Makes Life Easier

We originally bought this microwave for my mother-in-law as we thought it would be easy for her to use. She was quite elderly and did not eat as well as she should. We thought that at the very least she could warm up soup or frozen dinners when she was too tired to cook for herself. She did not want to have assistance like Meals on Wheels and we lived 2 hours from her.

I am not sure how much she really used this appliance, but when she had to live in a nursing home facility, we brought the microwave home. It replaced a larger, very old one we had for years. We have used it for over 4 years.

I like the smaller cabinet size and the interior was large enough for anything I wanted to heat up except for 9 x 13 containers. Actually the interior measures 11 x 13 but the flared sides of the baking dishes made them too long.

The carousel frees you from turning your dish every so often for even cooking. I say cooking, but the only things I really cook are fresh vegetables, thick bacon, and baked potatoes. Everything else is just warmed up, like soup, leftovers, coffee, rolls, or is used for thawing meats. I do not like to do that unless really necessary, as the edges of the meats get that cooked look that is not appealing before you actually cook it.

I love the beverage button. Each tap adds 30 seconds for heating up leftover coffee. A mug takes 1 minute 30 seconds. The popcorn button is great also. It has settings for the light or regular corn, although some brands might burn a few kernals if left in as long as it says.

There are many buttons for compucook, allowing you to individualize what type of food and amount of it you are cooking. Other buttons will reheat leftovers, frozen leftovers, pasta, rolls or frozen rolls-sweet rolls according to amount rather than guessing the time. One button can be programmed to reheat your bagel or whatever each morning with one touch.

What I do not like is that when cooking using compu-cook, the timer will stop
partially through and tell you to stir. If you are not near enough to hear the tiny beep, you will not have fully cooked food when you expect to as it will not begin again until you press the start button.

I just use the timed buttons and estimate on my own how long to cook or reheat. I stick my finger in the middle of the food (not very sanitary, I know) to test the temperature. If it is not hot enough, I just add more seconds.

Overall, I really like this microwave and although I could find one without so many automatic features, they would not be much less expensive. Maybe some day I will sit down with the instruction book and really learn how to use them.
Until then, I am very happy using it as I am.