In message , fred writes
In article , Ian
writes

The higher the wattage the faster it cooks. Mine also has "inverter"
plastered over it. Instead of pulsing on and off at full power for a
"medium" setting, it reduces the supply and cooks constantly on medium if
you see what I mean.

I hadn't realised any actually modulated the power, what's the make &
model.

Most, if not all Panasonic models, with the "inverter" badging.
They are also somewhat lighter than standard microwaves as the
electronic "inverter" replaces several kg of iron/copper transformer.

I use my fully featured Panasonic a lot, highly recommended.
M/W, grill and turbofan oven.
Just to annoy andy, I'll have to say is does a cracking job of frozen
pizza!
--
steve

In message , Tony Bryer
writes
On 12 Mar 2007 03:45:03 -0700 John wrote :
In answer to the OP, like many others have said, go for a basic
unit that suits your needs. A higher power is useful. I don't find
electronic timers help. A mechanical one is OK but can't take times
less than about 30s. For these occasions, I just count the seconds.
After all, cooking is not an exact science and you can always give
the food a few more microwaves.

This I would disagree on. On my microwave heating a mug of milk to
make drinking chocolate is 1:50, not 1:40 and not 2:00.

My first microwave lasted 15+ years. On the second, an enamel lined
LG, I accidently left a bit of foil on something when it was almost
new which arced and burnt off a little enamel under the turntable.
Foolish I didn't touch it up and recently discovered it had rusted
through, so to be on the cautious side I replaced with another £50
LG. Basically a nice unit, but still has the same software bug: open
the door and occasionally the display reads garbage. And I missed the
fact that in the interests of being shed shelf friend it has the
useless auto cook stuff discussed previously and now omits the useful
countdown timer.

We bought a Saisho 2500 from Dixons in February 1988, and it was in
daily use until we moved in December 2005. Bit too big for the new
kitchen and anyway SWMBO wanted a s/s one. Used intensively during the
period in the 90s when we had no gas cooking facilities while waiting
for the new kitchen to be completed (about 18 months!). Didn't like
cooking potatoes for too long, the thermal cutout would operate and it
took an hour or two before it cooled down and reset.

Only major occurrence was when SWMBO put a plastic bottle containing
frying fat in to warm it up and hit 55 minutes instead of 5. Took a lot
of cleaning up, but at least we knew the turntable mechanism was well
greased.

Digital interface, but only a 12-hour clock. Programmable feature very
useful for things like rice that need multiple phases in
cooking/standing.

Now sitting in a box in younger daughter's partner's father's garage,
waiting for younger daughter's partner's brother and his partner to find
a new house.
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

In uk.d-i-y, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
My last Neff microwave is still going strong in a neighbour's kitchen. And
it dates back to the early '90s.

My mother's 1970s Moffat microwave still works today without having
needed any spares or repairs. Mind you, it ought to, considering how
much it cost.

--
Mike Barnes

In message , Steven Briggs
writes
Most, if not all Panasonic models, with the "inverter" badging.
They are also somewhat lighter than standard microwaves as the
electronic "inverter" replaces several kg of iron/copper transformer.

I use my fully featured Panasonic a lot, highly recommended.
M/W, grill and turbofan oven.
Just to annoy andy, I'll have to say is does a cracking job of frozen
pizza!

While I think of it, the predecessor to the Panasonic was an 80's
vintage Toshiba. Had a huge cavity, and I couldn't bare to throw it
away. So it lives in the shed now, for compost sterilising duties. I can
get a big 10ltr bucket in the thing, then 10-15 minutes at full power.
Sweet revenge on the vine weevil grubs when I turn out infected potted
plants.

evil grin

--
steve

On 2007-03-12 19:26:54 +0000, Owain said:

Dorothy Bradbury wrote:
For commercial usage spending more really does matter, because
the Magnetron & PSU are upgraded to handle that duty cycle. Same
reason top-end Miele washer last longer than bottom-end Hotpoint.

ITYM bottom-end Miele last longer than top-end Hotpoint?

Owain

That depends on whether the missing implied word is 'market' or 'range'
(where range = range of that vendor)

Dorothy Bradbury wrote:
For commercial usage spending more really does matter, because
the Magnetron & PSU are upgraded to handle that duty cycle. Same
reason top-end Miele washer last longer than bottom-end Hotpoint.

ITYM bottom-end Miele last longer than top-end Hotpoint?

Not necessarily.
Not sure the bottom-end Miele would have lasted longer than the
?top-end? Hotpoint Aquarius Ultima dryer that failed at 13yrs :-)


Microwaves price does correspond to duty cycle.
PSU & Magnetron in £25 units are designed for low duty cycle,
the £125-250 units for heavier domestic duty cycle, Commercial are
designed for continuous duty cycle, sized/weigh/priced accordingly.

Using a domestic microwave in a Commercial environment will see
it fail long before typical 2yr microwave / 3yr Magnetron guarantee.


Underlying reality...
o Some low-mid models are actually outsourced and built by LG
o Invertor microwaves have low weight/depth - but repairs cost more
o Parts available only to qualified, experienced & approved people
o Many parts & boards are quite literally unmarked & unknown :-)
o Failure outside warranty is £12-15+VAT for drop-it-off diagnosis
o Failure of Magnetron, perhaps PSU, is beyond economic repair

Frankly the choice 1) do you want stainless easy-clean for when
you decorate the entire insides with boiled over soup, eggs etc &
2) is it going to be occasional use, daily use or very regular use.

No point buying a "£250 doorstop".
I suspect many people just microwave vegetables for 10mins a day.
Ironic as the manuals are better than many other consumer goods.

Built-in can be a pain in terms of bonkers priced "fitting kits" and
potential size variations by the time the unit does need replacing.

Microwaves are very much duty cycle dictates price.
Bits like fan/grill add a small cost, but often quite a lot to price.

Final note - the "cookbook time" guides vary with oven model,
some can be spot-on & others can be quite a lot off the mark.
Often worth creating your own "watt/time conversion charts".
--
Dorothy Bradbury

In message , Lurch
writes
On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:00:00 +0000, John Rumm
mused:

Graham wrote:
I'm sure the turntable pleases itself which way it turns, much like
ancient synchronous electric clocks!


They all do, because they *are* powered with a self-starting synchronous
motor with no mechanical direction-of-rotation inhibit.
http://snipurl.com/1cplk

Our Panasonic always alternates direction each time you start it...

Can't say as I've noted the direction of travel on ours. Doubt I ever
will tbh, not something I really need\want to know!

Doh ...

It depends whether you are in the northern or southern hemisphere,
doesn't it

--
geoff

In article ,
Owain wrote:
For commercial usage spending more really does matter, because
the Magnetron & PSU are upgraded to handle that duty cycle. Same
reason top-end Miele washer last longer than bottom-end Hotpoint.

ITYM bottom-end Miele last longer than top-end Hotpoint?

Sniff. Miele don't make bottom end. ;-)

--
*A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Owain
saying something like:

Put it in the microwave and give it a quick squirt with a CO2 fire
extinguisher?

Might work, but the setting jelly would be all over the kitchen.
--

Dave

On 2007-03-13 09:12:24 +0000, Huge said:

On 2007-03-12, Owain wrote:
Clive Mitchell wrote:
Boo Hoo! My Ready Brek is going anticlockwise. I wish I'd spent the
extra 200 quid for one that offered consistent porridge direction.

Could you make a small hole in the top of the oven for insertion of a
spurtle?

Just leave the spurtle in the bowl. They're wood, and don't heat
up that much.

Yes, but keep in mind that if Ready Brek is involved, the spurtle will
become attached to the bowl as if the two were welded.

Hi all
as the OP, thanks for all the replies, and the entertainment!

Cheers
jon N

On 11 Mar, 23:55, Frank Erskine wrote:

If you strap out the door interlocks and fix the machine on top of a
pole with the door open, I suppose you could use it as a 2·45 GHz
transmitter and modulate it with a carbon microphone in series with
the mains supply, provided you don't mind a bit of mains hum.

Lol. Dont forget to put the mic in the neutral line, else anyone
holding it'll get a shock as well as a frying.


NT

On 12 Mar, 19:09, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

It's often occurred to me there's a fortune waiting for the inventor of
the cooling device that can cool things in a domestic setting as fast as
a microwave can heat them up.
Blast freezers are a bit cumbersome for the average kitchen.

Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all
be kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at
sale time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have
never heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

I dont think it would be much use at home though.


NT

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something
like:

On 12 Mar, 19:09, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

It's often occurred to me there's a fortune waiting for the inventor of
the cooling device that can cool things in a domestic setting as fast as
a microwave can heat them up.
Blast freezers are a bit cumbersome for the average kitchen.

Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all
be kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at
sale time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have
never heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

I dont think it would be much use at home though.

It'd be very handy for cooling rhubarb crumble.

--

Dave

In message . com,
writes
Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all be
kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at sale
time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have never
heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

They were disgusting. It was basically a refrigerated tank of glycol
coolant. I put a bottle in one ONCE and when I saw how it came out I
wiped it dry and surreptitiously popped it back on the shelf.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In message , Huge
writes
(We have a real spurtle, given to us by a friend in Kintyre, which I
use regularly in cooking, not just for stirring porridge.)

You WHAT! A spurtle is designed for poking toilet blockages round the
bend when you've eaten too much thick porridge.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In message . com,
writes
On 12 Mar, 19:09, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

It's often occurred to me there's a fortune waiting for the inventor of
the cooling device that can cool things in a domestic setting as fast as
a microwave can heat them up.
Blast freezers are a bit cumbersome for the average kitchen.

Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all
be kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at
sale time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have
never heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

Peltier effect pump ?

--
geoff

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:37:24 +0000, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something
like:

On 12 Mar, 19:09, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

It's often occurred to me there's a fortune waiting for the inventor of
the cooling device that can cool things in a domestic setting as fast as
a microwave can heat them up.
Blast freezers are a bit cumbersome for the average kitchen.

Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all
be kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at
sale time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have
never heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

I dont think it would be much use at home though.

It'd be very handy for cooling rhubarb crumble.

The best place for rhubarb crumble, or indeed any derivative of
rhubarb, is the wheelie-bin.

--
Frank Erskine
"Automatic door - push button to operate"

In message , raden
writes
Its been done, and the result was aimed at the wine shop market.
Instead of storing stacks of bottles in cold storage, they could all
be kept at room temp and be popped in the machine for 20 seconds at
sale time. Unfortunately I never found out how they worked, and have
never heard of or seen them since. The technology exists though.

Peltier effect pump ?

Not as pretty as that. The one I saw was basically a barrel of coolant
with holes for you to lower your bottle in and a standard compressor
based heat pump in the base.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In article , Steven Briggs
writes
In message , fred writes
In article , Ian
writes

The higher the wattage the faster it cooks. Mine also has "inverter"
plastered over it. Instead of pulsing on and off at full power for a
"medium" setting, it reduces the supply and cooks constantly on medium if
you see what I mean.

I hadn't realised any actually modulated the power, what's the make &
model.

Most, if not all Panasonic models, with the "inverter" badging.
They are also somewhat lighter than standard microwaves as the
electronic "inverter" replaces several kg of iron/copper transformer.

Thanks for that, Panny seem to be a bit special in many things that they
make, I'm into clever application of technology.

I use my fully featured Panasonic a lot, highly recommended.
M/W, grill and turbofan oven.
Just to annoy andy, I'll have to say is does a cracking job of frozen
pizza!
Having an award winning pizza place within a block of me I refrain from
buying the frozen substitute but if you want to poke andy and his particular
brand of snobbery then who am I to argue ;-)

BTW: I'm completely ignoring your huge cavity post . . .
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla