Regular readers of my reviews will now be able to paint an accurate picture of my kitchen - its small, most things are from Argos - but I haven't mentioned my microwave.

As with most white goods in my house, this was here when I got here - which is handy as its a key bit of kitchen kit I can't live without, but begrudge paying for. As with most other important things, they are not usually that much fun so I always like it when houses come kitted out with them, and like it even more that when they are decent. So far, I have a good cooker, a good toaster and a good kettle, but how will the microwave fare in the kitchen Olympics? Bronze, silver or gold?

As a cook, I work with microwaves a lot, pinging them off and on hundreds of times a day - so I like to think I have a pretty good idea what makes a good microwave (everyone has got to be good at something, right?) So, to judge this microwave I'll look at; power, cleaning, ease of use and value for money.

--------POWER-------


This is 700w, pretty normal for a normal household kitchen - with that being enough power to do regular tasks in a reasonable time. As a guide, on full power this will boil a cup of water in about two minutes (this is good tip too to test your microwave is working OK too) as apposed to the 1 minute in a 1400w commercial microwave. It has a varied range of settings from very low (boil water in about an millennia) defrost, medium and upto high, with a few options in between these settings. Personally, I don't make much use of these settings, usually either high or defrost does the job for me but the options are there if you want them. In terms of how the power is used, this microwave has a plate that turns in an attempt too evenly heat what is inside. After a couple of years or so of fairly heavy use I can say this microwave has cooked well and evenly every time it has been used. To add to this, its also a good size at 20 litres but the base is not huge. You will have no problem getting a regular sized plate inside it, but anything bigger like an oval plate will not fit. To sum up, powerwise it has done the job but on a couple of occasions it has been too small.

This might be the right place to interject on issues of noise - as this is quite noisy when in use and a pretty aggressive ding when done. Personally, noise does not bother me - but if it bothers you then I would give this a 3/10 in terms of how much it encroaches aurally.

--------CLEANING-------

I challenge anyone to have a perfectly clean microwave - mainly because they are usually a pain to clean and prone to mess. Things often spit and bubble over with food debris on the roof, at the back and all over the plate. As well as this, microwaves can be hard to get into clean an the internal surfaces not that great. I have to say the KOR63F7 does not fare that well - having a grated roof for a start is a problem. With grates in the roof for airflow this means its tough to clean, food getting stuck in the gaps and it being as less than easy surface to clean. As well as this, the plate is a bit of a pain to get in and out, but when you do its wipe clean and does not have that many raised surfaces for food to get stuck in. Inside the microwave again, its not great with lots of holes and gaps just waiting to trap food and breed bacteria. The inside of the door too, a meshy surface that does not have wipe clean in mind. On the front too, the dials (one for power, one for time) are both turn dials rather than a touch pad meaning food can get stuck in the gaps around the edge where it is not perfectly flush - again, another breeding ground for bacteria. So, on this front the microwave is poor - a difficult to clean bit of kit.

-------EASE OF USE------

Conversely to the poor cleaning, it fares well here. To install its simple - place on a sturdy surface where the rubber feet can grip, plug in and control with the two dials - time and power. The only area I would say is a problem is the analogue time dial - trying to set this to anything other than minute intervals is a pain, with the increments being very small. That said, its free of a digital display meaning no real instructions on how to use are needed - just turn it up to the time you need. I don't know about you, but over the years I've spent hours trying to figure out how digital timers on ovens and microwaves work.

------VALUE FOR MONEY------

This is an area I have little to say, as I didn't buy it but a quick search tells me second hand these go for £20, or newer models in the same range are about £50. I would say for £20 this seems OK, but not a bargain - maybe a new value microwave from say Argos would be a better choice, as at a glance they look similar. It does the job, but its hard to clean - from what I can tell the newer models have addressed some of the problems with this, with things such as a touch pad and a more flush interior - so, £50 seems like a good, but not great price to pay - if newer models have the reliability this does.

All in all, this gets a safe Bronze - its does the job but better models are out there at better prices.