| Product: |
Panasonic NNT573 |
| Date: |
27/01/08 (108 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Precise digital timing and large interior
Disadvantages: Stainless steel shows all finger marks and buttons not clearly labelled.
When the time came to replace our microwave we had a fairly strict set of requirements. We didn't want an all singing all dancing combi-micro with oven or grill functions: I have a cooker for that. The microwave had to be large enough to accommodate a dinner plate (most of the time it is used for re-heating plated dinners) and it had to have a digital timer (rather than a dial) and a minimum cook time of 1 second. This set of requirements crossed off almost all microwaves on offer save for those made by Panasonic, and even then we had a choice, if I recall correctly, of two models.
In the end the decision was taken to purchase the NNT573S. The "S" at the end of the number simply denotes that it is a stainless steel, rather than white (or other coloured) model.
Everyone will have their own requirements when it comes to a microwave but for us the microwave is simply a convenient heating tool. I don't cook in it, save that occasionally I'll use it to cook some vegetables quickly. I have a grill and a double oven so that there is no need for that kind of functionality. It does, however, seem increasingly hard to buy a "plain" microwave.
After several months use I can say that I'm relatively happy with my purchase. The controls are easy to use being of the push button type. There are 5 heat settings (low, defrost, medium, high and simmer) and cook times are selected with accuracy using buttons with allow 10 mins, 1 min, 10 seconds and 1 second intervals. It might seem rather anal requiring a 1 second button (most microwaves have 10 seconds as a minimum) but when cooking at high temperatures such small increments can make a difference. I don't want to have to be standing by the microwave to stop it after 5 seconds for example. Reheating a croissant or doughnut will often take just 15 seconds, 20 seconds is just too much. This is even more the case when the power rating is a whopping 900kW.
The microwave does have a few useful functions such as a turbo reheat (which works wonders to stop things like beans bubbling at the edges whilst being cold in the middle) and a couple of auto weight cook and defrost programmes. I've not used the former but the latter works well for bread and for chicken breasts. There's also a very handy delay start button which allows you to delay the start time of the microwave so that it comes on and finishes when you want. I find this function particularly useful in a coupe of circumstances. The first is when I'm cooking veg in the microwave and want it to finish cooking when the meal is ready to be served (typically if I'm cooking spinach which goes too mushy if you leave it standing). The second is if I'm doing a two step meal where I have something in the regular oven that requires attention after a while but before the end of the cook time. If I'm also doing veg in the microwave I'll set the microwave to come on when the oven food requires something doing to remind me to do it. Daft maybe, but it works for me!
The microwave employs what Panasonic refer to as "inverter technology". This is meant to result in more even cooking and defrosting than regular microwave technology. I've not noticed a dramatic improvement in the evenness of cooking when compared to other microwaves but you don't tend to get hot-spots and when defrosting it is slightly better than other microwaves in terms of the evenness of defrosting. You still need to reposition and turn products though, even when using the "chaos defrost" mode (which is meant to stop this).
If I had the choice I would not have purchased a stainless steel model (and would not do so again). Although it's easy to wipe over I find that the outer case looks smeared with the merest of touches. I'm forever getting a cloth out to wipe of marks.
The microwave is quite noisy compared to other models I've had and seems to take an age for the fan to stop after it's stopped cooking. This is particularly the case when the microwave has been used a couple of times in succession. The door also makes quite a clunk when it opens and shuts - it's far from discrete.
If you have vision problems or are particularly tall or short then this might also not be suitable for you. The back-lit display is hard to read unless it is at eye level (or thereabouts) and the labels on the buttons are not always clear both in terms of text size and positioning - I always have to look twice if using any of the temperature settings (other than high which is automatically selected) to make sure that I am actually selecting the right one. This issue is compounded by the fact that the temperature settings are not in a logical order.
The interior size of the microwave compares favourably with the larger models on the market and the turntable will take a good-sized dinner plate without too much trouble. This was something that was remarkably hard to find (and had us get many strange looks when we went into the showroom armed with a plate until we showed the staff what the problem was with many models!).
The instructions which came with the microwave were easy to read and straightforward. The booklet contained the obligatory recipes but I can't say I've tried any of them.
Overall I'm happy with the purchase but just wish it was in white!
Recommended.
Summary: A reliable, easy to use microwave that does what it says it will
| Processing/Quality: |
|
 |
| Reliability: |
|
|
| Ease of use: |
|
|
| Noise: |
|
 |
|
Last comment:
 |
Nar2 - 28/01/08 I adore Panasonic and my parents have only had 2 models in 20 odd years. My Sharp has yet to hit the dust but when it does, it will be a Panasonic oven - they are so simple to operate and do what they suggest unlike some. A VG review here. |
View all
5
comments
|
