Radarange Touchup

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kindalazy

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Just to the right of the Amana name, the paint has chipped off. What kind of paint should I get to touch it up?

I found that amazing microwave at a thrift shop, in the winter, and our lane to the farm house wasn't plowed, so we had to shlep it about 400 yards. Heavy machine, but very good. It replaced a newer Thermador. Our local repair guy said it sucks up tons of energy even it's low wattage compared to today's. Is that right?

Thanks, and Happy Easter and Passover.

kindalazy++4-22-2011-08-17-18.jpg
 
Fabulous oven

The quality of those 1980's vintage Amana microwaves has never been matched in my opinion.
As far as energy-efficiency - I would presume (depending on the make and model) that newer microwave ovens likely are somewhat more efficient, but it really doesn't matter much. Microwave ovens are typically used for short cycles so any inefficiencies due to age are probably not going to be too noticeable. Efficiency in a microwave oven (new or old) largely comes into play when you cook the same food load in the FAST microwave versus the SLOW, standard electric range. In that context, even old microwave ovens are faster than an electric range in many instances and are thus... efficient.
As long as the unit still cooks with reasonably good speed, comparing efficiencies among microwave ovens is really splitting hairs.
I bought my sister an RRL7C for her wedding in 1983. It still works to this day. I replaced the blower motor well over a decade ago. Besides being beautifully styled and durable they represent great value due to their longevity.
 
But wattage used does not necessarily result in wattage of the magnetron.
Older ovens usually had magnetron output of 600-800 watts. Newer ovens are usually between 1000-1200 watts which result in faster cooking times.

Sometimes on pre-prepared food boxes you'll see heating directions for the lower wattage ovens as well as newer higher wattage ovens.

I have also found that newer microwave ovens cook more evenly than older ovens do.

You can test your microwaves cooking pattern by putting a bunch of slices of bread with a slice of american cheese on each one. Arrange these so you have a layer completely covering the oven floor. Then set the microwave on high cook for 30 seconds. Look at the bread slices. See how some are more melted than others? The ones that are more melted are the ones in the ovens "hot" spots. This is the area where you will want to place your food when cooking.
 
Individual pieces of food should always be placed in a circle in the microwave oven with the thicker parts to the outside.

Is the surface you want to paint plastic? I know from working with Bakelite knobs that a gentle oil-based paint like Rustoleum will not harm the Bakelite. I don't know how well it will adhere to the plexiglass of the door. The Testors model paint would probably adhere, but I am not sure if it is safe for the plastic door. Maybe you can Google "paint for plexiglass" and get some information.

Didn't you have a sled or sledge you could put that oven on and pull it through the snow?
 
I think it"s 800 watts

Just for a visualization: I'm early 40's, 5"3, and 125 lbs. I would love to move the radarange around to see it's back, but I still have bruises on my arms from having moved it last week. My partner burned down our kitchen (second time in as many years) and I got the urge to set up a make shift kitchen in the office during the now to be, re-renovation.

I disagree about newer microwaves cooking more evenly. We had a Thermador microwave with an infrared element, and I found that oven had hot spots. Also, in our city loft, we have a KitchenAid microwave, the built in kind with an oven below, and it also cooks unevenly. We mostly use the microwave to heat up water, defrosting, and par cooking veggies. I LOVE the radarange.

We put the machine stupidly on a plastic sled, which of course cracked... At least my partner helped out that time.
 
Cannot speak for all, but my Panasonic Inverter Genuis 1300 watt MC cooks faster and more evenly than the old Sharp it replaced ever could.

Have always lusted after a vintage Radarange, especially one of the convection microwaves, but am *not* spending what the bidding prices get up to (usually several hundred), with all the chances for shipping damage. Therefore holding out to see if one appears locally.

It does seem today most microwaves are running at 800 to maybe 1000 watts, even the larger ones. But again cannot speak for all models.

Have always wondered how well vintage Amana and other microwaves cooked without a turn table. Vintage microwave books give recipes where one must stop cooking half way through and turn things around. This is in addition to the flipping over of certain meats and things so they cook evenly. Have to say don't miss this at all using the Panasonic, as the Inverter system cooks everything evenly with no flipping.
 
MICROWAVE OVEN EFFICIENCY

The newer MW ovens are 30 and even 40% more efficient in converting power to MW energy. But they do so by over stressing the magnetron tube and the newer ovens over a thousand watts are having large #s of mag tube failures as a result. It is even more important than ever to run these newer high wattage ovens with plenty of food load in them. Popping pop corn is still one of the worst things that you can do to a MW oven, it is not enough of a food load.
 
One of my friends has a 4 years old over-the-range Panasonic which failed recently. His girlfriend told me that there was an explosion in it. I think it's the magnetron that went bad. They had to spend over 170$ to have it repaired...
 
No turntable

There is no turntable in the Radarange, which is a HUGE bonus, because you fit in fairly large rectangular cookware with no problems.

There is a 'stirrer fan' on top under the plastic shield, which I think scatters the microwaves around the food, rather than have the food move around.

I was making Easter dinner at my sister in laws, who has an inverter microwave, not sure which model, but it didn't have a keypad, just a dial. I hit the wrong key, and it went into 'demo mode'. She said she had done that many times before, and the although there's a way to disable it, the only way we could cancel it was to reset the main circuit (as it was built in). As if cooking for a large group wasn't stress enough...
 
MICROWAVE OVEN COOKING EVENESS

Truly the best system is both a stirrer and a turntable, it a little like water distribution in a dishwasher Toms dad always said you either had to move the dishes or the water or better yet both. However the orignal Amana Radarrange MWs did a very good without a turntable although a turntable would make it even more even.

 

Laundress I have never heard that the micro browning dishes caused a problem, but then again I have never known of anyone that used one on a regular basis, so I really don't know if it is hard on the magnetron tube. And most of these dishes were sold long ago when MWs were less powerful. 
 
Microwave Browning Dishes

Used a MIB vintage Corningware MC browning dish with the old Sharp for awhile. However found no amount of preheating the thing would crisp or brown foods like a true oven or broiler. Now just use the thing when making chicken in the Panasonic without bothering to preheat.

If I could find a nice vintage Radarange MC/convection combo locally would bite, as am sold on convection for cooking some meats and poultry.

Panasonic MCs With Dial Controls:

Have seen em and cannot abide that design. Thankfully mine is of the older design with all touchpad controls. Also like the fact the oven door simply pulls open and pushes closed, rather than having to press a button. One less thing to break and have heard prices for fixing that part if and or when it goes are dear.
 
Panasonic

Has a huge microwave oven model that is without a turn table in their current line-up.

According to advertising the unit uses a "stirrer" both above and below to move micorwaves around the food/oven for even cooking. Panasonic promotes the lack of turn table as great for cooking large foods (such as a turkey one presumes), and or being able to use rectangle shaped dishes.
 
Corning Browning pans for MW French Fries in Summer

I have found that the browning pans make great crisp microwave French Fries. Heat the skillet, spray with no-stick spray and add the fries. After a while, turn them over and continue cooking and they are done and "cripsy". Tater Tots work well, too.
 

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