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Why every microwave sucks these days

moth.monster

261–270 of 419 posts

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#261

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 compare washing machines for a long time before i decide on which on is best suited for my needs ... then again, though, i have used hundreds of different washing machines in my life and i can't remember even single time having been unsatisfied with the cleanliness.

my conclusion: it often doesn't really matter.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want a microwave with an analog dial for time and a switch for low, med, high. They can keep the computer.

Decades ago, my college microwave was an ~800 watt unit that had a large, analog dial, and an actual bell that dinged once (and only once) when it was done. That's it, no other settings. Zero displays, other than the pointer on the dial as it clicked down. I still miss it.

I bought one like this on Amazon. Dial for power, dial for time, one ding. I forget how many watts, I think 800 or 1k.

The dials feel cheap, but it's fine.

I was tired of pushing buttons and setting clocks. I don't want everything to be a gizmo.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The cycle time is too long for sensitive items like butter. Even at low power it will bubble over before it fully melts.

A lot of electric ranges do the same thing, which is incredibly annoying. I mean, the 60 Hz is right there; why are they blasting in 10 second intervals?

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#264

I wanted a table top oven, my flat doesn't have room to have a built in one. At the shops it was impossible to find simply an oven. Everything was some kind of oven, rotisserie, smoker, steamer, microwave, air fryer contraption. They all wanted 500+ euros for the honour of owning such a device. There were no knobs or buttons. Only a touch interface with dozens of icons with no description as to what they did. And whe…

I could do without all the food preset and "AI" crap that they seem to like adding, but convection is nice, and steam is a great add too.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#265
post #30

As soon as you open the site in Chrome it complains that my browser is stalking me (I know and don't care) and that this site does not work with it. So I closed it. More annoying than my browser's stalking habits is the assumption that one knows best and can decide for others what they should be using. This is the first time I see something like that. Hope it's the last too.

Enjoy you advertiser-driven web.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#267
post #14

Got a Breville recently, seemed like the only units that weren't the same as every others out there... Not sure it's more durable, but at least it's super quiet, I can mute beep sounds, I can change time and power while food is cooking, and it's got a stainless interior so there's no cheap paint that'll start falling off after a few months.

Are you in Australia? Breville in Aus is a different brand to Breville here in the UK (and possibly other places). UK Breville is mostly known for sandwich toasters and fairly cheap commodity kitchen appliances, Aussie Breville seems like a fairly high quality brand, especially with their espresso machines (which are sold over here under the brand name Sage - I have one and love it).

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#268
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Samsung microwaves, although with good build quality, are notorious for having a very bad UX. - The buttons don't give have tactile feedback. - Setting time is very confusing. - You have to press multiple buttons just to start. - If you want to cancel/clear timer, you have to press multiple buttons again.

How is Samsung so bad at software in every single division they own? It's amazing.

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Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#269
post #209

Samsung, Panasonic, Siemens, LG, Toshiba, Sharp all have microwaves on offer. Are they all made by Midea? Seems unlikely. The diversity of models, sizes, prices is striking when searching online.

Toshiba, given Midea bought their home appliance division, yes:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-17/china-s-m...

Looking through amazon, all the most basic models at a ~$80 to $110 price point really look almost identical beyond a basic facelift. They nearly all have a power and timer knob, the same stamped steel internal and side panels and roughly the same max power. At most, you see different generations.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#270
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 ou…

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