Sheepsplitter

Hello all.
This weekend I did a big spring clean.
I decided to chuck my 10 year old microwave out, as it was looking tatty and I want something a bit more up to date.
Only trouble is I know even less about microwaves than I do about Kylie Minogues bedroom!!
So I'm looking for recommendations.
Over to you.
Any advice gratefully received.

imlach

Panasonics always get a good write up, but not the cheapest.

Mungo

We've had a £60 Matsui from Currys (oh the shame) for 10 years and it's been brilliant. It's not huge, but does the job fine. Doesn't have anything fancy like a grill, but then I've got a grill for grilling.

Tiggs

chucked ours in the skip 2 years ago.....would never have another. they (and george foremans grill!) are shocking things to put in a kitchen!

imlach

I'd say a microwave has more legitimate uses than a George Foreman grill
Reheating is mainly what ours is used for - the original meals were all lovingly cooked normally, but for reheating, they are useful.

fast bloke

just learn to cook instead - fresh meals from fresh ingredients - I had a chicken ding experience with a microwave in about 1986 - I can imagine no use for one other than party tricks with CD's. Those grill things are as bad - all the food without the flavour... erm I mean fat obviously

ajm

With regard to your old oven, I suggest you take a look here:

Microwave Experiments

class_A

Panasonic's "Inverter" microwaves are the daddies

OllyK

Breville microwave with browner for about £40 from Tesco's

ChrisB

So what makes a microwave so bad then Tiggs?

angrynorth

Get a combination one. Couldn't function without ours. You can use it as an oven instead but it halves the cutting time.

Harry_Boy

Another vote for Panasonic. Got a Dimension 4 'Inverter' - superb.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The Panasonics are good. We had the equivelant Sharp combi (almost identical, except for the badge)...built like a tank. Unfortunatly the keypad wore out after 18years of use (start button...typically).

The current Sharps, without paying megabucks for a commercial version are no where near as well made (lots of flimsy plastic etc.)

So we thought it wasn't woth investing in another one and bough a cheap combi...Samsung. Must admit, so far it's been quite a good little tool, Oven only takes 3mins to preheat fully!

ScoobyJawa

I've got a few year old sharp and its superb. Its a 900w micro, grill and convection oven all in one and its bloody brilliant. Has presets for common things like baked fish, frozen pizza, jacket spuds etc and does a stonking job everytime much quicker than doing it normally - highly recommended!! Also useful for dinner parties when 1 oven just isn't big enough etc

Ok - it was 150 quid a few years back but worth every penny

Faire D'Income

Hmm. That link has given me an idea. As we're about to replace our microwave for another cheapy job as it's only used for defrosting and reheating I'm keen to give the present one a good send off.

Some of those experiments look like fun but apart from not caring if I damage the magnatron, are any of them actully dangerous? The CD experiment looks fairly tame but in some of them he recommends the use of water to cool the magnatron - if I don't will it just expire or can it cause a fire?

ajm

If anything it will most likely overheat and burn out, although there is a remote risk of fire as there is of accidental irradiation or blowing up whatever you are heating, but that's all part of the fun!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Eggs...Jack Dee Style

Faire D'Income

OK, I'll probably do it outside as I don't have a very good history with the Fire Brigade.

ajm

LOL! That's what I like to see: good, sound common sense..... whilst blowing up a microwave!!!

Spoon

I assume his neighbours Chris.

Odd fúckíng lot in Henley.

Faire D'Income

LOL. I'm usually pretty brash about most things but I always feel such a plonker when I've called the Fire Brigade out. They look at me as if they've been called out to "wimmin's work" with my fires, almost as if they'd rather be fighting a proper fire rather than some hopeless effort by me.

ajm

LOL! So exactly how many times have you called them out then?

I can almost guarantee that a microwave and compact disc fuelled conflagration in your garden isn't going to improve the fire brigades opinion of you either!

I would recommend a handy bucket of water and stay within reach of the mains switch!

Faire D'Income

Even I'm not stupid enough to mix water and electricity so I'll stick to my trusty fire extinguisher from the Scoob.

I've called the Fire Brigade out four times over the years, two bedroom fires one of which was caused by an electric blanket whilst the other was due to my experimentation with petrol and a newly unblocked fire place in which I was trying to get a fire started.

In adulthood I've managed a car fire in the centre of Northampton which was impressive but caused the break up with my then girlfriend as I was too embarrassed to hang around and left her to deal with it. Then more recently, in what was a truly depressing moment, as I'd taken every precaution I thought necessary by encircling the fire with sand and water/fire extinguishers on tap plus more sand and shovels I inadvertently set fire to a tree. We had a bonfire party on which I used straw bales and diesel to get it going but unfortunately forgot to factor in the branches above the planned bonfire (to be fair, they were a good 5 metres above and not in direct line of sight) which needless to say caught light - result another engine arrives chez Faire d'Incomes.

ajm

PMSL!

ChrisB

Or maybe the rest of us are the strange ones then?

Brendan Hughes

PMSL! Ah, the age of sexual equality is truly upon us!