Our microwave crapped out last night, just as I tried to reheat a bowl of soup. This one came with the house. It’s not a true built-in, but fits into a large-ish nook in our cabinets with a trim kit around it. We can put pretty much any microwave in there as long as it’s not more than 19" deep. Any brands that are better than others? And more importantly, if you have a convection microwave, do you find the convection feature is worth the price tag?
If you get a convection microwave, you will have to install a vent. One of the reasons, I did not buy one.
I have a friend who does not own a microwave…he refuses. (he’s got 2 young kids btw) I don’t know if I could get by without one…but it would be an interesting experiment.
We had one in our Santa Fe home until we moved here full-time in early '04. We used it for heating water, defrosting frozen foods, and re-heating leftovers. When we put a Viking stove in the our SF kitchen, the microwave departed. We haven’t missed it. We never had had one in our SoCal home.
I’m lost without a microwave. We don’t use it for any real cooking, but I use it constantly to reheat soups, make oatmeal for the kids, to heat up the various bucky pads that soothe our aches and pains, and most importantly, as a glorified digital egg timer. Scott, thanks for the info re: the vent. That probably makes it impossible for us because of the space we have in mind.
The only occasions we use the convection part of the microwave is either at the holidays or for a large gathering where you need to utilize the oven as much as possible.