We’ve been using the same microwave for years, it was small, cooked unevenly and left my bowls hotter than the food. It was time to upgrade to an inverter microwave. I knew it was time to upgrade but had no idea how much inverter technology would make a difference in the quality of food it produces or the time it would save me – I would have upgraded sooner.
I received product to facilitate this post.
Panasonic Microwave with Inverter Technology Review
Panasonic offers a large variety of Inverter Microwaves. I didn’t know much about inverter technology until I watched the below video. Now I know why my food always had hot and cold spots while my dishes were scalding hot with my old microwave and why it never will with an inverter microwave.
I learned that traditional microwaves may have multiple setting like high, low, and defrost but they don’t cook evenly because at the lower levels, all they are doing are turning on at high, then off, then on again. For instance, if you are cooking at 60% power, you are actually cooking at 100% power about 60% of the time, the other 40% of the time, the microwave is off. The result is uneven, hot and cold spots.
With inverter technology, the heat is constant, cooking at a steady level. Inverter Microwaves also have a smaller sized power supply offering up a larger interior of the microwave. Panasonic offers a wide range of microwave sizes with inverter technology, even a smaller 1.2 cubic foot size to fit my built-in cabinet. Even with a smaller microwave, the interior is large with more than enough space for a 9″ diameter casserole dish.
I have the Countertop/Built-In Microwave with Inverter Technology #NN-SD681S in stainless. It looks gorgeous in my kitchen with its sleek design, 4-digit neon blue LED display with Pop-Out Dial. It looks very high-end.
As a busy mom, I use my microwaves a lot. With this microwave, I don’t sacrifice flavor, texture, or nutritionally because it cooks similar to a conventional oven with less time. In fact, using an inverter microwave actually retains more nutrients of certain foods boiling or steaming those items. Now we don’t have to feel guilty of taking the easier way out!
After using the One-Touch Sensor Cook and Reheat feature, I could never go back to my old microwave. It is like magic, the sensor actually adjusts the power levels and calculates cooking time for you. I heated up crustless chicken pot pie tonight and enjoyed hot, evenly heated food in just minutes.
I don’t always think ahead of time to defrost foods before dinner time so I’m really enjoying the Inverter Turbo Defrost™ feature. Wow! What a difference it makes. Have you ever defrosted chicken in the microwave only to have rubbery cooked edges with a frozen center? That’s because of the way traditional microwaves use their power at 100%, then off, then 100% and so on. I always hated that and have thrown away so much food because of that. With Turbo Defrost, it defrosts my food evening and faster because it utilizes a continuous lower power setting.
Of course you can also just microwave something for a minute or use the pop-out dial to set the exact number of minutes you’d like to cook.
You can even use the Keep Warm feature to keep foods like gravy or deserts warm until you are ready to serve them. I’ve used this already at Thanksgiving as I prepared a side dish to take to my in-laws a hour before we were ready to leave the house. It worked perfectly. I know I’ll use this feature all the time!
The Panasonic website has 50+ recipes to that were designed specifically for inverter microwaves, although you can cook your own recipes as well. The recipes are a great starting point for all kinds of food including soups, casseroles, fish, seafood, appetizers, meat and poultry entrees (including a stuffed turkey breast I want to try), vegetable dishes, pastas, desserts and breads. I tried the recipe last night for Fruit Crisp and it was amazing. It called for fresh fruit and a crumb topping.
It was ready in just 15 minutes and taste delicious. My son said, “That is a GOOD microwave” and my daughter said, “Yea, it makes food GOOD and HOT!”
You can purchase the 1.2 Cu. Ft. Countertop/Built-In Microwave with Inverter Technology Stainless that I reviewed for $199.99 on the Panasonic website. On sale for only $149.96 for a limited time with FREE Shipping. It is also available on Amazon.com.
This is just another great Panasonic product that can help your snow days this Winter to be a little more enjoyable! Check out our Snow Day Pinterest Board for great Snow Day Activities for both indoors and outdoors and Recipes that can be easily prepared in a microwave or toaster oven as well as products that make the chore of snow shoveling a little more entertaining and not so painful.
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