Microwaves face daily wear and tear, and peeling interior paint is a common issue that can pose a fire hazard and even contaminate food. To paint the interior of a microwave, you will need a microwave-safe appliance paint, a paintbrush or foam, and a heat-resistant, microwave-safe paint. Microwaves generate intense heat to cook or heat food, making them prone to wear and tear over time.
It is not safe to paint the inside of a microwave, as it presents a risk for fire and health risks due to fumes and paint flakes. Microwave-safe paint, such as Rust-Oleum high heat paint and enamel paint, can be used, but regular paint should not be used. If the inside of your microwave becomes rusty or starts peeling off, it becomes unsafe.
Investing in a convection microwave with an unpainted interior can provide better results. Some microwaves have a stainless steel interior, which some prefer over a painted one. Monogram microwaves also have a white or gray epoxy interior, which may be painted epoxy if the interior finish is not listed.
Looking for a microwave with a stainless interior is more reliable about not rusting if the door is closed and exposed to steam after cooking. Spruce up your kitchen with a new set of cabinet doors and make the most of your space with our range of kitchen storage options. Find interior doors at Lowe’s today and shop sliding closet doors, French doors, barn doors, and a variety of windows and doors online at Lowes.com.
📹 The Antique Microwave Oven that’s Better than Yours
Seriously. How is this so old and yet so advanced? We need kitchen appliance reform. Vote YES on prop SRCT. The second …
What is the coating on the inside of a microwave?
The paints designed for the inside of a microwave oven are typically enamel, with Rust-Oleum High Heat being one of the most common. However, it does not meet the temperature levels that the paint is designed to withstand, which is 1, 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If you touch the inner wall of a microwave after cooking, it may be warm, but this is about it. There is no reason to purchase this paint for the inside of a microwave.
A search on Amazon for microwave cavity paint will bring up several products, including one by Rust-Oleum. However, it is not recommended as it is flat black and won’t look great. Additionally, most appliances have powder coat instead of paint, which usually doesn’t hold up very long.
In conclusion, there is no reason to purchase Rust-Oleum High Heat paint for the inside of a microwave oven. Instead, you can find several products specifically designed for the inside of your microwave on Amazon.
What is the benefit of ceramic inside a microwave?
The application of elevated temperatures and animal protein can result in discoloration and cleaning complications. To obviate this phenomenon, it is recommended that a ceramic enamel interior with a smooth, scratch-resistant surface be employed. Should further assistance be required, please contact Samsung Chat Support or a technical expert. To locate the user manual for your Samsung product, please refer to the Manuals and Downloads section.
Is there a paint for the inside of a microwave oven?
Microwave Cavity Paint is a specially formulated product that provides a “like new” finish to the interior of microwave ovens, even when the surface has become discolored. The process is expeditious and efficacious, and the kit includes a full set of components, a 50-gram cartridge, and an additional mixing nozzle.
What is the film on the inside of a microwave?
A transparent plastic sheet is affixed to the microwave door to prevent interference with the metal screen. In the event of removal or damage to the microwave, it is imperative that the device is not utilized and that the appropriate servicing personnel are contacted. In some instances, a white plastic strip or tape may be observed on the door of the microwave, situated where the window meets the frame. In the event that repairs are required, an appointment should be scheduled with GE Appliances Factory Service.
What is the inside of a microwave lined with?
Microwave cavities are made of metal, with interiors either stainless steel or painted steel with a special coating. Convection models are made of stainless steel for easier cleaning. The walls are not painted like typical microwaves, as they can heat up over 400 degrees Fahrenheit in convection cooking mode. The mesh screen in the window is also metal to prevent microwaves from passing through glass or plastic doors.
All microwave cavities are “tuned” to specific sizes and configurations, and adding metal utensils can disturb the planned pattern of microwaves and cause arcing from the metal object to the nearest grounded object.
Can you remove rust from inside a microwave?
To prevent rust from forming inside a microwave, follow these steps:
Unplug the microwave, remove the turntable, clean the inside with baking soda and water paste, then rinse with white vinegar and water mix or dish soap. Dry the inside thoroughly, then gently sand down rusted areas with fine-grit sandpaper until smooth. Clean away any dust and ensure the area is dry.
Tape over areas not needing painting and cover vents. Use a special-purpose microwave cavity paint to paint the exposed metal, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Allow the paint to dry and cure fully before using the microwave again.
Prevent rust from forming again by following the manufacturer’s instructions on the tin and following the manufacturer’s instructions on the tin. This may take between 24 and 72 hours.
Why does my microwave always rust inside?
Uncleaning leftover food particles or steam from cooking can lead to harmful toxins and rusting of metal parts. Microwaves, while easy to use, are fragile machines that can leak toxic fumes and rust from the inside out. The best alternative to microwaves is ovens that use infrared light, which emit only heat, eliminating rusting and buildup. Infrared light ovens emit heat, making them a safer and more efficient alternative to microwaves.
Why is the paint coming off the inside of microwave?
Peeling paint can occur due to frequent heating of items producing high amounts of steam, which if not wiped off immediately can cause the paint to lift over time. This reaction is similar to a bathroom with no ventilation. Food or liquid can also cause peeling paint when cooked without noticing. It is important to avoid using appliances with exposed metal inside, as it may spark and pose a potential fire hazard.
What is the best interior material for a microwave?
Microwaves come in various lining options, including stainless steel, painted steel, and paint, which are resistant to corrosion and staining. These coatings, such as anti-fingerprint, ensure the microwave is safe and smart. Microwaves are ideal for those who have limited time and can cook, reheat, and defrost food quickly and efficiently. They can be freestanding, placed on any worktop, and are generally cheaper. Built-in microwaves, such as standard, grill, or combination models, can be built into your wall, providing eye level access and being out of reach of children.
Is it safe to use a microwave with peeling paint inside?
If the interior coating or paint is flaking or peeling inside the oven cavity, discontinue use and replace it. The microwave is not repairable and meets government requirements for food-contact surfaces. No lead or toxic materials are added to the cavity coating material. Inadvertent ingestion of small amounts of peeling coating does not pose a health risk. There is no approved repair method for chips, burns, or scratches to the interior coating.
📹 Why Almost Every Microwave is Made by the Same Company
Video written by Adam Chase Check out my other channel: http://youtube.com/wendoverproductions.
Congratulations on a great summary of the world’s best microwave oven – the Sharp Multiple Choice! As one of the people who worked on designing, testing, marketing – and yes, naming this microwave, thank you for your appreciation of its the features. Glad it provided you with some fun and fond memories – and I’m so glad you and your grandmother loved it!
90s microwaves also last a lot. We have one here in our restaurant that dates back to when my parents got married in 1994 and it’s been constantly used ever since, especially since we got our restaurant in the late 2000s. Not much to say, it still works flawlessly (which I guess it’s a problem because it could become a fire hazard out of the blue). Then in ~2010 we got what I assumed was a mid-rad range (for the price) LG unit and it broke a couple of years ago. Started to spark a lot. The replacement (a state-of-the-art unit) also has this weird control panel that becomes unusable when it gets wet (we constantly have wet hands in this business, ya’ know). Glad this article exists and calls out modern microwaves, they’re garbage.
I have a Panasonic “the Genius” Sensor inverter 1250 watt microwave that I love from at least 15 years ago and it’s the only one I’ve had that doesn’t cycle on/off for lower power, it actually lowers the power of the magnetron thereby not rubberizing the food. It died a couple years ago and I fixed it by resoldering a loose connection and it’s still perfect.
When I first saw this article, I brushed off sensor reheat as something I don’t need. However, I’ve been recently making food at home more often and freezing the leftovers in portion-sized bags. Today I pulled out some chicken alfredo and was going over the settings to see if I could get it to reheat in one go. I decided to use the sensor reheat to reheat the pasta. I was a little anxious about burning it, but once I got it out it was perfect. Everything was thoroughly heated. No cold spots, no burns. If you don’t think you need sensor reheat, then you have not seen its power.
Those silly teens and their “one second left” tendencies. As an adult, I’ve honed my skills down to being able to open the door on the same microcontroller clock cycle that the timer reaches zero, thereby skipping the beep as well as having to press the cancel/reset button to clear the timer out and avoiding another beep. We night owls have some practice.
In the home we have in Japan we have a microwave oven with lots of buttons and settings – my wife showed me how to set it, but then I found an incredible button which simply translates to “heat whatever’s inside to the exact right temperature, then stop”. I use it all the time. Never seen that elsewhere.
I came across this older article of yours, and you got me so intrigued by that Sharp Microwave that I simply had to find something similar in 2023. And after a TON of searching, I found one – it’s called Sage All in one, beware tho, there are 2 models, one that looks sophisticated and one that actually is, the model number for the one that has the same features as the Sharp one in your article is: SMO870BSS4EEU1 – but it IS a bit on the expensive side, around 600 bucks, but it has a dot matrix display, and all those features to control the microwave, sense the food and adjust its settings accordingly, very rare – but I did find one, so they’re being produced again, sorta.
Christmas of 1973 my grandmother gave each of her daughters, including my mom, a Thermatronic microwave by Thermador. Stainless steel and black glass, it even had a switchable infrared browning element that was great for making crisp quesadillas, etc. For me that was the pinnacle of microwave cooking.
idk how to truly put it into words the emotional reaction I had to hearing the microwave’s finished jingle. That’s literally so sweet. I know I’m the kind of person who gets too attached to objects, so that’s partly of it, but to think someone cared enough to make the sound clear and cheerful, to add little animations, to make multiple sounds for the buttons… it’s so nice to see. Best of all, it’s that while also being helpful, accurate, and convenient. I think most times creatively appealing appliances (ay new brand name) just use artistic features as a sort of novelty, to stand out among all the fancy brands, rather than actually providing good features- though in truth I think I’d still rather see that at least. It’s a sad, bland world out here. This microwave has more heart put into it than I’ve personally ever seen in appliances. As in like, someone went, you know microwaves are kind of cool actually. Let’s get them up to date. I think it’s the sort of appreciation that gets me. The same feeling I get when I see articles of people talking about old PCs and theorizing the thought behind what may seem like odd design choices. (Or when able to, research and find out exactly why it was done that way)
the sheer futuristic optimism of olden “new” tech can never be replicated these days. when something so ordinary as a microwave oven could be so sophisticated and exciting to use each and every time. these days, those very same features would require an internet connection, a fancy screen and annoying, mandatory updates.
My parents got a very early microwave back in the 1980s (for a very high price) and its still going strong to this day. Its extremely well built and reliable with no signs of issues that seem to affect current models such as rust etc. It was also built in a time when people saw the microwave as more than a food heating machine. At that time it was assumed you would cook a full meal in the microwave and that bad boy is big enough to fit a turkey. Its a Brother Powerwave btw.
WE HAD THIS MICROWAVE! I’d completely forgot about it until I saw the interface. Then when I heard the little chimes and melodies, it triggered memories I didn’t realize that I had! Gosh, it was such a good microwave. I don’t even think that it broke, I believe we replaced it for an over-the-oven style. I wonder if my parents still have it in storage somewhere 🤔
We “upgraded” from a Panasonic microwave that was able to control all 1100W of its power in 10% increments (really good for old recipes) to a hybrid Sharp microwave-electric oven-grill. It has meant that we only use the gas oven and grill when we need to do large meals (once every few years), but for microwave recipes the Panasonic was unbeatable.
I don’t know what dimension this was written/filmed in, but I’d love to visit it to see this kind of magic. One of my early research projects was to compare the “auto” cooking functions of various microwave, toaster, and traditional ovens. We had over 100 different units. They ranged from the MOST basic (barely) electromechanic controlled timers, to ones sporting sensor suites. Seriously, your single moisture sensor is pretty tame. Some of these had multi-contact point load sensors that weighed the food, various thermal sensors, and acoustic sensors (Which do the BEST job at popping corn, and were also used to detect the ‘bubbling’ of boiling liquid in some cases). The conclusion, after 13 months of samples? (uugh) “Auto” cooking doesn’t work. Almost completely across the board. Popcorn? Boiling water? Sure! Pretty good success rate too! Almost 1/3 could do it repeatably (Though not always well. Just “the same” degree of good/bad.) (Of note, the ones with a heat sensor that took a pre-temp reading of a mug of coffee, then reheated it to the desired temp were WONDERFUL. And no longer exist…) Most of the “automatic” settings were laughably bad. Even with a moisture sensor. ALL of that wasted engineering effort did worse than simply running the device at 40-60% power for 2-5 minutes (based on the content). Maybe commercial ovens do better? We were on a shoestring “Oh wow we actually GOT that grant?” budget. NOTE: That was also when I learned how important it is to have a GOOD timetable in your grant proposal, because busting your grant window is.
I can’t believe you forgot the most important rant in your article: It should be forbidden by law and severely punished to produce microwaves, that do not have a manual power selection define by the power IN WATT. The SI unit Watt. Not a scale from 3 to 11. It’s the only heating thing where you can select how much energy (defined by power and time) you want it to put into the food, and these damn manufacturers remove that option from the interface. Regardless how fancy the automatic programs are, there has to be an option to define a Watt amount.
I still have two different model Sharp Carousel microwaves. The earlier countertop model (93-94?) is the one I still use today. I’ve had it repaired twice over the years. The sensor features are amazing. The later model (2000-01?) is an over-the-range model that I use for extra storage space. It was never as good as the original “Sensor Reheat” technology. Also the 4:20 time setting was a nice touch.
One reason why a full-color LCD is not a simple swap-in is that it requires RAM to hold the image being displayed, and code to write the image to the RAM, and ROM to hold prefab images and icons and fonts to build up the display. A 7-segment display needs either one 4-bit hardware register the microcontroller can write to plus a mux per 7-segment output, or one 8-bit register that the microcontroller pre-muxes per output, and that’s all it needs. Even a rather-low-res 128×128 LCD would need 64K of ram to be full-color, 32k if it were just 16-bit RGB, or perhaps 8k if it were palettized, but that’s adding even more logic. Still, it’s not inconsequential. It’s much, much cheaper to use oldschool 7-segment displays.
Long ago my parents had a microwave where “sensor” literally meant a temperature probe you jabbed into the food. I was thus confused for years when I had all these microwaves that said sensor without having a metal probe. Play dough setting is for making homemade play dough, I imagine – normal cooked on a stovetop. Amazing, it has a bookmark function so you don’t have to scroll through every recipe every time. Ironically, the clock and timer is widely used on my microwave, because the stove’s timer is stupidly complicated/confusing. Not sure if I dislike flat panel membrane keypads worse (they always crack) or capacitive touch keypads (nobody includes a “cleaning the buttons” lock so you tempt fate and firmware every time you try to clean the schmoo)
YES! THANK YOU! I’ve been trying to tell friends and family this for years but nobody seemed to believe me. I’d argue that microwaves even got worse over the years with less power and less functions. My parents own a wonderful 1000 watt Panasonic microwave from the late 90s which came with a complete cookbook(!), grill function, convection oven and tons and tons of features like a dedicated button for frozen pizza (which is cooked to perfection) – what’s not to love? Meanwhile, todays microwaves often only have 600 watts, come with like 3 buttons, no grill function, no convection oven and certainly no cookbook, but cost the same. Manufacturers simply realized that they could get away with much less, because 90% of people just used the microwave function and didn’t bother to learn what their microwave oven could do.
I used to own one of these. I sitll look back fondly at it. It was truly a fun and unique take on the normally boring microwave. It DID do popcorn to perfection along with everything else I threw in it. The menu system and animations added a fanciful element that was just fun. Thanks for bringing back some good memories.
sharp is the same company that we got our old TV from, I always find it really interesting when I find out certain companies that seem to be known for one specific type of product also develop drastically different products. Like how Yamaha, which for me is mostly known for audio equipment and musical instruments, is also really good at making motorcycles of all things, or like how Samsung, which I usually associate with their phones, makes… basically every type of electronic device
This was my mum’s first microwave. Must have purchased in 1998ish & I cried when it died about 6yrs ago. Loved the features. We actually never used any of the recipes but still have the recipe booklet. Thanks for the article. Was telling my stepson about the coolness of first microwave & came across the article even at 13yo he thinks this is coolest microwave ever & why can’t all microwaves have same sensor for popcorn.
“for now, it’s a spare” – I don’t know how many people are in your household or how often you have guests, but putting a second microwave on the counter in my kitchen was the best upgrade I did. It’s great for two people to be able to warm their own microwave meals at the same time so they can eat together, or warm up multiple dishes simultaneously when serving a large group.
What’s weirdest for me is that once collected, this data is useful in every microwave. It’s not like they had to start from scratch for every instance, right? I had to once cook everything in microwave for two weeks while we were refurbishing our Kitchen and we only had three things – microwave, drip coffee maker, and a very basic toaster. My biggest achievement was preparing really decent Pasta Carbonara, all in the microwave, including the pasta itself. And it was a brick-basic MW too, with, like, mechanic timers. So yeah, I don’t understand why this here is not standard. If you want it “smart” you can duplicate everything from here on your smartphone, but other than that, Alec’s right, this is peak.
I will admit that features aside, microwave longevity has taken a dive. We had a microwave from the early 90s up until 8 years ago when it kicked the bucket. We replaced it, and the replacement died in 2 years. We replaced that, and that died in 3 years. We are on another microwave right now that hasn’t failed yet but we don’t have much hope. We’ve been switching brands around, too, so it doesn’t seem to be just one company. We have a relative with the same model microwave from the 90s that we had and it still works. My grandmother’s microwave from the 80s still works! Why is planned obsolescence so commonplace? Are there no values anymore?
SHARP was a good manufacturer of microwaves. But what is more impressive is that your grandmother did not just throw up her hands and complain the machine was just too damn complicated to use with all those settings and buttons and whatnot. I’m willing to bet her influence made you the tech geek you are today; way to go Grandma!
Joke’s on you, I live in Japan. Our microwave-steamer-convection-oven has more sensors than some vehicles, and has enough pre-installed instant recipes to last the entire pandemic (about 200). The best part, you can also choose from a selection of beep melodies using the LCD touch screen and the app can track calories from the recipes you cook. Looks like it’s not just the toilets that are over-engineered.
Difference between microwaves now and 35 years ago is quality. Everything is made cheaply today, example I have 4 year old OTR microwave that handle has pulled away and broken off of bottom portion. Cheap plastic door portion it was connected to shattered. Up until about 7 years ago had a 1981 amana radarange that was a tank but still worked. Gave it to a friend as was moving and less to transport
“No-Effort November” Alec: writes a script Don’t change, you silly, wonderful man, lol. ~ Edit ~ Oooh, oooh, any chance of talking about battery operated Christmas lights, or automated Christmas lights this year? Might be an interesting seasonal article, and then you won’t have to talk about the darned bulb colours for another year, for your own sanity, lol.
i also own an antique one from my grandma and threw out my new one simply because its simply better and has some dope features than my new one could only dream off… for example it can perfectly cook afrozen pizza on point in only 10 minutes thanks to a clever use of microwaves,the oven function and a heat sensor working together…. and the best thing about it is it will always stop on point, never burnt a pizza with it ever and if u dont get the pizza put after a while it even goes through a short keep warm cycle and will beep again… its the best piece of old tech that i own its super old but still works like a charm
I never understood how “smart”-devices managed to become so successful when they are just that bad. Example room-heating: the system of my last flat was ~25 years old – from the time the building was built. A console where you have a round dial with PHYSICAL NOBS to push in to indicate which one of 3 settings to use – high, low, off. Of course a small dot-matrix screen (with the obligatory clock) that shows the temperature at the station, you could also set a temperature-offset for each Month and it even had a “on-holiday”-mode where you could specify how long you are away so it only starts heating up the day before you come back and just keeps the house from getting too cold. And now? I have seen “smart” heating-systems that do the same thing, but with a dot-matrix display with way worse contrast (“but it has fancy blue light”) and it does NOT work without an active Wifi and Internet connection… the only thing it can do – you can control it through the app….. have fun if that company is gone in 10 years.
We had a fancy microwave from 88 or 89 my dad bought it new. Reheat sensor, temp probe, popcorn, meat, vegetable, and a bunch of features we never used. seems like it had convection maybe? Been a long time. I remember he said they paid around a lot for it new, he complained about it quite often. I don’t recall the brand but it was big.
After so many decades I’m surprised to learn that people actually use microwaves to cook food. I’ve only ever used mine to reheat food and warm milk and yes, ok, for microwave popcorn. I love my aging Samsung whose control interface consists of two large knobs and a digital clock; anything more is wasted on me.
I will never buy a microwave oven where you have to push a panel to get the door to open. Not so long as there are microwaves with a door handle you simply pull open. Duh! Some years back our old Panasonic Inverter (the kind that actually can throttle not just cycle on and off) failed and I was going to see about fixing it but I realized I really made little use of that feature and finally pitched it. I am very happy with the inexpensive Emerson I bought. It has a wonderful user interface. Here is why. On most microwaves, when you press numbers they are treated as minutes and seconds for the timer and then you press start. On the Emerson, the digits 1 through 6 (but not 7, 8, or 9) will load that many minutes on the timer and start immediately. Wanna heat something for 3 minutes? Put it in and press 3. That’s it! Ditto all the numbers 1-6. Compare that to pressing 3, 0, 0, Start. One button pressed compared to 4. Yes, there is a button you can press first and then enter time as usual but most likely you will rarely bother. Also, if you just press start by itself it puts 30 seconds on the timer and starts. I do hope that Emerson continues to use this system as it is a big time saver. Plus I already saved time by pulling the door open without having to push a panel and then pull the door. My one criticism (and this applies to many brands) is why they don’t cancel the five beeps if you open the door during the beeping. It knows the door has been opened–there is a safety switch. That Panasonic I mentioned above had two door switches.
When you have companies like GE dominating the market, who can’t even engineer a microwave to resist moisture and grease from making contact with its main board, and then will charge you the price for the whole microwave for said main board, I’m not surprised that innovation is stifled in this industry.
But, seriously, we actually have hit a technology plateau. If you were alive in the 90s it’s easy to see. During the 90s, new tech innovations were happening seemingly constantly (probably due to fallout from the cold war). You had to buy some new piece of tech, like your PC, every year to stay within the sphere of relevancy. Now…we have Samsung Galaxy S20+ and I would honestly prefer to buy the galaxy S5 again. Alot of new article games look worse than half decade older article games. Cars are just bigger heavier (frankly, uglier) versions of the 90s ones with a tablet slapped in the center of the console and colorful interior lights.
I own a 1997 Goldstar it is only 800W and has no fancy stem senors but a super simple 9 button design without a number pad. It is 10sec, 1min, and 5min three preset a food plate, pop corn, and hot beverage and three defrosts. If you want 1:30 just press 1min once and 10sec three times etc. It is a simple microwave and works well. ps Goldstar is LG.
Besides being superior in function and usability, I’m also impressed with the quality and longevity of those old machines. I’m using a 1980s era Elektra Bregenz microwave oven on a daily basis and it’s still going strong. I’d hate to replace it someday. Also, despite its age, I have the feeling that it’s faster than modern microwaves I’ve used.
I only use the quick mode, the normal mode and the defrost mode. My microwave also has an oven mode but that’s an additional built in electric heater, not a radio emitter. So it is not a microwave mode per se. I never cared about any other function or those combined functions because you cannot rely on them and I don’t want to set my house on fire either.
Oh BTW, I think the “Play-Doh” option isn’t for cooking it to eat, but when you have old, dried out Play-Doh that was left around so long that it becomes too hard to play with anymore. The microwave setting probably just helps soften it up again so you (or your kids/nephews/etc) can play with it again. Crazy that they even thought of that with their incredibly in-depth options.
The microwave my parent’s got when they got married(1980s Litton Meal-In-One, not sure the exact year) still works and they use it pretty often. It’s massive, you could cook an entire turkey if you wanted. It actually came with a set of racks and dishes to cook various meats and casseroles in. There’s also a stack of hardcover books detailing recipes and how to properly use all the features of the microwave. It was fully intended for you to cook literally everything in there. There is a massive ‘Auto-cook’ table next to the vertical numbers that lists most type of food along with a 2 digit number. When you punch in the Auto-Cook, select the number, it will then ask for the amount(or pounds for meat), and then what temperature you want it (rare through well done buttons). No. I’ve never cooked an entire turkey in there or much meat at all besides bacon and rarely defrosting hamburger in short notice. I used to use the auto-cook setting for ‘frankfurters’ as a kid since it seemed to cook them without bursting them every time. It doesn’t do any sensing, but it has a big table of power levels and times for various foodstuffs.
7:34 you’ve just answered your own question. With a neat offline solution like this there would be no need for a cooking appliance to go iot with a barcode scanner. And the manufacturer wouldn’t be able to sell your consuming habits to Amazon. The moment a large enough portion of society turns it’s back on “snooping iot overlords”, devices like this may well come back.
I saw this article and went “HMM… I wonder if he’s talking about the Sharp Carousel!” And then I realized that while the modern Sharp Carousel I’ve loved for my entire life is *fantastic*… it doesn’t compare to this one!! It DOES depend on whether or not this one has a convection oven feature, because we use that FAR too much to get rid of it. First, ours has a low temperature of around 100 degrees, which makes a PERFECT rising oven, and secondly, it cooks things very evenly while also NOT being the oven. Why does this matter? How many times have you had to juggle the timing of a tasty pie and a tasty roast, which are cooked at completely different temperatures? In our household it’s fairly common… so the pie goes into the Sharp Carousel at 325, and the roast can happily get it’s delicious Maillard crust at 500 in the oven! It also has a computerized defrost which Probably falls into the “preprogrammed timer” feature, but works very well so I have no quibbles.
I just have to say THANK YOU for taking the time and properly captioning your articles. While I am a perfectly hearing individual, my household prefers to have the captions on everything all of the time. Having real, edited, not auto-generated crap captions is wonderful. Especially since those of us that turn the captions on get even MORE of the humor we love you for. Don’t change!
Had to re watch minutes of the article after you showed the display animations as my mind wandered of thinking about a modern microwave implementing these thing but to the capacities of modern day graphics and immediately falling in love with the thought of owning a microwave that celebrated each action it made with a delightful animation.
“Popcorn is so important, it almost always gets its own button” I’ve only ever seen these on American microwaves. How common is it around the world? Here in the UK, most microwaves have power and timer controls, as well as a very low power defrost mode. I’ve never had one with any sort of automation.
It wasn’t until my old microwave from 1998 was out the door and gone forever that I discovered the 2018 model is so advanced it doesn’t have manual control for power settings. Want to thaw something? Figure out the weight and punch it in. Want to just warm something at 50% power? Forget it. And popcorn….yeah, no.
This is one article that will always make me smile. The wholesomeness, and down-to-earth-ey feel of every article you release makes my day a bit brighter. This article, however, just made me smile that extra bit more than I normally would on any given day. You have an amazing talent with recording articles, and I’ll be right here to watch that talent grow. One article at a time. See ya next time!!
I’ve got an Email microwave from the early 80’s or possibly late 70’s that has never missed a beat. It’s got a timer and a turnstyle of recipes. It also has a door handle lol It was rattling for a few years in the early 2000’s and then I moved it about half an inch from where it had sat since I was kid. The rattling stopped and has never returned.
It’s wonderful of kitchen appliances to also be clocks. I only wish that they could acquire the time on their own somehow after a power outage (preferably without being a snoop). Then again, when I was a kid my parents owned a property we didn’t actually use very often and the one time we came to the house after four months of not being there and the kitchen clocks were still set, it was like an act of God. We all stood there and stared at the stove for a minute. It was a vaguely entertaining moment at a very bad time in my life and for that I am grateful to kitchen appliances for not actually knowing the time.
In the early 2000s, my family used to have a White Sharp over-the-stove microwave that had all these same features including the animations, jingles, and recipes as well as the sensing capabilities. It was still a non-color dot matrix display but it actually had a resistive touch layer over it so it was touch screen. If I remember correctly, the number buttons were still physical buttons, but you could click through the menu options by touching the screen.
When I worked in China in the early 2000’s 1/3rd of the worlds microwave ovens were being built in the Shunde area of Guangdong province. There were multiple factories producing them and Midea was probably the biggest. they were certainly the most innovative – they produced the first steamer/microwave combination that I had seen.
When I sold appliances it was really, really difficult to explain this concept to people. Unless you care about matching the looks of all of your appliances, it will not make a difference. Pick the one that has the features you like at the best price. The only thing harder was explaining that no, the microwave will not explode because it has metal walls with a metal rack on the inside.
Just as an extra kicker, most of these manufacturers will proudly display a “made in the USA” label somewhere on the package so they can pretend that they’re one of the few brave businesses not subservient to our Chinese overlords. And this is technically legal, because yes, it was at one point touched in its production before packaging within the border of the United States. I work at a plant that assembles washing machines, and we do that exact same thing despite all but one part (the metal drum that’s too large to ship) being made in either China or Vietnam. Goes to show, if you really wanna buy domestic, you have to look for real niche local stuff, because anybody with any economic reach is going to be looking to outsource.
I actually have a Midea brand microwave oven. I was only willing to purchase this totally unknown brand, because only they sell one that fits my actual 16″ high space, and I’d learned that they make all the microwaves for all the other companies, so I figured that it would be just as good as any other.
Is It A Good Idea To Manufacture This? haha 😉 As someone who has used and destroyed some 50+ microwaves here on YouTube, I can tell you that certain brands do actually seem to perform drastically different than others. Even if the most popular models are all made by the same company; my greater-than-average anecdotal experience seems to disprove the idea that they all microwaves perform the same. (G.E. generally seemed to be one of the ‘heartier’ brands – FYI)
THANK YOU! I can finally speak to my parents and siblings again! 10 years ago when I first moved out on my own I purchased what I thought to be a great GE microwave. My mother was a die hard Black & Decker fan (like I would know that, right!?) We haven’t spoken since. But, I’ve sent them a link to this article and we’ve began emailing again with hopes that we will soon perhaps even speak on the phone. You may have saved my family! Thank you!
Luxottica is so much worse than just owning all the glasses manufacturing… they also own vision insurance (Eyemed) and they own optical companies like Target Optical, Pearle Vision, and LensCrafters. What happens when you make all the glasses that are sold in all your stores and paid for by your insurance provider? Can you say monopoly?
In case you wondering what “This Montage” was at 4:58. “The Toyota Camry and the Lexus ES 350 are the same car, both owned by Toyota. Orbit, Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, Big Red, Hubba Bubba, and 5 Gum are all owned by Wrigley, which is owned by Mars. Tyson owns Ball Park Franks, Hillshire Farm, and Jimmy Dean. Friskies, Fancy Feast, and Purina are all owned by Nestle. Stouffer’s, Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine, DiGiornio, and Buitoni are all also owned by Nestle. Unilever owns Good Humor, Breyers, Popsicle, Klondike, Magnum, and Ben & Jerry’s. Procter and Gamble own Head and Shoulders, Pantene, Aussie, and Herbal Essences. P&G also owns Swiffer, Mr.Clean, Febreze, Puffs, Bounty, and Charmin. Match Group owns Tinder, Match, Hinge, and OKCupid. There are so many more but it’s past midnight and I have to finish this article.”
Also guitars, the largest guitar manufacturer in the world is Cor-Tek in South Korea, Indonesia and China. They can sell some models under their “Cort” brand name, but they make guitars for almost everyone you can think of, even PRS (well their “Student” SE models anyway, everything else is made in Maryland. Only Gibsons are still all made in the USA… and the pricing shows it.
Alternative title: “The Frustrating Reason Why They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To”. It’s so rare to find an actual quality product these days. Everything sold by everyone is made by a handful of megamanufacturers in Asia, so if the thing you want has flaws, every product from every brand has that flaw and you can’t escape it.
In my experience, just because a company has a parent company doesn’t mean the child company operates at every whim of the parent company. Most operate almost entirely autonomous. The parent company will coordinate between them to ensure product and service offerings make sense, aren’t redundant with another child company offerings, etc.
The other phrase this is more commonly associated with is “badge engineering”, especially in reference to auto manufacturing. In some cases, badge engineering goes so far as to import cars under one brand, de-badge them, and then re-badge them as a domestic brand (called captive imports). Just ask GM why all their Pontiac GTOs had Holden as their part manufacture, or Chrysler why they had so many Lancers without badges on them.
I’m a scrapper. I pick up lots of appliances that people throw away, and the microwave is one of the most common. I’ve taken apart hundreds of microwaves in the past year and I noticed they all looked pretty similar on the inside. I take it apart to separate the metals. I remove the two electric motors, the transformer, and the wires. But I swear, half of them look the exact same way, the exact same layout on the inside. That makes it easier on me, making it an easy routine to process them(usually only takes as little as a minute with a hammer and drill). But at the same time that’s pretty disturbing now knowing that there’s basically a monopoly for them.
Sam: “Nearly every microwave is made by the same company.” Me: Nearly 20 years ago, I bought literally the cheapest microwave I could find, at WalMart, for about $40. Since that time, I have had over a DOZEN other microwaves, from various brands, including “commercial” ones, which have all failed. Every time one fails, I send it out to the trash and put that $40 one back on the counter until I get another ‘new’ microwave. Eventually, I stopped buying new microwaves, and just kept that super-cheap, rotary-dial “egg-timer” one. That cheap, boring microwave is still going today. I wonder if it’s made by that same company? This is certainly a case of “they don’t make ’em like they used to”, and “simple is better.” No fancy electronics. Nothing high-end about it. Just a rotary dial for the time, and a rotary switch with five levels on it. And it always works.
3:15 This is honestly one of the things that freaks me out most about the world. If terrorists were smart they wouldn’t be targeting federal buildings they’d be targeting things like semi conductor factories, the canals that connect the world (panema, suez, etc.) targets that multiple entire industries are built around.
4:59 “The Toyota Camry and the Lexus ES 350 are the same car, both owned by Toyota Orbit, Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, Big Red, Hubba Bubba, and 5 Gum are all owned by Wrigley, which is owned by Mars Tyson owns Ball Park Franks, Hillshire Farm, and Jimmy Dean Friskies, Fancy Feast, and Purina are all owned by Nestle Souffer’s, Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine, DiGiornio, and Buitoni are all also owned by Nestle Unilever owns Good Humor, Breyers, Popsicle, Klondike, Magnum, and Ben & Jerry’s Procter and Gamble own Head and Shoulders, Pantene, Aussie, and Herbal Essences P&G also owns Swiffer, Mr. Clean, Febreze, Puffs, Bounty, and Charmin Match Group owns Tinder, Match, Hinge, and OKCupid There are so many more but it’s past midnight and I have to finish this article”
Whenever I think of multi-branded cars, the first two to come to my mind are GMC Yukon/Chevrolet Tahoe/Cadillac Escalade and Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Gramdarquis. Of course, there are many more examples, including Chrysler Town and Country/Dodge Caravan. Non-American companies can also do this, but these are the only ones I can think of for now.
You didn’t mention that companies like Midea sometimes license the name of a big company to sell goods under another name. The company will then recieve a licensing cut for the profit on each unit solved (Siemens and Bosch do this with the “Siemens und Bosch Haushaltsgeräte GmbH” for example, a business that operates completely on its own but sells products named by these two companies).
When I worked at Ford one of our production lines was tagged as “Fairmont/Zephyr” Literally the only difference between the 2 models was the nameplate. Yet there were still a lot of people who would buy the more expensive Zephyr from Lincoln/Mercury than the cheaper Fairmont sold by Ford. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln “You can fool some of the people all of the time; and all of the people some of the time; but to really make a fortune you find a way to fool all of the people all of the time.”
I was thinking of making my own microwaves (and other devices) but more open designed. For example isn’t it annoying that you can’t customize the panel? With the more digital variants it would be nice to have your own quick menus, disable the sound, change the sound and so on. I was also thinking why every microwave uses the 2.4 GHz frequenz. Well the reason is simple, it’s the frequenz everyone can use for free and it’s less restrictive. The issue is that everyone uses it and it can interfere with other things. But my question is if a different frequency would be better. When for example the 7GHz frequenz would be way more energy efficient, why not trying to get a license and sell it with this frequenz? Also with the one thing sold by different companies is very common. For example there is one car that is sold by 3 companies. There is the Ford Galaxy 1, that is also sold by VW and Seat under a different brand name (part of the VW company). Ford and VW aren’t one big company, like VW, Audi, Porsche and so on. The Ford parts are cheaper and the VW engines are a bit more powerful. You could put the VW engine into the Ford car without a problem. Also there are some white label devices. There a company buys the product and their brand name gets printed on it and maybe even branded software. It’s a bit different than the practice mentioned in the article. There they make unique products for these companies. There is also even the parts trick. A company buys a complex part and slaps.
The front-end of almost every car, (and many other vehicles) are also made by a single company. For over 30 years now, most all vehicles have front-end “bumpers” that appear fully integrated with the body of the car. In reality its a painted vac-formed plastic cover, over an impact-absorbing Styrofoam backing and every major auto manufacture sources them from: Flex-N-Gate. Sound like a good investment opportunity; well you needn’t worry about that; according to Forbes, Flex-N-Gate is 46th largest privately-held American company and is wholly owned by essentially one man; Pakistani-American billionaire Shahid Khan. Last year he ranked 94th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, making him about the 291st richest person in the world.
one reason to split companies up is legal reason: most Countries have laws (or at least here in Europe) who prevents companies to get a monopol, specially if it involves a basic need and a payment of it. an example that I know: in our country/state we have one big company who produce electric energy, sell it to the households and to the world and distribute it, aka build the infrastructure for it like cables and so to prefent a monopol about it, the state said, it needs to split the basic service and the payment part up, so know their is one main company, where we pay our stuff to it and get usual mail and then their is the daughter company who owns the cables and so and keep it working and is forced to keep it working, no matter where it is and so as electricity is a basic need and it needs to provide it
Even if they were not all manufactured by Midea, all microwaves would be the same, regardless. The reason they only come in 3 sizes, small medium and large, is because the internal dimensions must be exact such that the microwave radiation is reflected, rather than absorbed. Any different, and once it hits the opposite side of the internal chamber, much if it’s energy is lost and absorbed as heat. However, my measuring the wavelength itself, you can determine just how far the wave moves before it is within the mathematical ideal position to be reflected, retaining your energy. And thus, regardless of Midea, all microwaves would still have the same dimensions, and therefore the same parts, because it has already been perfected.
I think the worst case of car rebadging is from GM, of course it always was and still is. But I think one of the most rebadged models is the lovely time in the 00s when they sold the same SUV under 6 different names in the U.S alone. Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7x, Oldsmobile Bravada, and Isuzu Ascender.
fwiw there are some microwaves that are genuinely better than those by having inverter technology that doesn’t just do a full power on-off pulse regime but actually dials down the power output for a consistent lower power output. for the cheaper microwaves i’m sure they are all made by this company though.
Another secret is that the many ‘functions’ of a microwave consist of variations on ‘turn on for X seconds, turn off for Y seconds’ and all they really do is make the majority of normal microwaving tasks take longer. Old microwaves that have two rotary dials – one for power, one for time – are the best IMHO. If you want to defrost, set the time high and the power low. If you want to reheat soup, high power. No fiddling with keypads.
Panasonic, LG and Samsung Microwaves are not made by Midea. And all are avaliable in the US. (Although very entry levels of the Panasonic seem to be made by Midea) I have a higher end Panasonic Microwave and so far it has been wonderful! I can boil a large mug of water in 2 minutes flat! 😋 Also not all Midea Microwaves are the same. Different brands do design their Microwaves differently. Midea just then builds to that spec. So some Midea Microwaves are cheap junk. While others are well designed and engineered. Midea is simply building them to the respective brands requirements.
3:36 “These companies, sometimes called OEDs, or Original Equipment Manufacturers, are everywhere.” I’m not so sure about that. It probably depends on the market, but I would not be surprised if most are in China. Weird true story: In 1983 I was about to graduate with BS in computer science and was interviewing on campus with various companies. One “university relations specialist” I interviewed with touted that his company was an OEM. I didn’t know what that meant so I asked him, but he seemed really pissed off and didn’t bother to explain. Needless to say, I did not accept their offer.
Midea also makes most window air conditioners on the market. Luxottica also owns a bunch of eyeglasses/contacts stores (Pearlevision, LensCrafters, Contacts Direct, Target Optical, Sunglasses Hut, etc.), plus they also own EyeMed Vision, one of the largest vision benefits program providers. They really have the optical market cornered!
Just wow, I work in the HVAC industry in Latin America. Have known this brand as the biggest HVAC manufacturing company in china, so they manufacture light commercial equipment for other American brands, in fact the first and second generations of variable refrigerant for some brands were made by Midea. Now they are expanding businesses here in comercial and applied hvac
It’s why microwaves suuuuuck compared to how good they COULD be, the old magic chef variable power ones were the best. Instead of turning rapidly on and off if you set it to 50% power they would power on 50%. That meant you could melt chocolate or butter in them perfectly without burning. It’s the absolute minimum every microwave should have and it’s so rare I don’t even know if any microwaves are actively being made with it.
I break e-waste for a job. Can confirm, theyre all the same. Same motors in every blender, same transformers and emitters in microwaves, same circuits and compressors in almost all fridges. Buying a “brand” is either a sucker move, or out of nostalgia for older shoppers but they are ALL the same stuff now.
From the montage, the Camry and the Lexus ES 350 aren’t the same vehicle, they’re just based on the same platform/chassis. Toyota does own Lexus, yes, but that’s because Lexus is Toyota’s luxury marque (like Cadillac and Chevrolet, both owned by GM but Cadillac is the upmarket marque). They’ll share parts and other things but they are different. The same thing can be said about the Toyota Avalon and base model Lexuses too, they have a lot in common but they aren’t the same. It’s not like badge engineered/swapped cars like the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix.
Since I don’t have a Microwave I went for the next best thing and checked where Miele produces their products ( like my Nespresso Coffee Machine ) and according to a quick search and they appear to be still one of the companies that have their shit together and produce most of their stuff locally in Germany ( whatever “most” means ) 😁 You know what bonkers me the most? The utter lack of innovation from Companies outside of China when it comes to stuff catering to the DIY market… Sure I love my BOSCH IXO 6 Electric Screwdriver but the task I’d have love to use it for the most would have been for drilling holes into plastic parts of scale models because of its decent size, torque, etc… but the lack of Hexagonal Drill Bits in the sub 2mm range made this pretty much a nogo and gets even worse when you need holes between 1.0 and 2.0mm… Enter the Chinese MiniWare Company and their… well… Mini Utilities like the ES15 Electric Screwdriver with type 400 shank bits that are compatible with Japanese God Hand 4mm Hexagon Hand Drill Bits ranging from 0.5-3.0mm. BEST – COMBO – EVER. Same for the MiniWare TS80P USB-C Soldering Iron the size of a pen /chefskiss. Western counterparts? Nonexistent like with so many other stuff I keep discovering – Like WTF 😑
I know someone who has an Amana Radarange “Touchmatic II” from the 1970s. It still works great, and for several reasons it’s far better than any microwave made today. It’s also very heavy and pretty big for the size of the cooking compartment, but it is used only for small items, so that isn’t a problem for him.
I wouldn’t say a Lexus E350 and a Camry are exactly the same, they just share the core parts. If you want cars almost literally indistinguishable from each other, look at the Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ. They literally work together to manufacture the same thing, and then swap in their own stylistic bits at the end. Or sometimes car companies from different countries will fill in the gaps in each other’s lineups by rebranding each other’s cars, which I believe happened a lot between Ford and Holden (AUS), or before 2012 with Ford and Mazda. Often Ford, now that I think about it lol
The only difference between brands tends to, but not always, quality. Sunbeam Microwaves tend to die within a year of very light use so you have to purchase another one. I also refuse to buy Black and Decker products for the same reason. So they may be made by the same factory and some of the parts may be the same but the circuitry boards and components may be of inferior quality IMO so the individual brand can shave off a few pennies and make a larger profit. A certain computer brand was (is?) notorious for assembling their machines with the cheapest parts they could buy in bulk. So capacitors in one machine could be made in Korea while the exact same model in the next production run would have bulk parts bought from Vietnam. Made for their products to be very unreliable and frustrating for consumers because it was a “Crap Roll” if you got quality parts installed during production.
Laptop fun facts – the only brands that actually design and make their own laptops are Lenovo (ex-ibm) and Asus, all the other brands are designed and made by the companies shown. Apples are designed and made by Asus. This means that brand H and brand D often share the same system board and the only difference is branding differences in the bios. When I used to work with Quanta (very high quality), I knew which H and D models were the same and was mystified that Consumer Reports never figured it out.