Ovens Direct

Sometimes you just want to makie a meal without the fuss, as quickly as possible. For those times, there’s the microwave oven. Saying that, a microwave oven doesn’t just have to be a cheap piece of kit with only one trick; there’s a huge range of microwave ovens out there on the market, each with different features and settings to make your culinary life easier and more simple. That’s why we’re going to take a look at the top 5 microwave ovens on the market right now, ranging in price from under £100, to just under £1000.

5. Coming in at number 5 is this bargain hunter’s favourite, the Bosch Freestanding 800W 17 litre microwave. It’s the most affordable oven on our list but it still performs brilliantly every time. - HMT75M461B

Microwave Oven

4. Next on our list is this Bosch 800W Microwave with Grill. Still brilliantly affordable, it not only offers a microwave function but also comes with an integrated grill! – HMT75G451B

Microwave Oven

3. Bronze medal position goes to a microwave oven that can’t quite stand up on its own! We’re talking about the Neff Built-in 800W Microwave, which is so stylish it’ll fit perfectly into any kitchen. – H53W50S0GB

Microwave Oven

2. Just missing out on top spot is another Neff; the Neff Combination built-in microwave oven and grill. Featuring hot air grilling and 41 automatic cooking programmes, it would be the ultimate in microwave cooking… – C57M70N0GB

Microwave Oven

1. …if not for the De Dietrich Microwave Combination Oven! Featuring both microwave and fan oven capabilities, alongside a powerful grill and an endless list of functions, this is without doubt the best microwave oven on the market. – DME799X

Microwave Oven

The bastion of student cooking: the microwave oven. We’ve touched on the roots of this previously, but now we’re going to take a closer look at just how this saviour of the single man developed. Strap yourself in, it’s a thrilling ride.

The technology itself, based on high-frequency electric fields, was first mooted back in the early 1930s, however in those ancient times its use in the culinary domain had never been considered. In fact, the early microwave oven was concerned more with something called dielectric materials. No, I’ve no clue what they are either, but I’m pretty confident they’re not edible.

The actual heating effect of the microwave oven was discovered completely by accident, when an American engineer called Percy Spencer was building magnetrons for use in radar systems. As he was hard at work with his microwaves, he noticed that the peanut chocolate bar in his pocket had started to melt. Curiouser and curiouser, he thought to himself. Probably. To double-check that he wasn’t going absolutely nuts (get it?) he crafted a metal box to focus the microwaves, and had another pop at it. Surprisingly enough, it worked!

By 1945, Raytheon, with whom Spencer was associated, filed a US patent for the microwave cooking process, and shortly afterwards the very first microwave oven was installed in a Boston restaurant. Hardly the most glamorous of debuts for the future of speedy cooking, but it clearly didn’t do the microwave oven any harm as it was soon to spark a culinary revolution.

Without warning, the microwave oven market exploded. Not literally, as that would have been catastrophic. By the 1960s there were a large number of different companies manufacturing microwave ovens, and technology had improved to such an extent that prices were dropping through the floor in comparison to the early models. That trend has continued, and current estimates suggest that over 90% of households in America own a microwave oven. Some lucky people even own more than one.

So there you have it, the history of  microwave ovens! Hopefully that hasn’t fried your brain.