microwaves

LG touches right spot with WaveDom microwave

Touch screen has made its way from cell phones and computers into the kitchen via the control panels of many of the modern ovens and ranges. Though not the first of its kind, the LG WaveDom is a beautiful example of a touch screen on a convection microwave oven, and it boasts several other fancy features as well.

The microwave is large (30 liters) in a round cavity configuration, and has a large turntable that can hold meals big enough to justify using one of the four auto roast programs that come included in it. In addition to roasting, it … Read more

Microwave popcorn exactly the way you want it

If you're exhausted from preparing the Thanksgiving feast and need a break from working your way through the leftovers, step away from it all and just enjoy something simple and easy. Don't worry, you have the days ahead to work your way through all those leftovers; they will still be there. Whether you are burnt out from shopping, or stuffed from stuffing, take a moment to sit back and let the microwave do all the work.

As we all know, there are a lot of microwave popcorn varieties available. Options range from the familiar, such as kettle corn … Read more

S'mores, no campfire needed

Between the breakfast sandwich maker and this, I'm starting to rethink my microwave.

This S'mores Maker lets you bypass the campfires--and the risk of blackened marshmallows--to make the sweet sandwiches in your microwave. Just fill the back reservoir with water, which is apparently the secret to even heating. Pile on the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, and zap for 30 seconds.

Of course, anyone who's microwaved a Peep knows that marshmallows tend to shape-shift during cooking, so this gadget incorporates two arms to hold your s'mores in place. Four nonslip feet on the bottom keep it … Read more

Avoid wallet-busting breakfasts

The economy is in the doldrums, and for many of us, this means working earlier mornings and later nights. I'm not the type to miss out on breakfast or on beauty sleep, so that means that I've been eating more and more fast meals on my way to work. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the increase in meals eaten out has defeated the purpose of earning more money in the first place. It certainly hasn't done much for my health.

But, when it boils down to it, we have to eat, and there … Read more

Fast food at home

I love french fries, but making them at home can be a fair chunk of work. Even if you get the precut frozen potatoes, you have to heat up the oven if you want crispy fries. You can use the microwave, but the results are usually fairly soggy. There is one way to get good french fries out of the microwave, though, and it's the Microwave French Fry Maker.

This microwave cooker holds fries upright and separate from one another, allowing moisture to run off. It doesn't need fat or oil to get crispy fries. The grid rack … Read more

Broil bacon in the microwave

Health concerns aside, one of the biggest drawbacks of cooking bacon is the mess: greasy splatters on your cooktop or stacks of soiled paper towels. The WowBacon bacon broiler ($20) promises to keep grease contained while cooking bacon to perfection--in your microwave.

Of course, cooking bacon in the device is slightly more complicated than just throwing it in a pan. First, you drape the bacon over a six-pronged rack and attach the lid to the top of the rack. Then lower the rack into the grease-catching cup and secure it with the attached clamps. The pitcher-like device is then ready … Read more

The fourth kind of heat

It's just not fair. All the really cool appliances seem to be in Europe--like LG's SolarCUBE, a sophisticated oven with microwave and grill functions that comes as a free-standing oven but can be transformed into a built-in appliance.

The whole thing sounds like something from a futuristic superhero world. The SolarCUBE's "light-speed cooking technology" lets you make dinner up to four times faster than in a conventional oven, and it eliminates the need for preheating. So what exactly is the cooking technology here? The SolarCUBE uses a combination of four heat sources--grill, microwave, electricity, and … Read more

Not just hot air: A convection microwave

Loyal readers of the blog know that we're fans of the dual-purpose appliances. So when LG unveils an appliance called DuoChef, you can bet we're all over it.

The DuoChef MC8088HLC was just announced last week at the IFA--that's the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, of course, the world's largest consumer electronics trade fair (according to the Web site, anyway). And what two features does the DuoChef combine? Well, it's a combination oven and microwave--the first convection microwave oven with a double convection system, which uses two fans to improve baking and defrosting performance.

The two … Read more

"Novel" receiver to protect electronics against electromagnetic pulse attack

A Malibu, CA company is developing a new system to protect military communication gear from high-power microwave weapons, nuclear blast generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and the mythic, directed-energy "e-bomb".

One nuclear airburst can unleash the EMP equivalent to 100,000 volts per square centimeter, frying computer, radar and communication equipment within hundreds of miles. It's possible to protect electronic circuitry from EMP with something called a Faraday cage, or covering it up with 1 inch mesh, grounded, copper chicken wire as they've done with FEMA headquarters; problem is-nothing gets out either, which defeats the purpose when … Read more