The microwave oven is one of the best inventions of the 20th century – over 90% of American homes have microwave ovens used for meal preparation. With everyone’s busy lifestyle, microwaves are the perfect solution, because they cook, reheat and defrost food in no time at all. They also are extremely energy efficient because a microwave only heats the food- and nothing else.

Deciding on the make and model to fit your needs is not an easy task. The most important decision that you will need to make is about the type of microwave you want: Standard Microwave, Convection Microwave or the newly introduced High Speed Microwave ovens. Another important decision is how you are going to place your microwave oven in your kitchen. Microwave ovens come as countertop models in various sizes, over-the-range models, which are usually a standard 30” wide with a built-in ventilation fan, and built-in-the-wall models that range from 24”, 27”, 30” and 36” wide.

Standard Microwave Ovens: The standard microwave offers traditional microwave cooking only. You can use a standard microwave to cook frozen-ready meals and to heat drinks, soups and reheat cooked meals. Depending on the color, size and features the price range can be anywhere from $70 for a countertop version to over $1000 for a built-in oven style.

Convection Microwave Ovens: This oven heats with microwaves and convection. Convection heat is supplied by an electric element around the fan that circulates heated air (with temperatures ranging from 200 degrees to 450 degrees) around the food baking, browning and delivering crispy food quickly with the help of microwaves. It is possible to cook food with either the convection or microwave method separately or to combine them. Depending on the color, size and features the price range can be anywhere from just under $400 for a countertop version to over $1500 for a built-in oven look.

High Speed Microwave Ovens: There are two different types of high speed microwave ovens. One type combines a high speed convection and microwave oven. The other type combines halogen lights to create heat and a microwave oven. A high speed convection microwave oven uses forced heated air at ultrahigh speeds, up to 40 miles an hour, which rapidly sears in moisture and flavor and produces a beautifully browned, delicately crisp exterior. When combined with the microwave function, cooking time is reduced by 50%, conveniently capturing the flavors of convectional cooking in less time. Brands like Electrolux, Viking and Miele have this technology. Brands like GE, Monogram, KitchenAid and Whirlpool use halogen lights to create instant heat instead of high speed convection. This technology combined with microwaves also produces real oven results in less time. Prices start at around $600 for the over-the-range model to $3000 for built-in oven styles.