programmed sensor menu】 for optimum heating of popular foods like pizza,...
- 【Stylish Appearance with Large Interior, fitting a 12 inch Pizza】Black, exterior, W...
- 【Other Functions】1100 watts mini microwave with 10 power settings, defrost by...
- Stylish black stainless steel with timeless design kitchen appliances; Rated voltage: 120V...
- 2Pre-programmed menu for 6 popular foods like popcorn, pizza, potato and more, also...
- One touch start - quick access to start the microwave from 1 to 6 minutes cooking at full...
- CONVENIENT MICROWAVE: Prepare quick and easy meals in a snap with our powerful microwave....
- POWERFUL SETTINGS: This microwave has ten power levels with multi-stage cooking. You can...
- PERFECT SIZE: Measuring 0.7 cu ft, this microwave is the ideal small-space solution that...
- PRE-PROGRAMMED SETTINGS: 6 presets for popcorn, potato, pizza, veggies, beverages, and...
- LOW TO HIGH HEAT: 900 watts with 10 power levels offer better heating, defrosting,...
- SAVE YOUR FAVORITE SETTINGS: Memory function saves frequently used settings to quickly...
- TWO-STEP CHILD LOCK: This mandatory feature helps prevent unintended use by younger family...
- AIR FRY MODE: Cook healthier, crispier versions of your favorite foods in less time,...
- CONVECTION MODE: Achieve crisp, golden brown results in this microwave oven with...
- CONVENIENT MICROWAVE: Prepare quick and easy meals in a snap with our powerful microwave....
- POWERFUL SETTINGS: This microwave has ten power levels with multi-stage cooking. You can...
- PERFECT SIZE: Measuring 1.1 cu ft, this microwave is the ideal small-space solution that...
- Mute function, settings, clock, kitchen timer, child safety lock, easy auto-cook...
- One touch express cooking function with 1-6 minutes and plus30 seconds functions, and two...
- Energy Saving Eco Mode: Minimizing 50% standby power by turning on ECO mode
- Panasonic Microwave: This 1200 Watt high power, 1.2 cubic foot capacity stainless steel...
- Inverter Technology with Turbo Defrost: Patented Inverter Technology generates a seamless...
- Compact Design: This countertop microwave with 13.4 inch turntable is thinner, lighter and...
- EXPRESS COOK: 6 presets for popcorn, potato, pizza, veggies, beverages, and leftovers take...
- LOW TO HIGH POWER: 1000 watts with 10 power levels to heat, defrost, cook, and more all in...
- CONVENIENT MEMORY FUNCTION: Save frequently used settings to heat your meals and beverages...
- Pre-programmed buttons for popcorn, potato, pizza, frozen vegetable, beverage and dinner...
- 900 Watts with 10 power settings, clock and kitchen timer, 30 seconds express cooking
- Large LED digital display, easy-to-read control panel, child safety lock, interior light,...
Product prices and availability are subject to change. Therefore, any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to purchasing any products.