Currently on the hunt for a good microwave so tired of food taking like a decade to heat up. Don't really have a budget just want something decent that will heat up food quickly. Any recommendation would be highly appreciated thanks.
Looking for Microwave Recommendations
Lfuzzfighter on 17/12/2025 - 12:01
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I got a Daewoo from THW before they changed all appliances to Living & Co, 6 and a half years ago, and it's still going strong!
The only issue is the plastic started peeling off the keypad recently- but that's most microwaves.
Honestly, it was meant to be a temporary purchase till we could afford an inverter microwave.
It wasn't their cheapest one at the time, probably their mid range or higher end one.2nd this, we have same microwave and has been great, had for at least 4 years.
Previously had LG and a couple of other branded ones I can't remember exactly. All were terrible, falling apart after a year of use, paid twice as much for them. Hence went for cheaper Living & Co one, if it feel apart after a year, at least hadn't spent as much!
Thanks will look into it, always just thought given it's Living & Co, it won't be that good but I will have a look into it further.
Check out this TILLREDA from IKEA.
Here’s a little more information:
https://applink.ikea.com/tY8M9r9M4w--00493361--nz--enNot sure what you have had previously, but our recent microwaves have all been 1kW (1000W), and they seem to work fairly quickly.
There might be more powerful models out there I guess.
Love my Panasonic flatbed microwave, on a good special can pick it up for under $300 for a white model. No turntable which is great, had the present one for 8 years. It is 27 ltrs, 1000kwh.
No turntable which is great
I can see the advantage of a turntable, given the way a microwave works, but what is the advantage of not having one?
Easier/less to clean, our microwave is on the shelf above an inbuilt oven, so means the kids don't drag the turntable out by accident. Doesn't seem to make much difference cooking wise.
Easier/less to clean, our microwave is on the shelf above an inbuilt oven, so means the kids don't drag the turntable out by accident. Doesn't seem to make much difference cooking wise.
Ours just lifts out, so you can clean it very easily (dishwasher or sink as you like), especially compared to cleaning inside the microwave.
One of my criteria when buying anything for the kitchen is always asking myself 'how easy is this going to be to clean properly?' :-)
As an aside, the reason for wanting the food to rotate is that microwaves, being waves, have standing patterns inside the cavity, and therefore have 'hot and cold' spots (in terms of the microwave intensity) inside the cavity (where the waves reinforce and cancel each other out), so without the food rotating, parts will get overcooked, and other parts will get undercooked. I guess it's the equivalent of modern ovens having a convection option, which moves the heated air around, to impart even cooking, and why you rotate things on trays inside conventional ovens, or even just stirring a pot on the stove so that the contents don't burn on the bottom.
Some foods (foods with high water content being the simplest and most obvious, and also water being the main (only?) thing that a microwave actually heats) tend to allow the heat to transfer through them very easily, whereas others not so much.
That's also why many instructions will tell you to let microwaved food stand for a few minutes - to allow the heat to dissipate through the food more evenly, and reduce the really hot spots.
@Alan6984: In a flatbed the antenna rotates https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/should-you-buy-a-flatbe…
@cartheyn: CheapAzChips posted that a while ago - need to read through the thread to stay up to date :-)
Biggest advantage is you can fit a larger rectangular dish in it than you can in a rotating one of the same size, and because it's not rotating it doesn't get stuck between the door and back wall. The microwaves are dispersed by an internal rotating reflector instead, so while the food is not rotating it still heats relatively evenly.
The microwaves are dispersed by an internal rotating reflector instead, so while the food is not rotating it still heats relatively evenly.
The rotating reflector things should work well too.
I've always felt that microwaves should somehow have removable interiors to facilitate easy cleaning, but never seen one beyond the rotating plate that keeps the bottom cleaner.
Been happy with my 1.2kW 42L LG NeoChef.
The only issue with cheaper microwaves is that they typically don’t have inverter technology, so they tend to perform worse for defrosting or anything that requires low power.
If you’re only blasting on full power, the more expensive one probably won’t make much difference.How long have you had this for? This one was on my radar but then everyone says it rust very easily
I've only had it for 19 months, so it's probably too early to say if rust will be an issue, but so far, there’s no sign of rust.
Personally, I would also consider Panasonic, but make sure it doesn't have the "cool‑down" feature.Personally, I would also consider Panasonic, but make sure it doesn't have the "cool‑down" feature.
What's a 'cool-down feature' and why is it bad?
@Alan6984: It's a fan that runs after a heating cycle to cool down the internal electronics.
It’s annoying because you have to wait for the 'cool down' to finish before you can use the microwave again.It's a fan that runs after a heating cycle to cool down the internal electronics.
It’s annoying because you have to wait for the 'cool down' to finish before you can use the microwave again.Ah - gotcha. We have that on ours (not sure of the brand right now - I'd guess it was quite common though), but if you press the 'Stop / Cancel' button, it just stops the cool down, and you can use it again instantly.
Probably varies between makes and models though.
We bought this one a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1125369/panasonic-inveter…
Absolutely satisfied with its performance. Good stuff, though made in China, I believe.
We purchased it for 299 bucks. Now it's even cheaper, 288 only.
Could highly recommend it, frankly.
(Stay away from the rubbish like living and Co, anko etc.)We actually were after a Siemens one, but too expensive Incl. delivery from AU. (Also a perfect option, tbh, we've been using one for many years back overseas.)
If the budget is not a problem at all, I would suggest you heading to the Miele store. That's the Top, trust me.
Cheers…
I got this
https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1092469/russell-hobbs-fam…Currently $180, I got it 6 odd months ago. Only thing I don't like about it is it has a stiff door opening mechnism. But that could just be a unit by unit thing.
Best value Kmart , just cant beat it . cheap and good .
IKea also has a simple basic model for 100 nzd might be good as there stuff is made by electrolux .
I use Panasonic steam flat bed , it does combination steam convention and its served us well since many years , steam is useful for mild soft convection heating for things you dont want to dry out . you can also do combination of various kindsMost of not all major microwave components are made by midea so they all perform similarly (besides minor functionalities like timer control)
Been pretty happy with the Living & Co 34L Microwave we got from the Warehouse, in terms of features, ease of use and heating, RRP $189 but you're a Cheapie so you know what to do.
We did have to take our first one back when it suddenly stopped working, but full replacement was quick and easy. Was going to spend about twice that amount on a name brand one, but after checking tons of reviews I'm glad we didn't: the Sharps and Panasonic's of the microwave world seem to have actively gotten worse in the past decade or so.