Cooking with ease, convenience

We bought this microwave a few months ago, and I can't imagine how we got along for so long without it! It works very well and has a lot of convenient options that I frequently use. I would recommend the Sharp line of microwaves to anyone in the market to replace a microwave.

Our previous microwave was much smaller and had become undependable; about 60% of the time we tried to use it, we would have to restart the thing over and over again. We would select our cooking time, etc., press start, and the microwave would short out after a second. We would have to unplug the microwave and/or open and close (or should I say SLAM) the door several times in order to get the microwave to work again. After living with this problem for a few months, we finally decided to replace it. (This microwave had been used for several years, and did not have any special/extra features, as is the case with most microwaves you can buy these days.)

I did a little comparison shopping online, including reading many Epinions in the microwaves category. Still, when we went to the store, we did not have any real firm preferences as far as brands. I'd read a number of good reviews about the Sanyo microwaves, but when we went to the store my husband did not like the idea of buying that brand; he wanted an American brand. We shopped at a KMart store that had a sale of 10% off all microwaves, and other than the Sanyo models, this Sharp model was the only one that was priced in the price range we preferred ($100-150) that had the features we wanted, so we bought it and took it home. The model we selected is the R-410D.

We have not regretted our purchase! I remember how long it took to defrost frozen meats in our old microwave; compared to that, this one does it in a snap! I especially like the Compu Defrost function, which works for defrosting ground meat, steaks, chops, and chicken pieces. For ground meat you press the Compu Defrost button once, for steaks, chops and fish you press it twice, and for chicken pieces you press it three times. Once you have done this, you use the number pads to enter in the weight of the meat you are defrosting (0.5-3.0 lbs.) and then press start. The microwave computes how long a defrost time this weight and type of meat needs. The microwave will pause and beep a few times (depending on the length of time it has chosen to defrost for, this may be 2-4 times or so) signaling the cook to rearrange the meat on the plate so that it defrosts evenly. Then the cook presses start again and continues this process until the cycle is over. There are some cases in which I've had to do a little additional defrosting to completely defrost all of the meat, but for the most part, the Compu Defrost function works extremely well selecting the correct defrosting time(s). To defrost other foods or foods above or below the weights allowed in the Compu Defrost chart, the cook simply selects the amount of time for defrosting, and selects 30%/defrost power for the power level, and presses start.

The microwave also has a Multiple Sequence Cooking feature, which allows the cook to program the microwave to change to a different power level part way through the cooking process (such as to cook for 5 minutes on high, then for 20 minutes at 50% power.) I have not used this feature yet, as I do not really "cook" with my microwave; it is 95% of the time used for defrosting frozen food, heating beverages, cooking frozen vegetables, and reheating dinner plates.

Speaking of dinner plates, this microwave has many Instant Action buttons, which allow the cook to cook/heat many popular microwave foods very easily and conveniently. These Instant Action buttons are for: Popcorn, Beverage, Dinner Plate, Casserole, Rolls & Muffins, Baked Potatoes, Fresh Vegetables, Ground Meat, Frozen Entrees, Frozen Vegetables, Microwave Pizza. In all cases (except the microwave pizza button) the cook has a choice in selecting the amount/weight OR quantity of the item in question; the microwave then computes how long to cook for this amount. For the Dinner Plate button, the cook can select the size of the plate: regular, large, or small. For the Popcorn button, you select the size of the bag. There is also a Minute Plus button, which heats/cooks on full power for 1 minute; you simply press this one button and it starts immediately, rather than having to key in 1 minute and then press start using the number keys and start key. You can also extend this cooking time in multiples of 1 minute by repeatedly touching the Minute Plus button during manual cooking.

You can also use the microwave as a separate timer; you simply enter the time you want, then press the timer pad, and the audible signal will go off when the time is up. For cooks who don't like to hear the beeping of a microwave, you can shut off the audible signal through the timer/clock pad as well. There is also a Child Lock feature, which locks or deactivates the microwave control panel keys so that little ones cannot operate it. This lock is then deactivated by simply pressing a sequence of two keys.

Finally, the last thing I have been most pleased about is how easy it is to clean the inside of this microwave. Again, it had been many years since our last microwave was purchased, and I imagined the interior design/construction of microwaves had changed a lot during that interim. I was correct. It was extremely difficult to clean the inside of our old microwave, and cleaning this one is a breeze. Splatters don't really stick to the "walls" of the microwave, mostly because little heat is generated to the interior surfaces, and there is no baking or setting of spills or splatters. Even if I let spills/splatters "dry" in the microwave, the interior walls are easily cleaned with a damp cloth or paper towel.

This microwave also has a large capacity; you can fit an 11 x 9 baking dish in the microwave. It also has a very large turntable.

Again, I am more than happy with this microwave. If you are in the market for one, definitely look into this Sharp line; they work extremely well and have many convenient features, and are a very good value for the price.