advice on above range microwave oven

[dermacie]

I am looking to get a new microwave and thinking about getting an above range unit. I have never had an above unit microwave and would most likely need to install an outlet because there isn't one just a range hood right now.

Any advice on what to buy?

 

[mattl]

Lower end units and all pretty much the same, 1000-1100 watts, generic functions, reheat, potato, popcorn so on.  Some have recessed turntable, some not, I prefer recessed.  all will have pretty anemic exhaust fans.  As you move into the mid $200 range you will find non-stick interiors - a BIG plus in my book, higher CFM fans and a few more options and a bit better build quality.  When you move into the mid $300s you can get convection combo units - operate as an oven and a microwave.

 

I've had 3 or 4 over the last 30 years and liked all of them, never want a microwave on my counter.  I swapped out the last one to get a convection unit.  I use it , but not as much as I had thought.  I keep my old one in the garage and use it occasionally.  It had a non-stick interior and they newer unit has stainless - a real pain to keep clean. One thing I strongly suggest is to vent it outdoors if at all possible.  All can be set up to recirculate, most offer charcoal inserts to deal with odors, but they have to be replaced regularly and can get expensive.

 

[vacerator]

Derek,

They all have recirculating, or external venting option. You remove two screws, and rotate the squirrel fan housing accordingly. I think they are all fairly reliable.
I have installed two myself.
Charcoal filters are available if you wish for recirculation venting.
Channeling through a soffit above a cabinet is not recommended. Possible fire hazard, and likely not code in many places.
Routing through an exterior wall yes, or an attic to a roof vent also, but subject to snow clogging.
Do not just hang a flexible vent hose from the underside of the roof near a roof vent. I've seen mold grow on one.
My house had a Kenmore in it that was about 5 years old. It died a year later.
I replaced it with a GE Profile made in Korea in 1996, and it was still working when we remodeled in 2011. The new one is also a GE. Most are made in China now. No problems yet. Our kids have a new LG with a telescoping vent. It's smaller inside. It blows the circuit breaker, but I doubt it's the oven. I think LG makes them for GE. An electrician installed it, and checked the house power and wiring out. Maybe it needs a 20 amp circuit and is on a 15 amp?? Do your homework first.
Then there are the Advantium's with halogen and microwave cooking. A few models are 220 volt. Pricey also.

 

[dermacie]

microwave

The bag part about the hood is this microwave and range are not near an exterior wall and it is recirculating. I didn't realize they make nonstick interiors and will definitely look for one.

 

[kb0nes]

If you haven't had an over the range microwave before it is good to pay attention to a few things.

Be sure that the microwave won't crowd the stovetop too much. My kitchen cabinets were never designed for an over the range microwave so I kinda wish for a few inches more clearance. It doesn't help that my microwave is a fairly large model.

Having the microwave over the stovetop means that lots of aerosol greases will spatter and condense on the microwave. This is especially true if you have a gas stove.

The vent fan feature of the over the range microwaves I have seen is generally pretty marginal compared to a decent vent hood. The one in my Kitchenaid is so loud I hate to run it.

If you really don't have the space for a microwave elsewhere in the kitchen then obviously the over the range option is a good one. Personally I'd love to be rid of mine.

 

[cuffs054]

Had a high end GE in the cabin. My biggest issue was the venting. It was loud and with auto sensor it would kick on or up when it felt like it. Having said that, the search for a good hood for the mini-manse shows them as way expensive. The manse has a KM elite which I really like but new ones are stupid expensive. You can get an overhead MW for less $$.

 

[vacerator]

"non-stick" interior?

I didn't either. Mine is just painted white inside. Cleaning a painted appliance with a used dish cloth has food acids and can erode the paint.
The installation guides will recommend a height of at least 18 inches above the cooktop. Mine is 21 inches. I have a higher btu range than standard. Also micro-vents have a thermostat to detect high heat from the stove and can start on their own if needed.
Is the fan noisy? Yes, on speed 4 or 5. Quiet on 1 or 2, and still tolerable on 3. I use 1 and 2 most.
Lower end models will have one work light. Higher end will have two, and or higher output LED lighting.
I do not doo major cooking with my microwave. I warm things up in it, make popcorn, defrost and melt butter or chocolate.
My old one was a top line model with a temp. probe I used a few times. A nice feature is an adjustable and removable shelf, and "turntable off" feature for large baking dishes.
Sensor cooking is nice for fresh and frozen veggies, and baked potatoes. The sensor adjusts the cook time when steam is detected.
Hope that helps your decision Derek.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

"One thing for ANY would be Self-Cleaning!"

Sadly be rid of mine, I have to say, too... Ditto for the under-side of it to collect & condense grease from the stovetop--I have a gas range right underneath it, and so far one vile thing that has happened is that the cook-top lights right over it no longer work--I bought new bulbs & all... The fan, noisy and inferior to removing smoke, cooking odors, and excessive steam, is also useless...

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And if not for the lack of counter space, maybe we'd have done so sooner...  I don't know how long before the one day that we may have to replace it...</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span>

It's inside has also gotten so gunky in there, that I wish we'd sooner followed the Microwave Cardinal Rule:

 

 

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A FEW <span style="text-decoration: underline;">MINUTES TO CLEAN OUT THE MICROWAVE <span style="text-decoration: underline;">AFTER</span> YOU ARE FINISHED COOKING IN IT, PLEASE TAKE A FEW <span style="text-decoration: underline;">SECONDS</span> TO <span style="text-decoration: underline;">COVER</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">YOUR</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">FOOD</span> WITH A PAPER TOWEL <span style="text-decoration: underline;">BEFORE</span> YOU COOK IN IT!!!!</span>

 

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[dermacie]

thank you

Thank you for the advice. I intend on having my kitchen renovated I hope soon. I need new everything so I want a built in microwave to save counter space since it is a small kitchen.

 

[panthera]

I've installed several recently

So here's a few things I've learned.
If you're venting outside, 300cfm or higher will actually exhaust icky stuff. If you're venting inside, it really doesn't matter because they're all worthless, with or without charcoal filter.
Stainless steel is very hard to keep clean.
Enamel or non-stick is much easier.
Even the super cheap Magic Chef for about $100 at The Homeless Despot heat really well, 1000 watts, and I've put in eight of them since 2013 and none have failed. Of course, their vent fans are louder and not too powerful.
Don't underestimate the lighting. These block more light than you would think.
All the Kitchenaid offers you is higher price. They're not worth it, buy an LG if you like the features, same thing.
My parent's GE Profile with convection has been outstanding and would be my first recommendation if money doesn't matter.
We have a 17 year old Spacemaker with stirrer which I love and everyone else dislikes. I don't like turntables.
Before you install it, view some youtubes. I can now do one, alone, in half an hour. The first time took me two hours. Strongly suggest you pull the range out from beneath, first.

 

[lvbearam]

Whirlpool BOL Suits Me Fine

I have had three above-range microwaves. My first (in my condo) was a GE that worked great. When I moved in with my partner, he had a BOL Whirlpool that was damaged when it caught fire. This year, I put my foot down and decided it needed to be replaced. Fortunately, I found another BOL Whirlpool during a Labor Day sale at Lowe's. It works very well, and I don't miss the bells and whistles (such as sensor cooking). The (unvented) fan works quite well, and it has plenty of room for cooking vegetables, reheating soup and leftovers, and other minor chores such as melting butter. (I learned my lesson years ago that microwaves are NOT replacements for conventional ovens!) Installation came to just over $100 above the $180 price for the microwave, and the installer did a fine job.
As for cleaning, I make it a habit of using a sponge and paper towel with mild detergent (I use Dawn) to clean down the interior each night. The sponge also does well for the exterior. Just my two cents.

 

[panthera]

So true, Michael,

If you clean then after every use, it makes a big difference. Covering things helps, too.
I always leave the door ajar after cooking for a minute or two. Eliminates moisture condensing on things.

 

[yogitunes]

preference always goes to a convection/micro....why heat the whole oven for something like cinnamon rolls?...plus for me, it doubles my regular ovens capabilities....you would be surprised at what you can bake in one...

I have a Dacor in stainless....inside and out....first of all, surprised this thing has worked well for 13 years, despite they make the worst products ever, normally I would say to run from this manufacturer....

covering your food, and regular cleanings keeps it looking best....I never have an issue cleaning or maintaining the high gloss finish of stainless steel....a cup of water allowed to boil and steam inside helps with most any splatters if it happens...just don't wait for any surface to build up with grime before deciding to clean it.....

for a 1 to 3 person household, one micro is enough....anything past that, consider a second one....think of heating up 5 plates at 5 minutes each, your talking about a half hour waiting to eat..one reason why I have a counter unit as well...

 

[panthera]

One thing to remember,

The technology is ancient, failures are virtually never the magnatron, which usually has a long guarantee. Its the touchplates and handles which mainly go, followed by displays and logic.
I'd not believe the volume claims, either. Think of an OTR as a mid-size counter top with good power and you're pretty close.

 

[cuffs054]

Derm, Yogi made so good points. What I decided to do in this house is to put the MW and Convection Toaster Oven (great appliance) in the pantry directly next to kitchen. I don't use the MW enough to give it counter space.

 

[luxflairguy]

My Microwave and toaster oven are in my pantry closet.  I had one over the range micro and that was enough.  Loud, poor exhausting--it never pulled anything from the front burners and was a hinderance to using tall pots on the back burners and the high-temp feature turned on constantly when using all 4 burners.  

Changed it for a 600 cfm hood and all was good!  Oh!  But we used the venting that was there!  Up and into the soffit, turning left and running 20 feet to the outside wall.  Was that wrong?  8" ducting, too!  All 67 townhomes in the community were vented through the soffits.  Was the builder-Quadrant Homes, a division of Weyerhauser and a major builder in the NW installing these hoods wrong?  Our time-share ski cabin in whitefish, MT went up to the roof and out with an approved roof jack.  Was that wrong too?  Snow was never a hinderance and we'd often have 4' on the roof.  Hood always worked! 

 

[panthera]

venting codes

Have tightened up considerably in recent years and a damn good thing, too.

Partly as a result of the dryer fires we've seen since those damn softener sheets came on the market and everything started gumming up and killing people.

I recently had a chance to look down a vent pipe straight down from the roof to the kitchen range hood. In continuous use since 1968 according to the lady who has lived there since then.

It was clean.

Also had the chance to see one single, solitary elbow in an installation I did two years ago. Despite following code exactly and the owners keeping the grease filters clean, there was already a minor buildup. Not much, but over time....

I'm not the least bit upset by the newer, tighter regulations. Especially in regards to these OTR microwaves. Their vent fans are nearly always anemic.

 

Here's an idea: Since you can't vent this to the outside and seeing as how the recirculating filters are worthless (even with charcoal), maybe you could save some money and time and just put in a shelf (at a safe height) and put a really good countertop microwave on it? Would save counter space, a 1350 Panasonic Inverter would be powerful and the entire cost would still be less than for an OTR.

 

[tolivac]

I have a GE Advantium-240V model over my stove.Love the machine!!!Use it everyday as I do with my Vita-mix blender.Like how my Advantium broils steaks to my liking and microwaves my veggies.Also warms syrup for pancakes and French Toast.My first Advantium lasted 16 years.Will se if this one I got a year ago does the same.The vent blower and stovetop light works well.Like as one poster mentioned-my kitchen vent goes outside.The installer(Lowes) adjusted the blower and baffle so it would exhaust into the outside vent.The new one is a GREAT machine-would recommend it.If a dealer can demo the Advantium for you -you will see how well it can work.Also bakes well,too!I had to have the 240V line wired for the first unit-240V 30A.

 

[DADoES]

 
Do not like the OTR microwave that came with the house.  It's a GE Profile which is OK as microwaves go.  The OTR aspect is not likeable.  The stovetop light is useless (has high/low/nightlight levels).  The exhaust (non-vented) is useless.  I don't like the height, always leery I'm going to lose grip on a casserole and drop it on the stovetop, breaking everything.  The dumbasses that designed the kitchen decor placed a bunch of fancy trimwork all around it, which makes access impossible to change the light bulb (if/when it burns out) and clean the exhaust filters.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I always preferred a countertop model in use. Easier to access, and easier for more than one person to cook at once, not blocking the stove. I prefer how an OTR microwave looks compared to most of the cheaper vent hoods however.

My parents kitchen has so much counterspace that a countertop really makes better sense. In a small kitchen, I would prefer an OTR.

In some upscale homes, I have seen a cooktop or range in an island, with an OTR micro installed along a wall somewhere with empty counterspace below. I heard this can be useful when using crockpots or other small appliances. They can be placed below the OTR microwave for venting.

 

[combo52]

OTR Micro-Wave-Ovens

In a one word answer, DON'T do it, take it from someone that repairs HUNDREDS of these a year.

 

Installing a MWO over a range is a terrible place for a plastic electronic product, imagine installing you computer over a kitchen range.

 

OTR-MWOs are a major fire hazzard, they get bad grease buildups inside where you can't clean and when you have a range top fire the whole kitchen and house goes up in flames when the plastic starts burning.

 

A few other points and corrections, there is nothing wrong with venting an OTR_MWO through the space above cabinets, as long as it is done in steel ducting.

 

The most common repair we do on MWOs is replacing bad Magnetrons, the Mag tube still has a filament in it and it has a diffident life, and to make matter worst they are pushing 1100 watts out of the same size mag tube that used to deliver 600-800 watts, so the tubes don't last long.

 

You are far better off installing a MWO on a shelf or getting a GE space-saver and hanging it under a cabinet away from the range top.

 

And always get a good range hood and vent it outside especially if you have a gas range which produces a lot of carbon monoxide.

 

John L.

 

[mattl]

Wow, someone repairs microwaves?  I had no idea.  If it dies I'd toss it.

 

I've had an OTR microwave since about the time they came out, no issues.  GE lasted about 15 years, whirlpool that replaced is still going strong 10 years later and the KA that replaced the WP is doing well 2 year in.  I have no qualms using or recommending one.  Most people I know have one, again no issues.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I appreciate the counter space an Over-the-Range microwave saves, but I don't like the idea of it becoming a built-in appliance... Especially when the day will come that it breaks and we have to deal with replacement... The interior of ours has become a nightmare to clean without standing on a step stool to get way in back and I don't appreciate the battle of it being over the cooktop creating a space problem, above my cooking, or also likely to drop a heavy object putting something in or out of it that weighs a lot...

 

I always think (& hope) when I see a range in a store with a microwave oven displayed over it, that they are ONE UNIT, but,--No!--both appliances ARE Separate!

 

 

Last of all, my wife is even too short to handle stuff on the turntable that tevolves too far into the back of the cavity to reach and retrieve when it's done cooking... And the heat problem from my stove burners might have killed the lighting underneath, as I can't get my new bulbs to work, unless the awkward position under there just simply threw off my fitting the threads into their sockets...

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 12/11/2016-07:22]

 

[panthera]

Two years ago, I

replaced the door handle on a top of the line Kitchen Aid OTR for a multi-millionaire just outside of town.

Who helped me do it.

Repairing things has become the luxury of the rich - that dratted handle was something like $75. And just as flimsy as the ones LG puts on their least expensive models (from whence this KA came).

I miss the days when Kitchen Aid actually stood for quality.

 

[lordkenmore]

I miss the days when Kitchen Aid actually stood for quality.

We all do. Not that diminished quality is limited to KA...

 

Although...when did they make quality MWs? I'm pretty sure--correct me if I'm wrong--that that would have been a WP era innovation. Certainly, the KA name was used on relatively few products in the Hobart era. Which raises an interesting point: they had unbeatable products. They had top dishwashers. They had top mixers. There might have been better products in some ways--but KA had excellent performance and excellent durability. One wonders if the fact they had a fairly narrow focus might not have helped, unlike other companies that made, say, decent dishwashers...but also made everything else.

 

 

[panthera]

Good point - limited focus

We all saw the rolling disaster of Maytag after they started carrying a 'full line'.

Whirlpool has some great ideas but they lower their quality to cheap, cheaper cheapest. It's ruined the KA name for me.

 

[vacerator]

Yeah, I thought

that "full line" scheme would have caught up with Frigidaire by now. They have the base, Gallery, Professional trim lines, and Electrolux and Icon.
Kitchen Aid has two lines also. One appeals to the loft genre' with it's red capped commercial style handles. It gives them competition to the GE Café line.
I like their items, and it hasn't hurt them. They keep the line distanced enough from Whirlpool.