Microwave ovens have a solid place in our kitchens today. While they’re great for reheating leftovers, increasingly we’ve used them for tasks that they can do easier and faster than traditional methods, including frying shallots, blooming spices, removing excess moisture from raw mushrooms or eggplant, par-cooking potatoes or squash before grilling, steaming corn, toasting nuts, and melting chocolate—functions well beyond “zapping” tepid coffee.
Microwave ovens can be installed, but countertop models are the top sellers. Though prices range upwards of $1,000, we chose models priced from about $77 to nearly $250. We put them through core tests and assessed which
