Before you buy...

1) Combine cooking methods

Today's microwaves offer the performance of a traditional oven but at high speed by combining microwaving with other ways of cooking. Convection is great for roasting - mixing it with microwaving reduces cooking times to half those of a standard oven. Grills are useful for browning, while quartz grills will heat up and cook faster than standard infrared ones. Some models can even steam meat, fish and veg to preserve nutrients.

2) Design matters

Look for designs that give you more capacity while taking up less space. Panasonic NN-CF771S offers even heat throughout the microwave so there's no need for a bulky turntable to rotate food. Meanwhile, Whirlpool's Max designs slot neatly into corners, saving around 25% of the space that a standard rectangular model would take up.

Try Sharp R27ST 22L solo stainless steel microwave oven; for similar, £74.99, Sainsbury's

Ready to buy? Click on to flick through our pick of the best microwaves

Chosen by Ideal Home

Photograph by Simon Whitmore

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Tags:
- kitchen appliances
- kitchen
- microwave