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Why every microwave sucks these days

moth.monster

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Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#321

Post by crazygringo »

appplication wrote: post #319
crazygringo wrote: post #310

There's a big innovation I'm looking for in microwaves and I simply do not understand why nobody sells it yet: An interior IR sensor/camera that will cycle/adjust power until my food is fully cooked to a certain temperature but not above it. I don't want to pick a duration and I don't want to pick power levels and I don't want hot spots and I don't want to have to check the food every 30 seconds or 3 minutes or whate…

I have had a less technologically forward gripe with microwaves. The start button should not exist. Number pads should not exist. There should really only be one main button that you press: “quick cook/add 30” that auto starts it. No one has a valid use case for setting their microwave to run for 1:37. Multiples of 30 are all the granularity you need. Some companies get this right but others it’s astounding how many…

+30 seconds quick start is pretty common already on microwaves.

But it doesn't cover all use cases -- I regularly cook things for e.g. 15 minutes at 10% power, to defrost and warm them evenly. That's one of the main thing I use my microwave for, actually.

I don't want to have to hit +30 thirty times in a row. If it's digital, I'm gonna need a number pad.

I would be perfectly happy with clearly labeled time and power knobs, however -- but I'm not sure it's easy to make a knob that works accurately and intuitively for both 30 seconds and 30 minutes.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#322

Post by SAI_Peregrinus »

crazygringo wrote: post #321
appplication wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a less technologically forward gripe with microwaves. The start button should not exist. Number pads should not exist. There should really only be one main button that you press: “quick cook/add 30” that auto starts it. No one has a valid use case for setting their microwave to run for 1:37. Multiples of 30 are all the granularity you need. Some companies get this right but others it’s astounding how many…

+30 seconds quick start is pretty common already on microwaves. But it doesn't cover all use cases -- I regularly cook things for e.g. 15 minutes at 10% power, to defrost and warm them evenly. That's one of the main thing I use my microwave for, actually. I don't want to have to hit +30 thirty times in a row. If it's digital, I'm gonna need a number pad. I would be perfectly happy with clearly labeled time and power…

> but I'm not sure you can really make a knob that works accurately for both 30 seconds and 30 minutes.

Not terribly difficult. An encoder and software to handle "acceleration". Move the knob slowly, and it steps by a small amount (say, 30s). Move the knob quickly, and it jumps by more per degree of change. My main camera lens's focus works like this, and it's great. This does require care in implementation, getting the acceleration curve right is hard.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#323

Post by eszed »

rrr_oh_man wrote: post #192
eszed wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ours does that. I never touch any of the (indeed useless) Potato / Popcorn / Soup (yes, soup... What?) buttons, but the instant-on time-interval buttons are lovely . It's "Magic Chef", for those of you who are curious. We didn't buy it (came with the house), and I'm not pulling it off the shelf to look for a model number on the back (I moved the vinegar bottles next to it, and there's no sticker on that side, nor the…

> Soup (yes, soup... What?) Actually, yeah! The "soup" setting nukes it in such a way that you don't get a scolding hot bowl + top layer of soup, while everything else stays cold. (Mostly by spinning the tray and heating it in a burst-like pattern, I think) I still would rather just cover the dish with another bowl, which achieves a better & faster result.

Huh! TIL. That said, I've heated a lot of soup - without using the "Soup" button, mind - and not experienced the problem you describe.

IANAMS (I Am Not a Microwave Scientist), but observationally it seems to me that bowl material has most to do with microwave results. I have a few bowls (and mugs) I never use in the microwave, because they seem always to get hotter than their contents. Later, I'll try one of them on "Soup" to see if it makes a difference.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#324

Post by Fatnino »

appplication wrote: post #319
crazygringo wrote: post #310

There's a big innovation I'm looking for in microwaves and I simply do not understand why nobody sells it yet: An interior IR sensor/camera that will cycle/adjust power until my food is fully cooked to a certain temperature but not above it. I don't want to pick a duration and I don't want to pick power levels and I don't want hot spots and I don't want to have to check the food every 30 seconds or 3 minutes or whate…

I have had a less technologically forward gripe with microwaves. The start button should not exist. Number pads should not exist. There should really only be one main button that you press: “quick cook/add 30” that auto starts it. No one has a valid use case for setting their microwave to run for 1:37. Multiples of 30 are all the granularity you need. Some companies get this right but others it’s astounding how many…

In the 90s we had a microwave where the only control surface was a knob like an egg timer. Turn the knob, oven goes whirrrr, knob winds down, goes ding, oven turns off.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#325

Post by lazide »

thfuran wrote: post #263
ericpauley wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I suspect for electric ranges they've historically used relays instead of solid state triacs or the like?

[https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/279752/why-a...]

If so, relays have significant switching times and limited cycle counts due to arcing - especially under load. Enough that sub-second switching times will wear them out pretty quickly, and also be annoyingly loud.

At the power levels we're talking about for a resistive stove, solid state is expensive. At the voltages we're talking about, it's also not trivial to do in a reliable way using solid state techniques (240V RMS =~ 340V peak).

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#326

Post by SAI_Peregrinus »

cassianoleal wrote: post #252
kevincox wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention having to update the time every DST transition otherwise you have a wrong clock which is worst than no clock at all.

I usually set such clocks to some random time that's so off you would never mistake it for the real thing.

I tend to set non-TZ-aware/non-NTP clocks to UTC.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#327

Post by ProllyInfamous »

POWER [setting on microwaves] -user, reporting:

I just purchased an air fryer [which has greatly reduced my microwave usage, generally]. I specifically purchased the unit because it had analogue controls, including dual twist-dials (one for time, one for temperature).

As an added bonus, it has a single "DING" from an actual mechanically-struck bell... and it cost 1/3rd of the digital [controls] model I had initially considered purchasing.

To not leave anybody "hanging," the air fryer I purchased was the in-store Mainstays [WalMart] cheapo unit, which air-fries for one.5 PERFECTLY.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#328

Post by appplication »

Fatnino wrote: post #324
appplication wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a less technologically forward gripe with microwaves. The start button should not exist. Number pads should not exist. There should really only be one main button that you press: “quick cook/add 30” that auto starts it. No one has a valid use case for setting their microwave to run for 1:37. Multiples of 30 are all the granularity you need. Some companies get this right but others it’s astounding how many…

In the 90s we had a microwave where the only control surface was a knob like an egg timer. Turn the knob, oven goes whirrrr, knob winds down, goes ding, oven turns off.

There’s this sort of perennial tragedy to perfectly simple consumer devices. They never last long until v2 comes out with more LEDs and buttons.

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#329

Post by korse »

Fatnino wrote: post #324
appplication wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a less technologically forward gripe with microwaves. The start button should not exist. Number pads should not exist. There should really only be one main button that you press: “quick cook/add 30” that auto starts it. No one has a valid use case for setting their microwave to run for 1:37. Multiples of 30 are all the granularity you need. Some companies get this right but others it’s astounding how many…

In the 90s we had a microwave where the only control surface was a knob like an egg timer. Turn the knob, oven goes whirrrr, knob winds down, goes ding, oven turns off.

This is the way. I'd probably do four controls though.

Higher end CNC-esque jog dial for control. ex. http://pico-systems.com/images/pendant.jpg (10th of a second increments maybe. Sometimes putting in 3 seconds to warm a tablespoon of syrup is useful or 24 seconds to warm your teacup).

Momentary switch to start.

Seven segment display array for time setting and countdown.

Sound cue to let you know when countdown has finished. Disabled via a prominent toggle switch. I'd say annunciator to keep with the industrial terminology but...

Re: Why every microwave sucks these days

#330

Post by Aloha »

spoonjim wrote: post #123
Aloha wrote: post #120

I have a fancy GE Microwave, its a built in, over the stove job, that is also a convection oven (a lousy one perhaps), but when used in hybrid convection cook mode, its pretty spiffy. The boyfriend does not like using it with the moisture sensor active (he strongly likes to cover his food with a lid, to prevent splatter), but I find just a paper towel is good enough for me - and when left to its normal pre-programmed…

You have a wife and a boyfriend?

Yes.

I'd never expected to be in a poly thing, but it works for us.

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