My name is Jennifer, I'm {cough} years old and I need to buy a microwave oven for the first time.

Background:

We never owned one when I was growing up. Not sure if any of my siblings own one now. When Mr. BLB and I moved into together, he came with one. We ditched it when we moved into a new apartment that had a lovely built-in microwave.

The new house came with the original owner's microwave, circa 1986 or so. It takes up huge amounts of counter space but otherwise seems to work fine.

Me and my plethora of Le Creuset and Kitchen Aid toys (all green--I painted the kitchen to match!) need that counter space back!

I would probably just not get a new one but I love my husband and I understand that turning 30 different shades of purple at the thought of living in a microwave-free home probably isn't good for him.

I don't want something so small I can't nuke a bag of popcorn in a crunch. Other than that, I'm open to ideas of something reasonably sized.

Thanks!

Jennifer

If you reheat things it helps to have one with a turntable.

Thanks! I'm not sure I knew that you could get one without a turntable. Good to know!

When we renovated our kitchen, we got a GE Profile Spacemaker 2. It sits on an open shelf. I've had no complaints with it. It's a reasonable size and has a turntable.

I'm shopping for my first microwave right now and am confused by the range of wattage that is available. What is normal? I've seen everything from 600 to 1100 watts. I just want normal - something that will make popcorn and the occasional frozen dinner.

I can't help really, but I am glad I am microwave-free at home. I do admit it is nice to have one at work to reheat leftovers I bring to work. Today will be leftover from scratch macaroni & cheese. MMMm-mm!

Sorry Jennifer, I really only use my microwave as a clock and, on occasion, making popcorn (it has a "popcorn" sensor).

Here's the one that we have: clicky

If BLB or anyone wishes to take my spare 1998 microwave, you can pick it up at my place in Alexandria. It is a 1998 white counter top Samsung. I think the wattage is 1000 or a bit more. It has a turntable and more buttons than you need. I got it out of my basement after reading this thread, and it works fine!
Dimensions:
21 1/2 " W
15" D
13" H

PM me if you want details. Here's some pics.
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This is from my apt. before I got married. We used it in our first home, but our house in Alexandria had a (circa the Carter Administration) microwave tucked perfectly inside a nook above the counter top, and matching the appliances: black. If this Samsung were black, it'd look fine. But I'd rather buy a new matching one when I'm either sick of this behemoth and beat it to a righteous death (no turntable, slow......burns popcorn ) or it has some dignity and croaks on it's own. Eh, whichever comes first.

My parents have had a standing request for me for years that I haven't been able to fulfill: A microwave that opens opposite every other microwave in the known universe (i.e. it opens such that the door hinges on the right instead of the left). They use their microwave very, very rarely (leftovers mostly, melting butter sometimes) but because of the way their kitchen is laid out the microwave is inconvenient to use with the hinge on the left side. Has anyone seen such a microwave?

No, but I do know that there are kits you can get for washers and dryers to make the doors open on the opposite side, so there might be something like that for a microwave.