10 Best Microwave Ovens in India (2022) Buyer’s Guide & Reviews!

February 28, 2022 / RefrigeratorPro Team

If you are planning to purchase a microwave oven for your family, then we can help you with our reviews of India’s best microwave ovens. In this article, we have covered reviews, pros & cons and buyers’ guide so that you can make an informed decision to purchase the right microwave oven for your home.

Best Microwave Ovens in India

Finding best microwave oven for your home is not easy because of they are of many types and come with different features. We have curated this list of best microwave ovens in India just for you so that you can take a look at top ovens and decide which one will suit your needs.

Best Convection Microwave Ovens

Convection microwave ovens are multifunctional ovens that can be used to cook, grill, bake and reheat food among other features. These are higher priced than other types of microwave ovens because they can be used for cooking a vast variety of dishes.

1. LG 32 L Convection Microwave Oven

LG is one of the best home appliance makers worldwide. No wonder this South Korean giant is one of the most popular microwave oven brands in India. LG 32 L Convection microwave oven is one of the best-selling ovens from LG. Let’s see all of its key features.

• Its capacity is 32 litres, which is prefect for mid and large families
• Diet Fry feature for cooking fried food with less oil.
• 360° rotating motorized rotisserie.
• Suitable for cooking, grilling, baking and reheating
• 1 year warranty on product
• Decent 2500 watts power

This microwave oven is a convection model oven which means that you can use it for a variety of purposes such as cooking, grilling, baking, reheating, etc. Also, its 32-litre capacity is ideal for medium and large Indian households.

This microwave oven comes with Diet Fry option. This option lets you prepare food that required deep frying without using excess oil. Thus, you can prepare snacks such as pakoras and samosas using less oil. This is a healthy alternative that can be used when you get that craving for guilty food.

An additional non-stick multi-cook tawa comes free with this oven. You can use it to cook food items that require extra browning and bottom heating.

Another key feature of this oven is the Autocook Menu. As the name suggests, with the help of this feature, you can cook food based on inbuilt cooking time and temperature settings. Once you select the right program and press the Start button, it will run based on the inbuilt setting without the need for you to worry about time and temperature needed. While the food is cooking, you can do other household chores, thus saving time and effort.

With the help of its 211 Indian auto cook menu option, you can make food items such as ghee, curd, paneer, dosa and so on easily and quickly.

You can prepare almost all types of Indian breads with this microwave oven. With the help of its Indian Roti Basket (baking feature), you can cook up to twelve different types of rotis- naans, sweet rotis, parathas, kulchas, tandoori rotis, lachcha, rumali rotis and so on.

Another interesting feature of this microwave oven is its Pasteurize Milk feature. Everyone understands the importance of pasteurized milk, but it is a tedious process and possibility of spillage is always there. Pasteurize Milk feature removes this drawback of traditional method of boiling milk. You simply have to place the container filled with milk inside the oven and touch the Pasteurize Milk option.

This will save you time and it will preserve the nutrition inside milk. Thus, this is one of the most hassle-free ways to pasteurize milk.

This microwave oven features 360° rotating motorized rotisserie to provide heat on all corners of the food item. This means that you can cook items such as chicken tikka, paneer tikka, kebabs etc. without worrying about uneven cooking.

Stainless steel interiors ensure that this oven is long-lasting and durable. Apart from giving an aesthetic finish, steel also ensures that heat is distributed optimally inside the oven.

Finally, this oven comes with a Quartz heater. It is concealed in the oven in a way that keeps you safe from its heat while taking out the dish. Also, quartz heater type is one of the best heaters available in the market.

Pros

• The 32-litre capacity is ideal for medium and large households.
• Multiple auto cook menu for hassle-free cooking.
• Uniform cooking ensures enhanced taste.

Cons

• Can make slight noise sometimes

2. IFB 30 L Convection Microwave Oven

IFB is one of the best home appliances brands in India. Their expertise in understanding Indian customers and bringing products that suit their needs is very high. Their microwave ovens are also very good in quality and durability.

• 30 Litres capacity is perfect for large households.
• Speed ​​Defrost feature defrosts frozen food in very less time.
• Auto Cook Feature with 101 standard menus.
• Auto reheat feature to reheat food in very less time.
• Rotating rotisserie to prepare tikkas, kababs and other similar items in restaurant style.
• 2200 watt power
• Child lock feature for safety of children.
• 1 year warranty on product

This microwave oven comes with more features as compared to many other ovens in the market. On top of it, it is quite affordable considering its features. So if you are looking for a feature-packed microwave oven at decent pricing, then you can consider this oven.

This microwave oven comes with Auto Cook Setting. This setting features 101 standard menus. It means that it has 101 inbuilt menus pre-programmed into the oven that you can use to automatically prepare food without worrying about other settings such as time and temperature needed for cooking a particular food item. This menu includes popcorn, beverage, rice, cake, cookies, pizza, barbeque, among other recipes.

Another interesting feature of this oven is its Speed ​​Defrost feature. This option is useful for defrosting frozen food quickly. All you have to do is select the weight of food item and touch the start button. The defrost feature will adjust the heating based on the weight and defrost the item within few minutes.

IFB 30 L microwave oven comes with multi-stage cooking feature. With the help of this feature, you can make foods of different types of textures.

This oven also has an Auto reheat feature. With the help of this option, you can quickly reheat your food item.

One very useful feature for Indian households is the Steam Clean feature. Indian food uses lot of oil / ghee. This results in accumulation of grease on the inside of the microwave. The steam clean feature in this oven uses hot steam to clean oil / greese inside the oven. This makes the cleaning hassle-free and quick.

This microwave oven comes with special features which can be quite useful if you have kids at home. One such feature is its disinfect feature. You can sterilize milk bottles, baby pots and other containers that require thorough cleaning from germs and other harmful micro-organisms. This feature can also be used if someone is sick your house and you want to sterilize the utensils in best possible manner.

Another kid friendly feature is the child lock option. This option locks the microwave oven and unless you disable it, no one can operate it. Thus, it can be helpful in preventing accidents.

Finally, this oven also has a rotating rotisserie, which ensures proper cooking of the food items. 360 degree rotation gives heat evenly in all directions, thus you can cook items such as paneer tikka and chicken tikka, kebabs etc. without worrying about uneven cooking.

You have options such as microwave + convection, microwave + grill apart from separate button for turning the rotisserie.

This oven is equipped with an easy-to-use touch keypad. A very convenient feature of its control panel is that there is an option to increase the timer by 10 seconds, 60 seconds and even 10 minutes.

Pros

• Ideal for grilling, baking, reheating etc.
• Packed with many useful features.
• Kid-friendly features such as child lock and disinfect feature.
• Low power consumption at 2200 watts.

Cons

• Higher price can be a concern for some users
• Can make slight noise sometimes

3. Samsung 28 L Convection Microwave Oven

Samsung is another multinational from South Korea that is extremely popular among Indian consumers. It is known for bringing high quality electronic products even though pricing of Samsung products can be on the higher side sometimes, which makes it ideal for premium customers.

• 28-litre capacity is ideal for almost any large Indian household.
• Pre-programmed Indian recipe for convenient cooking.
• Slim Fry technology for frying food items with less oil.
• Tandoor feature for cooking tandoori roti and other tandoori items.
• Advanced fermentation technology for making curd easily.
• Child lock feature to prevent accidents.
• User-friendly touch keypad
• 1 year warranty on product

One of the most interesting features of this oven is its Tandoor feature. One of the biggest problems with tandoori food items is that the temperature required is very high, which is difficult to get. Tandoor feature heats the oven to more than 200 degree Celcius so that you can make tandoori food items such as crispy rotis, naans etc. at the touch of a button.

Another helpful feature in this oven is its advanced fermentation feature. This feature helps in preparing curd or fermented dough by providing perfect temperature to prepare them quickly. Thus, you do not have to worry about the temperature and its duration for fermenting process.

The oven also comes with SlimFry feature. This feature helps in preparing fried food without using much oil. This is possible by combining grill and warm air circulation that provides optimum temperature for cooking with least amount of oil required. Thus, it is a healthy way to cook.

Another feature of this oven is its pre-programmed Indian recipe. This feature is similar to other ‘auto cook’ setting in other convection microwave ovens in our list. The temperature and duration for different recipes are pre-programmed. All you have to do is, choose the recipe from settings and it will automatically enable the settings required for the particular food item. Thus, you don’t have to worry about over-cooking or under-cooking your food.

It comes with user-friendly membrane touch keypad. It is quite convenient to use and easy to clean as well.

This oven also comes with a child lock function to keep your kids safe. Since microwave is an electronic equipment which can reach very high temperature of up to 200 degrees, child lock is an important function to prevent any accidents by locking the oven.

Pros

• High capacity makes it ideal for large families
• Good number of features
• Ultra-stylish looks

Cons

• Higher power consumption due to larger capacity

4. IFB 23 L Convection Microwave Oven

We bring you another IFB microwave oven that comes with almost all the advanced feature at a decent price point. Read on further to no more details.

• 23 litres capacity is suitable for medium-sized Indian households.
• Suitable for grilling, baking, cooking and reheating food.
• 71 Auto-Cook Settings for convenient cooking.
• Power Grill and Combi Tech feature for preparing crispy, restaurant-style tikkas.
• Speed ​​Defrost feature to defrost frozen foods in very less time.
• Warranty: 1 year on product & 3 years on magnetron & cavity
• The Child Lock feature to protects your kids.
• Low power consumption at 1400 watts

The 23 litre capacity of the oven is ideal for med-sized Indian families with three to four members. This microwave oven can be used for cooking baking, grilling, and reheating food.

71 Auto Cook setting of this microwave comes with 71 different recipes that are inbuilt. You only have to select the recipe and approx. weight of your food item. The inbuilt system will adjust all the settings based on your inputs and will prepare almost-perfect meal.

Typically, higher number of recipes require more programming and come at higher cost. For example, IFB 20 Litres microwave oven comes with only 24 different types of recipes. As a rule of thumb, higher capacity ovens will have more pre-programmed recipes. Thus, you can go with higher capacity ovens if you are looking for more number of pre-programmed recipes.

Another notable feature of this microwave oven is its ability to prepare crispy, brown, restaurant-style tikkas at home. You can make paneer tikka or chicken tikka and even some types of kababs with the help of this feature.

If you want to de-frost your food items quickly, then you can use its speed defrost feature. All you have to do is select the weight of the food item and use defrost option. The food will defrost within few minutes. This way you can do other preparations for cooking while the food get defrosted and start cooking the defrosted food as soon as the defrosting is complete.

As discussed, this microwave oven can reheat cooked food at the touch of a button. Its Auto Reheat feature will heat cooked food in a convenient manner. The power and duration are pre-programmed in this feature, thus you do not have to worry about overheating the food item.

This oven also comes with Steam Clean option. This feature is very helpful in cleaning the grease from inside of the oven. Just select this option and wait for few minutes and your oven will be ready for quick cleaning.

It also comes with Express Cooking option that will cook food items faster than regular cooking.

This IFB microwave oven comes with child lock feature to protect your kids from accidents.

Another safety setting of this oven is its overheating protection feature. It switches off the microwave automatically if the temperature of the oven gets too high. This is an additional precaution in case the temperature inside the microwave oven gets too high. Even though there is less chance of microwave overheating, extra protection is always helpful.

Also, if you buy any IFB microwave oven, you get the option of participating in microwave cooking classes as well.

Pros

• 71 auto cook menus, which is a decent number.
• Long lasting oven.
• Touch sensitive digital display that is easy to clean.
• Power consumption is lower because of its lower capacity.

Cons

• Not ideal for large families

5. LG 28 L Convection Microwave Oven

LG is one of the leaders in microwave market. No wonder we bring you another microwave oven from this brand. LG microwave ovens are known for high number of pre-programmed menus and higher number of features at fair price as compared to some of the other multinational brands out there.

• 28-litre capacity suitable for large Indian families.
• Many pre-programmed Indian recipes for hassle-free cooking.
• Suitable for different types of cooking- grilling, baking, cooking, reheating, defrosting.
• Prepares paneer, curd in very less time.
• Can prepare Ghee in 12 minutes.
• Health Plus Menu for health-conscious users.
• Additional features such as Steam Clean, Two Stage Cooking, Quick Defrost and Quick Start.
• Power watt-age stands at 1150 watts
• 1 year warranty on product while 10 years warranty on ceramic enamel cavity

LG 28 L Convection Microwave Oven is one of the best ovens if you compare the amount of features and its pricing. This model comes at very attractive pricing and that too with a  high capacity of 28 litres. Let’s take a look at all the key features of this oven.

First of all, 28 litres of capacity is ideal for medium and even large Indian families and it is suitable for families with four to five members. It is ideal for grilling, baking, cooking and reheating food.

Its auto cook menu comes with many pre-programmed menus that are specific to Indian home needs. All you have to do is select the dish that you want to cook and press start button and wait for few minutes to get cooked food. The menu is specially designed for Indian customers so that you will get food menus of your choice.

Since this oven caters to the needs of Indian customers so well, LG has introduced another useful feature. This notable feature is the Ghee making ability. This feature will help in preparing pure ghee in only 12 minutes. Preparing ghee is a time taking task that requires effort. You can use this oven to reduce your effort in making smell-free and hygienic ghee.

Another equally useful feature of this oven is its paneer and curd making ability. Just like ghee, paneer and curd require time and effort. You can make curd and paneer in less time and in a convenient manner in this oven.

Its cavity is made of stainless steel. It ensures better heating because the heat is reflected and distributed evenly all around ensuring even cooking. On top of it, stainless-steel finish looks unique and elegant. Also, the body of this oven is made of high-quality ABS plastic ensuring long life and durability.

This oven comes with ceramic enamel cavity. This material is inexpensive, and helps in decent heat distribution. Also, most of the solo microwave ovens come with ceramic enamel cavity. However, over long run, it can chip off and get damaged. But you should not worry because LG understand this and it gives a high 10-year warranty on the ceramic enamel.

This microwave also comes with autocook menu that caters to health conscious users. This is its Health Plus Menu. This is yet another way to keep yourself healthy with the help of this microwave oven.

Pros

• 28 litres capacity ideal for large families.
• High number of features compared to other models
• Suitable for preparing ghee, paneer, curd etc.
• Stainless steel cavity
• Quartz heater

Cons

• No starter kit provided along with the product

Best Solo Microwave Ovens

6. Samsung 23 L Solo Microwave Oven

When it comes to solo microwave ovens, Samsung is one of the most sought-after along with LG. Samsung 23 L Solo microwave oven is one of the best-selling solo ovens in Indian market. Read further to know why.

• 23 litre capacity is ideal for small and medium-sized families.
• Suitable for cooking, reheating and defrosting.
• Pre-programmed Indian recipe for quick and easy cooking.
• Cavity made of ceramic enamel.
• Convenient control panel.
• Energy-saving mode to save on your power bills.
• Power watt-age at 1150 watts
• 1 year warranty

This is a solo microwave oven, which means that you cannot use it for grilling or baking. It is ideal for cooking, reheating and defrosting.

This solo microwave oven comes with Indian Recipe option. It means that there are many pre-programmed Indian menus available. This helps in quick and easy preparation of Indian recipes. You only need to select the dish from the menu and press the start button. This will automatically load all the settings required to cook the particular recipe and you can do your household chores while the food is being prepared.

This oven comes with Ceramic Enamel Cavity. The interior of this oven is made up of ceramic enamel. This material helps in even distribution of heat by reflecting heat from all its corners. It is also scratch-resistant, and easy to clean. This ceramic enamel also give protection from growth of microorganisms.

A decent feature of this oven is its user-friendly control panel. Most of the solo ovens come with dial-based control only. However, the control panel of this oven includes tact buttons and Jog Dials. Tact buttons help in adding more features in the microwave oven. They are also cost effective as compared to touch panels.

Samsung 23 L Solo microwave oven also has features an energy-saving mode. This mode works by selecting the energy-saving option. Once you select this feature, it reduces the standby power consumption considerably. This can be helpful in reducing your power bills.

This oven also comes with child lock feature. This is an important function to keep your kids safe. Since microwave ovens are electronic equipment and can harm users if not used with precaution, its necessary to have a child lock setting so that kids can be protected from accidents.

Pros

• Decent pricing
• Ceramic enamel cavity
• Modern design
• Indian recipe option

Cons

• May not be suitable for large families

7. LG 20 L Solo Microwave Oven

It’s not possible that we talk about solo microwave ovens and LG’s name doesn’t appear in our list. We have chosen LG 20 L Solo Microwave Oven because it brings features which are not available in many of its rivals, such as- Intellowave Technology, touch pad, several cooking menus, child lock feature and so on. Read on further to know all of its key features.

• It features 44 different auto-cook options.
• It has stainless steel body.
• It has advanced touch keypad convenient control.
• Features child lock system for better safety.
• Comes with cooking completion alarm.
• It comes with anti-bacterial coating.
• 1 year warranty

This model comes with a capacity of 20 litres. Thus, it is ideal for small and mid-sized families.

LG 20 L Solo Microwave Oven comes with Intellowave technology. This technology ensuresthat the food is cooked quickly and without destroying the nutrients of the food.

The model is perfect for you if you are looking for safety from microorganisms. It comes with an anti-bacterial coating. This prevents build-up of harmful microorganisms inside the oven. Thus, chances of bad odour decrease helping in easier and faster cleaning.

This oven also features several different auto cook options. This is quite high number when we compare it to other solo microwave options. On top of it, using these features is also not difficult as it is designed in a user-friendly manner.

Another important feature of this oven is its sleek design. It is black in color and stylish in looks. Thus it go well with almost all the modern kitchens.

Another notable feature of the oven is its touch panel. Most of the Solo microwave ovens usually do not come with touch panels, and are instead equipped manual control systems. Touch panel further enhances the premium look of this oven.

Finally, there is an energy-saving feature inbuilt that will turn the oven off automatically when it has not been used for more than five minutes.

Pros

• Decent 20-litre capacity is suited for small and mid-sized families.
• Auto shutoff feature saves energy.
• Long lasting and durable stainless steel build.
• Modern design.
• Anti-bacterial coating prevents build-up of harmful microorganisms.

Cons

• Price is on the higher side

8. Morphy Richards 20 L Solo Microwave Oven

Morphy Richards is a British multinational that was founded in 1936. Even though this brand is known for food processors, heater and other home appliances, it has a decent range of microwave ovens in India. Let’s take a look at one of its best solo microwave ovens- 20 L Solo microwave oven 20 MS.

• 20 litres capacity is suitable for small families.
• Ideal for cooking, reheating, defrosting.
• 5 power levels for different types of food items.
• Mirror door finish for stylish looks.
• 2 years of product warranty.

This is a 20 litre microwave oven, which means that it is ideal for small and medium-sized families. Also, since it is a solo oven, you cannot use it for baking or grilling. However, it is perfect for cooking, reheating and defrosting.

This oven comes with 5 power levels for different cooking needs. This features allows you to regulate heating based on your cooking requirement. This is because different food items require different temperature settings. Thus, 5 different temperature settings can be useful to cook food optimally.

You can use this oven to prepare meals such as cup-cakes, toast nuts and potato chips. You can also preserve herbs by evaporating their moisture. Other food items that you can prepare easily are rice, pulao, upma, halwa, dhokla, chocolate fudge. If you are health conscious, then you can use it to steam vegetables as well.

Another useful feature in this oven is its manual defrost option. You can use this feature to defrost your frozen food items so that your food is ready to be cooked. Once the food is defrosted, you can use the same oven to cook meals as well.

One important safety feature in this oven is its overheat sensory protection. This feature will shut off the oven automatically in case the oven gets overheated. This is important because overheating can damage the oven and it can even cause fire in extreme cases.

The door of this oven comes with mirror finish. This means that it is good to look at and gives it a sleek look. Thus it can go well with different types of kitchens.

This oven also comes with powder coated cavity. This is inexpensive as compared to steel cavity and it’s also far superior to conventional paints in durability and hardness. However, prolonged use can result in chipping off.

Pros

• Efficient performance.
• Attractive performance.
• Protection from overheating.
• 2 year warranty

Cons

• Not ideal for very long term use.

9. Bajaj 17 L Solo Microwave Oven

Bajaj has comes up with some of the best solo microwave ovens in recent years. Bajaj 17 L Solo microwave oven is one of the best ovens in its range. The oven is built with stainless steel and consumes less energy. And like other Bajaj ovens, it long lasting and durable. Let’s see its other notable features.

• Capacity of the oven is 17 litres
• Made up of stainless steel.
• Power watt-age at 700 Watt
• Five different power levels
• 1 year warranty

This microwave oven has a capacity of 17 litres. This means that it is suitable for small families. However, this can be used by mi-sized families as well.

One of the best things about this model is that it’s made up of stainless steel. Stainless steel is better than other material such as ceramic. It has longer life and there is no chance of chipping in the cavity of the microwave. On top of it, it gives better heating by shining off most of the heat. Also, steel is better at protecting the oven from any leakages

The power rating of this oven is 700 watts. This means that it is ideal for moderate amount of food. This also means that it will keep your power bills lower as compared to other ovens in the range.

It also comes with a mechanical knob just like many other solo microwave ovens. This system is inexpensive and is more long lasting as compared to digital display. Also, they are easier to use and convenient to maintain. You can use 30-minute timer as well for prolonged heating.

The control system of this oven consists of jog dials. These are durable and easy-to-use. There are 2 jog dials. One is for regulating power and other one for setting the duration. The system is pretty basic and seems good for bachelors and couples. This type of system is also cost effective as compared to touch panels.

According to some customer complaints in watt-age of this oven is 1200 watts, while output is close to 700 watts. Which can mean that it is not consuming energy efficiently. However, we are yet to test it.

Pros

• Mechanical knob is long lasting and convenient to use.
• Attractive pricing.
• Efficient product that can work at different power levels.

Cons

• Small capacity

10. IFB 17L Solo Microwave Oven

IFB brings decent solo as well as convectional microwave ovens. This 17 L Solo microwave oven is one of the best solo ovens from IFB and it enjoys considerable popularity among Indian customers due to its features and design.

• 17 litre capacity is ideal for small families.
• Has three different auto-cook menu options.
• Comes with a timer.
• Equipped with Flexi Power Control system.
• Unique Jog Dial control system.
• 1 year warranty

As you can see, this model has a capacity of 17 litres. This means that if you are a small family, then you can purchase it for your home use. Most of the solo microwave ovens come in sub-20 litres of capacity. Thus, if you want to purchase a solo oven, then you may not worry much about the capacity of solo ovens and focus more on features, design and pricing.

Also, since this is a solo model, you should ideally use it for cooking and reheating. It also comes with weight defrost feature. All you have to do is add the weight of the food item and switch it on. The food will get defrosted in minutes.

This solo oven comes with stainless steel cavity (interior). As discussed earlier, stainless steel is more durable, long lasting and better than heating when we compare it to ceramic cavities.

Just like most of the other solo microwave ovens, it does not feature digital display. IFB 17 L Solo microwave oven comes with unique Jog Dials. You can use these mechanical dials for convenient cooking.

This oven also comes with six different power levels for different types of cooking needs.

There are three different cooking menus (recipes) available in this model. These three recipes are rice, fish and vegetables. Upon selecting the desired menu, settings will load automatically.

Also, the oven comes with a 1-year warranty which is standard.

Pros

• Low power results in lower energy bills
• Overheating protection feature.
• Durable and long-lasting due to stainless steel finish.
• Convenient Jog Dial model

Cons

• No starter kit

Best Microwave Ovens – Buying Guide

How Does a Microwave Oven Work?

Microwave oven heats the food items with the help of electromagnetic waves called microwave. When this wave is passed through water, fats, sugar etc, it get absorbed by them. As soon as you switch the oven on, this microwave passes through the food item kept inside the oven. Theses waves energise the water molecules inside the food and they start vibrating. This vibration produces heat which in-turn heats up the food kept inside the oven.

It is interesting to note that microwave is not absorbed by plastic, paper, glass and ceramic. That’s why it’s recommended to use utensils made up of special plastic or glass or ceramic.

On the other hand, metal reflects the microwave. This is the reason why you should never use metal utensils or aluminium foils inside the microwave oven as this can damage the oven.

Traditional Oven Vs Gas Stove Vs Microwave Oven

Traditional oven and microwave oven are used for heating but both have very different purpose.

Traditional ovens are ideal for cooking food that require baking. A microwave oven cannot bake properly but it is ideal for roasting, re-heating and almost all other types of cooking. On the other hand traditional ovens are not good for regular cooking because heat does not get evenly distributed and food get hotter on the outside as compared to inside. Microwave oven gives even distribution of heat with the help of radiation. This also saves lot of time.

Gas Stove is quite convenient as compared to a microwave oven especially for Indian foods. However, it is not ideal for reheating food and cannot give uniform re-heating. Also, since heating with gas stove is not uniform, you are required to constantly stir and shuffle the food items during cooking, which can be a bit of a hassle. With microwave oven, you do not have to worry about overheating or uneven heating.

Also, according to a study, microwave oven can consume less energy as compared to cooking gas by upto 40%

Different types of Microwave ovens

Microwave ovens are primarily of two types. Conventional oven and Convectional oven.

Conventional Microwave Oven

There are two types of conventional microwave ovens- solo oven and grille oven.

The solo microwave oven is the most simple oven out of all the microwave ovens. It is ideal for reheating food and cooking simple recipes. On the other hand, grille microwave oven goes one step ahead of the solo oven with added grill functionality on top of all the basic features of a solo oven.

Solo Microwave Oven

As discussed, Solo Microwave Oven is the basic type of oven that can be used for basic tasks such as cooking simple recipes, reheating cooked food, defrosting and so on. The best feature of this oven is that it is inexpensive as compared to the other two ovens. It usually comes in smaller capacity and is thus ideal for small families.

It has basic features such as power level settings, temperature settings and limited auto cook features.

Aspect where it lags is that you cannot bake or grill food items in this oven.

Pros

• Costs less.
• Suitable for small families.
• Convenient to use.

Cons

• Lesser capacity
• No option to bake or grill

Grill Microwave Oven

Grill microwave oven is an improvement on the solo microwave oven. On top of features similar to solo oven, it also has an additional option to grill

Grill oven is equipped with a heating coil. This coil gives it added heat and it works along with microwave to heat food in short time.

With a grill oven, you can roast or toast different types of food items like paneer, vegetables etc. You can also make grilled items by using the grill plate or metal rack to make kebabs and tikkas.

Thus it is one step ahead of solo microwave oven, but you still cannot prepared baked food items in this oven.

Pros

• You can roast, cook, grill and reheat
• Comes at less price as compared to conventional ovens
• Suitable for small and medium families

Cons

• You cannot bake in this oven
• Higher price than solo ovens
• Consumes high power

Convectional Microwave Oven

The Convectional Microwave oven is combines the usefulness of grill microwave oven, traditional oven and gas stove. It means that you can grill, bake and cook food with the help of this oven.

Convectional microwave oven is equipped with magnetron and heating elements (such as quartz grill). On top of it, there is an additional fan on the backside of the oven to distribute hot air in all corners. This increases the efficiency of cooking and the food get more crusty. Thus, it is ideal for grilling and baking.

Thus, this is the best type of microwave oven that is available in the market. It also means that it comes at a higher price as compared to the solo or grill microwave ovens.

Pros

• Suitable for baking, grilling, cooking, reheating, defrosting
• Usually comes with more auto cook options
• Faster and more efficient heating

Cons

• Costlier than other types of ovens
• Consumes higher power

Different Styles of Microwave Ovens in India

There are mainly two types of microwave ovens based on how you place them in your kitchen- Countertop microwave oven and Built-in microwave oven

Countertop Microwave Oven

As the name suggests, you can place a countertop microwave oven on your kitchen counter or on a table. In short, this a portable microwave oven.

This is the most popular style of microwave oven in India. These ovens come at a lower pricing and are easy to handle and install. However, since they are mostly placed on the kitchen counter, they end up taking up useful space in the kitchen which can be used for other cooking activities.

Built-in Microwave Oven

Built-in Microwave Ovens are fixed to the cabinet of the kitchen so that it virtually becomes a part of the cabinet.

As you can imagine, Built-in microwave ovens save valuable kitchen space which you can use for other activities. They usually come in sleek designs and go well with most of the modern kitchens. Also, they are usually priced higher as compared to countertop kitchens.

Since they have to be fixed inside the cabinet, they usually require help of professionals to install them. Thus, their installation is not easy. Similarly shifting them from one place to another requires external help.

These ovens are not as popular as countertop ovens, but are slowly gaining prominence with premium customers.

Key Factors to Keep in Mind Before Buying Microwave Oven

Capacity / Size

Capacity of a microwave oven indicates the volume of food items that can be placed inside the oven at one time. This is measured in litres.

It is important to figure the required capacity of microwave before purchasing because higher capacity usually means higher price.

Microwave ovens typically start with 15 litres of capacity and can go upwards of 30 litres as well.

Usually, ideal capacity will depend on your family size.  If you are a very small family, then you can go with a 15 – 20 litre capacity oven, while medium-sized families may require 20 to 25 litres of capacity.

You can refer the table to get an idea about ideal capacity based on your family size.

Number of Family members	Capacity in litres
2 to 3	15 to 20
3 to 4	20 to 25
4 to 6	25 to 30
6+	>30

Power Usage

Power wattage of a microwave indicates the amount of power that it will consume during its operation.

Typically, convectional microwave ovens use higher power as compared to conventional ovens. And solo microwave oven uses least amount of power.

Solo ovens usually come in 600 to 1200 watt range, while wattage of convectional microwave ovens can go up to 1600 watts.

Type of Heater

There are mainly types of heaters used in microwave oven. Quartz heater and Sheath heater.

Quartz heater is one of the most popular and better quality heater in the market. It is safe and takes up less space.

On the other hand Sheath heater is not that popular and comes at lesser price as compared to a Quartz heater. This heater takes up more space inside the oven and is thus not space efficient. Also, it is less safe as compared to Quartz oven because you can get your hands burnt if you touch the inside of the oven while taking the dish out.

Material of Cavity

Microwave Ovens come mainly come with stainless steel cavity or ceramic enamel cavity.

Stainless steel cavity is durable and long lasting. It reflects heat waves equally in all directions due to this food heats up evenly. Thus, it is one of the best cavity materials. However, it is costlier than other options.

Ceramic enamel cavity is inexpensive and is less durable as compared to stainless steel cavity. Its heat distribution is slightly inferior to stainless steel. It is not suitable for vey long term use. Many solo microwave ovens come with ceramic enamel cavity.

Key Highlights of Microwave Ovens in India

Microwave ovens have become an essential part of Indian household today. Even though it has not replaced the gas stove, it has become an additional utility in the kitchen for cooking certain types of food, reheating cooked food and grilling.

Keeping this in mind, top brands of microwave ovens have come up with many useful features over last few years. On top of it, even many multinational brands are now giving India-specific features. Let’s take a look at some of the key features of microwave ovens.

1. Auto Cook Menu

Auto cook feature helps you cook food faster with the help of pre-programmed settings. All you have to do is select the recipe and weight, and the oven will automatically adjust the power, duration and other settings so that you do not have to select them manually.

Some microwave oven brands such as LG come with even more than 250 Indian recipes. This gives a convenient cooking experience.

2. Child Lock

Many modern microwave ovens come with child lock feature. Microwave is an electric appliance that produces high amount of heat as well. In some cases, the temperature inside can even go upto a high 200 degree Celcius. Therefore, child lock feature becomes an essential one on a microwave.

This feature locks the buttons and lid of the oven so that there is no chance of any inadvertent accidents

3. Auto Defrost

Some new-age microwaves come with auto defrost feature. All you have to do is select the weight of the frozen food and it will automatically load the right amount of power and duration settings and start the defrosting process. This takes only a few minutes.

The good thing is that there is no change in the taste and flavour of food when compared to natural defrosting.

4. Pre-heat

Food items such as pastries and cakes need high temperature for longer duration to prepare. This is where pre-heat feature comes in handy. You can pre-heat the oven beforehand with the help of this option. This helps in saving power and time, thus helps saving on your power bills.

5. Steam Clean

Some microwave ovens come with steam clean feature. Indian food has good amount of ghee / oil in them. Grease can accumulate inside the oven over time, which can be difficult to remove. Steam clean heats up the interior of the oven to loosen this grease. This makes it easy to clean this dirt.

6. Rotisserie

Rotisserie is a grill that can be placed inside the microwave oven for barbecuing food items. You can use it to grill meat items such as chicken, fish etc, and even vegetarian food such as paneer and vegetables.

7. Timer

You can use the timer option to set the duration of heating or grilling. The oven will automatically shut off once the timer goes off.

8. Control Panel

Microwave ovens come with majorly two types of control panels- mechanical and touch control panel.

Mechanical control panels are inexpensive and durable. Also, mechanical control panels take more space, therefore there are only limited features in microwaves with mechanical control panel. Thus, they mostly come in solo microwave ovens.

On the other hand, touch control panels are considered more premium and add to the premium look of ovens. And because they take less space, microwave ovens can have multiple control features embedded into them. Also, touch control panels come at a higher price. Many convectional microwave ovens come with touch panels.

9. Pricing

Microwave ovens can come different price ranges with solo oven being most affordable. Grill microwave oven is costlier, while convection oven is most expensive.

Price range for Microwave ovens in India starts from INR 3,000 and can go up to INR 30,000. Some Bosch microwave ovens even come at a price range of 45,000 to 60,000 rupees.

10. Warranty

You should read the warranty card carefully and check what all is included and excluded in the product warranty. Also, one should make sure that there is at least 1 year of warranty on the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)