CDA Microwave Buying Guide
When you are choosing a new microwave you will of course be looking at the style, colour and finish of the appliance in conjunction with either your existing kitchen or your new design.
Freestanding or built in?
The next thing to consider might be whether you want a freestanding appliance that you could potentially mode around your kitchen or a built-in one that is integrated into your kitchen cabinetry. We manufacture both to give you a good selection and offer both a stainless steel and black finish to help coordinate your practical, time-saving microwave with the rest of your kitchen.
Microwave, microwave and grill or microwave and oven all in one?
Finally, you will need to decide whether you want a plain microwave for heating up and defrosting food or a model that includes a grill, and even possibly a convection oven to increase the amount of oven cooking space you have in your home. For flats and apartments where space is at a premium, you might even want to combine all your cooking into one compact appliance.
Cost?
As you move up the functions, the appliances will inevitably become slightly more expensive. Rest assured that at every level our microwaves feature ergonomic control knobs and easy to use buttons, varying power levels to suit your type of cooking, auto and manual settings and an audible end of programme signal to signal that ‘dinner is ready’.
Size/capacity
Our microwaves come with around 25L of usable cooking space inside. This is the equivalent to a 10” pizza for size reference and should be enough space for most families to fit in their plates, smaller oven dishes, Pyrex bowls and jugs for flexible and fast cooking.
What is the difference between a built-in microwave and a wall unit one?
At first glance these two appliances look very similar. Both are designed to be integrated rather than sit on a shelf or kitchen worktop. The difference in design is the depth of the appliance. A built-in microwave is designed to fit into cabinetry, as per the fitting and line drawing measurements we provide. A wall unit microwave is specifically designed to be installed at eye-level in a wall unit. It doesn’t require the same space for installation as a built-in model as it is shallower in depth. This increases the flexibility for your overall kitchen layout and design.
What is automatic defrost?
By entering the weight and type of into the control panel on your microwave, the appliance will automatically set a power level and time to perfectly prepare your frozen food for cooking.
What accessories come with the microwave?
Each microwave will come with a turntable to evenly expose the food or liquid to the microwaves. There may also be a trivet included with some of our models to allow for multi-level cooking or grilling. Please check the individual product page to see what exactly is included with each microwave.
Which power level should I use?
The power level on your microwave can be changed to cook food faster or more slowly. Using just 700 Watts, you can boil water in just 2 minutes. As a rough guide, here are the power levels and what they are best for:
- High power (100%) is for boiling, cooking fish or ground meats & cooking bacon.
- Medium-high (70%) is perfect for roasting meats and poultry, baking casserole or lasagne, ready meals and reheating food.
- Medium (50%) is for slow cooking and braising food
- Low (30%) is the best setting for defrosting, simmering or cooking delicate sauces
- Warm (10%) is only used for melting butter or chocolate, softening food and cheese
