Attention NYC Kitchen Remodelers

This Old House is coming to New York City...get your submissions in by July 4! They're looking for an historic home and a dynamic family. I nearly messed it up and said historic family and dynamic home! This Old House NYC

Anyone from New York City who has a fabulous kitchen renovation? HGTV is looking to shoot a commercial on Monday, the 7th of July! Email me your info and I'll pass it on.

Over The Range Microwave - My Love/Hate Relationship

It's funny...I looked through my project images, and I think I knew right away that I didn't have an image of a project I'd designed with an over-the-range microwave. I may have used this type of microwave a handful of times, possibly many, in builder projects I've done, but, I've always had a huge bias against them...and I bought one yesterday!

Let me just make it simple and do a pros and cons evaluation:

PROS

1. A space saving appliance. For an apartment-sized kitchen, it's no less than a God-send.

(I honestly cannot think of another "pro" to the over-the-range microwave...geez.)

CONS

1. It is typically situated at an uncomfortable height. If one is short in height, or a child, it can be difficult to reach in and out.

2. Along with #1, of course, comes the possibility of danger, first, if the container becomes hot, and one is taking it out at this uncomfortable height, but also, if there are items cooking on the stove and one reaches for the microwave. Take care!

3. If the microwave cannot be ducted out, the fan is nearly useless, as it becomes a recirculating fan.

4. Most microwaves are approximately 12" deep, which only cover the rear two burners if the ducted fan is turned on.

5.  The typical 300 cfm fan capacity is a poor performer in terms of ventilating power.

6. Due to the height of the microwave, very tall pots pose a problem in cooking comfortably, including being able to see the contents of the pot.

I mentioned the reasons that I bought one of these in this post. It's definitely a love/hate thing, I'm sure, for many of us.  Image is from GE, which has a whole lot of choices in microwaves. Kelli, in a comment from the original post mentioned, asked, "What's the alternative?"

ALTERNATIVES

1. Do you REALLY use a microwave, do you really need one? A good question to ask, in general. 

2. Can you find any other space to build in a microwave? If built in, remember, you must have a trim kit for proper ventilation around the appliance.

3. Can you simply place the microwave (perhaps a small one) on the countertop?

4. Check out GE's Trivection range...not a microwave, but a speedy oven, with microwave technology inside.

5. Perhaps a microwave drawer?

6. Are you rich? Buy a TurboChef.

Much of this discussion depends on if the kitchen is being designed from scratch, or, simply, as in my case, a space is open, and now that space will be filled again with this type of microwave. I can deal with this solution for now.

Microwave Must See

Have you seen this LG microwave, below? It came out last year. I did not cover it in this blog, and I rarely have a need for over-the-range microwaves in my design practice, until now, for myself!

You may have read about my apartment kitchen remodel.  Well, to get you up to speed, quickly, while some improvements continue to be done, we're putting the bulk of the renovation on hold for now. The basic issue is that we are undecided on what should drive certain important decisions...resale or personal wants and needs. Plus, since our son will be staying there for at least a couple of more years while in college, there is not an urgency to do the renovation.

SO...in the course of having to remove the existing over-the-range microwave this weekend, due to its extreme venting inefficiency and age, we stopped at Best Buy to pick up another one, a 400cfm model by Samsung, since we were told by our super we could duct it through the existing path in the ceiling. We found most new models were 300 cfms.

BUT, while in Best Buy, all of a sudden, we saw this LG microwave and immediately had a WOW reaction. It's very sexy, it's a few inches deeper than normal, it's taller, which we needed, and best of all, it has a 470 cfm fan, which was very impressive. Our son and his girlfriend cook up a STORM  in our NYC apartment, nearly every night, and the gunk of small airborne particles that settle all over the apartment is not a pretty sight. So, THIS appliance seems to fit what we need for now.

As I've said before, I'm not a fan of the over-the-range microwave in general, for several reasons, but, in this case, the spot is open for it, so we'll fill it. This is the most powerful over-the-range microwave cfm rating I know of, which leads to healthier living in an open kitchen!

I LOVE the lift up door, the cfm capacity, the depth to better cover the burners, and the very cool look!