• steve
• November 10, 2024
• 1 Comment

As with so many other products, the microwave oven was invented in the United States in 1945 by Perry Spencer who worked for Raytheon Corporation at the time. While testing a device called a magnetron, he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted (surprisingly, he passed away in 1970 at the age of 76 from natural causes).

The first household ovens became available in the 1960s, but took off when Amana (owned by Raytheon) introduced the Amana Radarrange in 1967. These were followed by brands like Sharp, GE, Litton, Panasonic, Kenmore, and Whirlpool. All made in the US and Japan, of course.

The state of microwave ovens today

I just went through 10 pages of microwave ovens on Amazon and every single one of them was made in China. Every. Single. One.

That’s right. Toshiba, Sharp, Cuisinart, Emerson, Black and Decker, GE, RCA, Commercial Chef, Chefman, Kenmore, Waring Commercial, Midea, Magic Chef, West Bend, General Foodservice, Avanti, Breville, Winco, Hamilton, Nuwave Bravo, Farberware, Amana, Total Chef, Thor Kitchen, LG. ALL made in China.

Here’s the dirty little secret. There are dozens of brands that sell microwaves. If you had to guess, how many companies actually make them?

The answer is..two. Virtually all of these brands outsource to one or two manufacturers in China, Midea or Galanz, both located in Shunde, China.

And adding insult to injury, many of these brands are themselves owned by China. For example, all-American brand GE Appliances was sold to Haier, a company based on China (!)

Let’s take a step back and consider how utterly ridiculous this situation is.

A consumer might spend weeks researching a brand. Do I buy GE or Kenmore because they’re reliable American brands? Do I buy Toshiba or Panasonic because they’re innovative Japanese brands?

After much deliberation the consumer will place the order and regardless of what he ordered, it’ll come off the same assembly line, maybe with slight differences in what the panels, buttons, and logos look like.

This is the foolishness that America, Europe, and Japan have gotten themselves into. While they laugh at how they took advantage of China for producing their goods for pennies on the dollar, it’s only a short matter of time before China manufacturers start releasing their own models with brands like GUDIROPI and GENIWALD (just alternate any random consonant and value and you too can start a China brand). From there, it’s only a matter of time before consumers realize that they’re getting the same microwave oven anyway, so why pay $100 extra just for a name like Sharp or Cuisinart?

Samsung to the rescue…if they can get out of the starting gate

Panasonic does manufacture some microwaves out of Japan, but every one I’ve found is intended for the Japanese market. Every one they produce for the US market is made in China. Sure, you can buy a Japanese model, but if you want to use it in the US, you’ll need a step-down transformer, which isn’t really worth the hassle or cost.

I had a brief glimmer of hope that this Amana model was made in the USA, but a helpful Amazon reviewer reported that it’s made in China, despite the Amazon product page saying otherwise.

There’s one company that we’ve consistently seen has been running away from disaster while every other company runs right into it, and that’s Samsung. If you read this blog a lot, you’ll see their name pop up over and over across multiple product lines.

By most accounts, Samsung’s microwaves are very high quality. The biggest problem Samsung faces right now is how to break into a saturated market. If you search for “microwave oven” on Amazon, they don’t show up at all. If you walk into a Home Depot or Best Buy, you’ll see China-made brands like GE and Whirlpool, all made by those two companies in China I mentioned.

How to shop for a microwave oven

You’ll basically need to make a few decisions:

1. Do I want over-the-range or countertop? Over-the-range are great for maximizing space and aesthetics, but if you have plenty of space
   
2. How much space do I have? You’ll need to measure the width and depth that you can support under your counter, as well as the height from your cooktop to your cabinets.
   
   Most kitchens with over-the-range microwaves have
   • A width of 29.75 to 30 inches
   • A cutout depth of 15 to 17 inches (the depth of the space in your cabinet to ensure that it’ll fit properly in the space).
   • A height of 13 to 18 inches from your cooktop.
     
3. What capacity do I need? 1.7 to 1.9 cubic feet is the most popular and common. If you’re pressed for space or only use microwaves for small dishes, you can go lower. If you use your microwave for larger dishes or essentially as a second oven, you’ll want to go larger.

The Best Pressure Cookers Not Made in China

1. Samsung Microwaves (Over-the-Range and Countertop)

When my current over-the-range microwave gives up the ghost, this will most likely be the one replacing it. It’s a 2.1 cu.ft. microwave from Samsung, made in Malaysia. It measures 29 7/8″ W x 17 1/16″ H x 16 1/2″ D with maximum cutout depth of 12″ (it’s designed to protrude).

You can buy it direct from the manufacturer at Samsung or from a reputable retailer like Best Buy or Amazon.

If you need something a little cheaper, don’t need that much capacity, like your button panel on the right side, or have different cabinet needs, they offer lots of other options.

1.7 cu. ft. model available at Samsung or Best Buy
29 7/8” W x 17 1/6” H x 16 1/2” D with a cutout depth of 16 1/2″

1.6 cu. ft. model available at Samsung or Best Buy
29 7/8″ W x 16 1/2″ H x 15 1/8″ D with maximum cutout depth of 12″

If you want to splurge a little, you can get this 1.7 cu.ft. model with convection and their version of air frying.

If you need a countertop model instead, this 1.9 cu.ft. is their most popular. They also have a smaller 1.2 cu. ft. countertop microwave.

It’s also available from Samsung and Amazon.

As of right now, there are a bunch of negative reviews on Amazon, but don’t get thrown off my those: every one of the negative reviews is related to poor shipping and fulfillment which is more a reflection on Amazon FBA and Samsung packaging than it is on the quality of this microwave oven; Amazon is supposed to remove reviews like this but they’re not.

If you do buy from Amazon, please leave a positive review. This is the only way that Samsung will be able to “break into” searches for “microwave”.

2. Sharp R-21LCFE Medium-Duty Commercial Microwave

As usual, when consumer brands disappoint you can sometimes find decent options with commercial brands, which place a much higher emphasis on manufacturing quality.

While Sharp has long since moved manufacturing of their consumer models to China, some of their commercial products appear to be made in Thailand. This R-21LCFE is a good example. You can see from the design that it’s intended for more rigorous use than consumer models, with analog dials and solid construction.

3. Viking 1.1 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Microwave

h/t to WIlliam in the comments for reporting this Viking microwave is made in the USA, according to Viking customer service. Sure enough, their Web site says that “The majority of Viking products are proudly made in Greenwood, Mississippi, USA”.

It’s a 1.1 cu.ft. over-the-range microwave. It comes with a premium price tag, but when you consider that you pay that much for a silly smartphone you’ll end up throwing out in 3 years, it’s not bad for a high-end appliance that you’ll keep…forever.

If $1449 for a microwave is out of your price range, this particular model, also sold at Best Buy, is one of their more popular microwaves. It looks from the comments on this one that it’s made in Thailand, which would explain its lower price. But expect Viking, more so than most other brands, to mean it when they say that anything they make in Asia will go through the same quality assurance they demand of their US-made products.

Viking is of course on the high end of kitchen appliances, but they’re one of the new kitchen appliance brands that will elevate your kitchen and last a long, long time. They don’t make countertop appliances anymore, so most of their products, like this one, will integrate into your kitchen decor.

4. Amana RCS10TS Medium-Duty Microwave Oven

This is another commercial microwave oven made by Amana.

As I wrote above, Amana was once owned by Raytheon which invented the concept of microwave ovens. Raytheon sold them to Goodman Global (Daikin), which was told to Maytag, which was sold to Whirlpool. Today, they’re owned by Whirlpool.

While Whirlpool still makes many of its larger appliances in the USA, its consumer microwaves are made in China. This one model seems to be an exception. Some say that this is made in the USA, while others say it’s made in South Korea.

As I wrote above, even other Amana commercial models are being made in China now, so caveat emptor on this one.

Conclusion

The sad reality is that executives of brands like Sharp and Amana commercial products are likely going to put pressure on their manufacturing facilities to shut down so they can outsource all of their manufacturing to China.

Another sad reality. Have you noticed that microwave ovens aren’t cheap? As Midea and Galanz monopolize “the means of production”, then guess what? They’re in the driver’s seat. They can release their own direct-to-consumer brands while jacking up the bills for their production costs and ultimately drive brands out of the market. Heck, they can even make sure that only their preferred brands get the best features and move the consumer market that way.

Samsung seems to be the sole company toeing the line. But they need our support.

Do you know of any other microwave ovens worthy of mention here? Let us know in the comments.