Reviews You Can Rely On

How We Tested Microwave Ovens

Thursday August 15, 2024

When exploring your options in the world of kitchen appliances, you can easily end up overwhelmed with all the choices on the market. Our aim is to demystify the options and make your decision easier. We bought the top microwaves currently available and put them through the wringer to see which model came out on top. Our testing process is split into four different metrics, with a handful of sub-tests in each metric.

microwave - in our heating tests, we used a laser infrared thermometer to...
In our Heating tests, we used a laser infrared thermometer to measure for consistent temperature across the food surface area.
Credit: Laura Casner

Heating


For our heating metric, we looked at how well each product heated up different types of foods and how quickly and evenly they heated using a pair of side-by-side tests. We used a plate of breakfast sausage, green beans, and potatoes to represent a plate of leftovers, a bowl of canned soup, and two slices of pizza as our test food items. Each was heated according to instructions for the power level for each microwave and then scores were determined based on temperature readings across each type of food. For the mixed plate of leftovers, we looked at the range of temperatures across each type of food, how closely the temperature of each type of food was to the others, and if all three were warmed enough to serve.

microwave - the nostalgia yields different temperatures for different foods, so...
The Nostalgia yields different temperatures for different foods, so it's not great for leftovers.
Credit: Laura Casner

To measure and compare how quickly each product heated up food, we took 125 ml of water in a beaker in each microwave and ran them for 45 seconds, comparing the temperature increase after being heated, to award points.

We ranked and rated the evenness and consistency of heating by spreading out a thin layer of marshmallow fluff on a piece of parchment paper cut to the size of the turntable. It was then heated for 2 minutes.
microwave - we found some very uneven heating with the toshiba em925a5a in our...
We found some very uneven heating with the Toshiba EM925A5A in our heat map test.
Credit: Laura Casner

We wanted to see even browning across the marshmallow, without any raw or burned spots.

We used multiple thermometers to test the evenness of heating.
Credit: Abriah Wofford

Frozen Foods


For our frozen foods metric, we used three types of prepared food to test performance: Hot Pockets, a frozen burrito, and an individual serving of lasagna. For each test, we used a series of instant-read digital kitchen thermometers to compare the thermal gradient throughout each type of food.

We also checked to ensure that each type of food reached the recommended serving temperature.

microwave - we found that one side was just a tiny bit cooler than the rest...
We found that one side was just a tiny bit cooler than the rest during our Panasonic NN-SB458S heat test.
Credit: Laura Casner

Defrosting


We used a one-pound block of frozen ground turkey for this metric, attempting to defrost it according to the instructions for each microwave. After the conclusion of the defrosting cycle, we scraped off all the completely thawed meat and weighed it to determine scores. We also deducted points if any of the turkey was prematurely cooked.

microwave - the comfee left much of the ground beef still frozen.
The Comfee left much of the ground beef still frozen.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw

Ease of Use


Our last round of tests scored and compared how user-friendly and easy to use each microwave is, including how effective the preset functions are using the popcorn button as our test options.

We used each device on its popcorn setting to see which ones gave us the best result.
Credit: Matt Lighthart

We started by looking at the interface for each appliance, specifically if they have a +30 seconds button that automatically start the microwave and if they have one-touch features. For example, if you hit the “2” button, does it automatically put two minutes on the clock and start it.

microwave - the panasonic nn-sb458s doesn't have quite as many convenience...
The Panasonic NN-SB458S doesn't have quite as many convenience features as some of the others.
Credit: Laura Casner

We then looked at the internal lighting while the food is being cooked. Looking for a well-lit interior to easily monitor your food while being cooked. How easily each product slid around on a smooth countertop when opening the door or hitting buttons. We were looking for products that easily remained in place with normal use.

Microwaving popcorn is merely one of the dozens of individual tests we conducted on each unit. This test evaluates how much of the popcorn burned and how many kernels remained in the bag.
Credit: Abriah Wofford

Finally, we assessed the popcorn preset function by making a bag of popcorn in each microwave. Scores were based on the number of kernels that remained unpopped and whether any were burned.

microwave - the popcorn preset on the nostalgia left a decent number of kernels...
The popcorn preset on the Nostalgia left a decent number of kernels un-popped.
Credit: Laura Casner