We just purchased an inexpensive microwave from Walmart. It’s made by Hamilton Beach. In this video, we will go over its features, show you how it works and let you know if we think it’s a good deal. The Hamilton Beach 1.1-Cubic-Foot Microwave easily fits on my countertop. It’s 20.6 inches wide, 11.8 inches tall and 16.5 inches deep. If we open the door, you see that it’s large enough to fit a full size plate or large bowl. It’s 13.94 inches wide, 9.96 inches tall and 14.06 inches deep. You’ll notice it has a glass plate and turntable. The removeable glass plate helps to easily clean the microwave and the turntable slowly turns while the microwave runs — which helps cook food more evenly. You’ll also notice a 1000 watt sticker. This means that the wattage of this microwave is 1000 watts, which is good in my opinion. When you read microwave cooking directions on the back of a microwave meal, the cooking times are often based on a 1000 watt microwave. Lower wattage microwaves will require longer cook times. You’ll notice on the right side of the microwave (hidden when the door is closed), sensor menus, including reheat, popcorn, potato, pizza, fish, meat, fresh veggie, frozen veggie and frozen entree. To use a preset, simply press the one you want, close the door and then press start on the front of the microwave. The main control panel is pretty straight forward, it has a clock and timer. The buttons below allow you to input 10 different power levels, cook time and defrost by weight information. Below those buttons, we have a timer button if you want to time something without running the microwave. A clock button for changing the time and a time defrost button (so you can defrost something by time). Below that, we have a numeric keypad for entering numbers after pressing the buttons above. For example, I can press cook time, enter a cook time with the numeric buttons (like 2 minutes), then press the power level button and enter your desired power level. I’ll enter 5. Then I’ll go to the bottom of the control panel and press start. If I want to pause cooking, I can press the pause button. If I press it again, it cancels cooking all together and the cooking timer returns to clock mode. There are also express cook times. If you just hit the number 2, the microwave will start cooking for two minutes for example. There’s a memory button that has 3 memory settings where you can save your own cooking instructions. I honestly don’t use this feature, but if you l cook something very specific that’s not a preset, this could be a great feature for you. If you just press the start button only, it will start cooking for 30 seconds. If you keep pressing it, it will keep increasing the cook time by 30 seconds. I like this feature for cooking something quick and easy. There's a lot to like with the Hamilton Beach 1000 Watt 1.1-Cubic-Foot Countertop Microwave. It’s easy to use, the stainless steel is stylish and 1000 watts is plenty powerful for my needs. Best of all, it’s really affordable. The biggest negative we could find with this microwave is that the start and stop buttons are a little difficult to see in low light conditions. Why they wouldn’t have made these buttons white like the other buttons, is baffling. But this wasn’t a deal breaker for us. That being said, for the price and features, it’s a very good buy in my opinion.

VIDEO CONTENTS

0:00 Intro
0:28 Microwave Overview
1:30 Microwave Operation
3:52 Microwave Review