Live data from Hacker News

Why every microwave sucks these days

moth.monster

101–110 of 419 posts

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that that article is only about Instant Pot, and this one is (mostly) about microwaves. I for instance had no idea that a company called Midea existed, much less that it's now a near-monopoly supplier of shitty OEM microwaves to the world. Here's hoping my indestructible Toshiba keeps on ticking, since looks like Midea swallowed them too in 2016. https://www.midea-group.com/our-businesses/smart-home/toshib...

Interesting, I have a Midea white labeled window air conditioner from Costco and that thing is SUPERB. Extremely quiet, cold, smart, all around just a fantastic device. I wonder why their microwaves are so bad

Costco is not messing around when it comes to quality.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#102
post #90

We have a Panasonic NE-1258R. It's a commercial kitchen microwave oven and is built like a tank. It requires a 20amp circuit and it has no turntable because it has two magnetrons . https://www.manualslib.com/products/Panasonic-Ne1258r-Commer... Recommended.

Smart on you for getting a commercial appliance.

Residential grade appliances are quite frankly awful and really limit how well you can cook. My dream kitchen is ironically a professional one.

One of my rants are stoves. They is not get as hot as professional stoves. To overcome this, I got a Blackstone griddle that also includes a gas range. I then replaced the propane regulator with some Chinese one that lets me output ateasg 2.5x the amount of gas the stock one did.

I could probably damage it at max output but I've never tried. Instead o get up to 600* F and cooks mean steak and perfect smash burgers.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#103

The best microwave I've ever used was probably from the early 80s. It was in my maternal grandparents' house. The controls were two knobs. There were no other controls. No start button. No open-door button. Both knobs felt Very Serious. There was no spinny platter thing, but it didn't seem to really do any worse than the new ones with it—but it was easier to clean. It was pretty big for a microwave. One knob was powe…

I also remember our microwave as a kid had a power level knob. Now that property is hidden behind some combination of pressing 5 different beeping buttons that I never use

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#104

Well, my instant pot is a piece of junk. I got it ca. 2019 to replace my worn out rice cooker, and within 2-3 years the control dial failed. Now I have to spin the dial at a wide range of speeds while various pushing on, pulling on, and whispering incantations to the stupid thing. Worth making extra waste to replace? No, but it sure makes me mad that I need 90 seconds to set the cook timer.

Mine seems to detect burning about 3 mins into pressure cooking (which stops the heat). I’m fairly certain nothing is actually burning, but even if it is, there seems to be no amount of liquid I can add to get it to stop.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#106
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't Pyrex move to some cheaper glass formula? I don't use cast iron, but I heard that Lodge quality has declined a lot in recent years? Patagonia also isn't particularly high quality (I own dozens of their clothes because I like their environmental activism, but many fray out of the bag, fit poorly, have crappy zippers, etc.). Arcteryx and European brands often make much higher quality clothing. Patagonia's on par…

> I'm not sure any company can avoid this fate long term if they need to keep growing. I wonder why “if they need to keep growing” is so important to literally everyone? I’d die for a meaningful business that predictably spit out cash due to extreme customer loyalty. Why did growth itself become the prize everyone reaches for?

Same. I hate the systems we currently have.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#108
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct

I don't understand why that is dramatically better than cycling? Isn't the overall energy input into the food roughly similar over time? It's not like microwaving gives great texture or browning to begin with?

Excellent for things like melting butter or chocolate

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#109
Not to be tin foil hat, and I have no idea what I'm saying, but something just felt unnatural and wrong about microwaves, so years ago started using a toaster oven and I use it now over microwave and oven as well for toasting and baking everything. Please tell me how I'm doing it wrong my mind is open.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#110

As a chronic comparison shopper, this is a first-world problem that's near and dear to my heart. I think the reason microwaves (and appliances in general) suck is because comparison shopping is so hard. I wish I could get a list of all microwaves and filter by criteria such as: - Does the +30 seconds button start cooking immediately, or do you have to also press "start" afterwards? - Does it beep every 30 seconds aft…

I could do without the clock. How about if I do not set a time on the clock, then do not display 12:00 or anything when not in use.

Seriously. I used to have a microwave and oven stacked on top of each other. Both had an LCD, and so some horrible PMs somewhere presumably had entire sets of meetings to spec out the clock feature.

The microwave would not function if the time and AM/PM values were not set. (As far as I could tell, there was no way to actually ever see the AM/PM value after setting it!)

So. Every time the power went out, I would be confronted with blinking times on clocks I didn’t even want, and a nonfunctional microwave.

I will never buy a kitchen appliance with a mandatory clock ever again.

Post reply on HN