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The best microwaves for 2024
Panasonic
Over the past seven decades, microwave ovens have evolved — from mega-gadgets with one or two cooking options to countertop-size small kitchen appliances with loads of features.
In addition to cooking and defrosting food quickly, the microwaves of 2024 double as convection ovens, air fryers and broilers. Some of them offer smart technology, controllable by voice (“Alexa, cook popcorn!”) or an app. Others, powered by inverters instead of magnetic coils or transformers, promise more even and faster cooking with the same amount of wattage.
Looking to replace your home’s old microwave, or just get more out of your cooking appliances? CBS Essentials has rounded up some of the latest microwaves with surprising features. And if you’re not sure if a new microwave is right for you right now, we’re also answering some of your most frequent questions about how the gadgets work.
Panasonic Home Chef 4-in-1 microwave: Save $50
Panasonic/Amazon
Panasonic Home Chef may be the most multi-tasking, space-saving small appliance on the market. In addition to serving as an inverter microwave, this 1.2 cubic foot cooking tool works as a convection oven (up to 425 degrees), air fryer (it comes with its own basket) and even a broiler.
The bake function goes up to 450 degrees, which is more than enough for most recipes. A quick-defrost option helps get dinner on the table faster.
What’s more, it’s currently on sale for $50 off on Amazon.
Panasonic also sells a stainless steel trim kit for those who want the built-in look.
Toshiba microwave and air fryer or convection combo
Toshiba/Amazon
Toshiba offers more affordable multi-tasking microwaves: A microwave/air-fryer/convection model, or microwave/convection oven.
Sleek looking but rather large, the 1000-watt and 1.5 cubic foot kitchen appliances offer lots of preset cooking options. Yep, there’s a popcorn button. And here’s something interesting: If you want to mute the buzzer of the microwave, you can press a certain button, and the noise is automatically switched off after one long beep.
Each option available in black stainless steel and traditional stainless steel finish, with the air fryer version model actually coming in a few dollars cheaper.
Breville Combi Wave 3 in 1
Breville/Amazon
Breville introduced an all-new line of microwaves a few years ago. The most innovative one, the Combi Wave, performs as a hybrid convection oven, air fryer and microwave.
It features a soft-close door — which busy households with kids might appreciate. Another cool feature: A cook-from-frozen preset.
For those who just want an attractive, easy-to-use microwave, another model, the Smooth Wave, a brushed stainless steel appliance with 15 built-in presets, smart inverter technology and LCD display, is a good option.
Breville Smooth Wave, $400
Whirlpool mini-microwave: Save $71
Whirlpool
The tiniest microwave on the market, this small but mighty Whirlpool appliance, designed to tuck away in a corner, offers 750 watts of cooking and defrosting power. Despite its compact size, it does fit a full dinner plate inside.
Features include “quick touch” buttons — yes, there’s popcorn — and the ability to add an extra 20 seconds of cooking or up to 10 levels of power. A child-safe lock adds peace of mind.
For a limited time, the Whirlpool mini-microwave is on sale for 27% off, saving you $71.
How do microwaves work?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers a clear, easy explanation on how microwaves work: An electron tube produces tiny waves (aka microwaves). These are absorbed by the food. Water molecules in food vibrate, producing heat that cooks the food. (This explains why foods higher in water content — including vegetables — cook more rapidly than others.)
While the energy changes into heat once absorbed, it doesn’t make food “radioactive,” which is a common misconception. Additionally, microwaving does not cook food from the inside out. The outer layers are heated and cooked primarily by microwaves while the inside is cooked mainly by the conduction of heat from the hot outer layers.
Are microwaves bad for you?
Radiation-related injuries as a result of microwave use are a big concern but extremely rare, per the FDA. The majority of microwave oven-related injuries result from heat-related burns via hot containers, overheated foods, or exploding liquids.
Rare radiation injuries can happen when large amounts of microwave radiation leak through openings, such as gaps in the microwave oven seals, most commonly due to improper servicing, as the FDA heavily regulates microwave design to prevent these types of leaks.
A boil water advisory was issued Wednesday night for the entire District of Columbia and neighboring Arlington County due to a spike in algae blooms in the Potomac River, officials said.
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority said the advisory, which it described as “precautionary,” also included the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery and Reagan National Airport.
“We have no information that the water was contaminated by this incident, but we issue this advisory as a precaution while we test the water,” the agency said.
The Washington Aqueduct is sourced by the Potomac River and serves as the public water supply for about one million people in the D.C. area, Arlington County and other portions of Northern Virginia.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a news release that the advisory stemmed from “elevated turbidity levels in the water supply caused by increases in algae blooms in the Potomac River.”
Turbidity is a measure of the clarity and cloudiness of water.
“Customers may notice their water looks cloudy or hazy,” Arlington County said in a news release.
The Washington Aqueduct has two water treatment plants. The Army Corps of Engineers responded to the elevated turbidity by temporarily transferring all water treatment operations from the Dalecarlia plant to the McMillan plant, DC Water said.
The Environmental Protection Agency also authorized adding additional copper sulfate and sodium permanganate to the aqueduct’s reservoirs to combat the algae, the Army Corps of Engineers said.
Residents were advised to bring drinking water to a rolling boil for one minute before letting it cool. Water should then be stored in a covered container.
The advisory will remain in effect until further testing deems the water safe to drink.
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An Orange County, California, jury found 26-year-old Sam Woodward guilty of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement Wednesday for the 2018 death of Blaze Bernstein, whose body was found days after he went missing, buried in a shallow grave at a Lake Forest park.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for just one day.
The judge hushed the courtroom as applause was heard during the reading of the verdict.
The prosecution had argued for Woodward to be found guilty of first-degree murder as a hate crime. Defense attorneys argued that Woodward should be convicted for voluntary manslaughter and acquitted of hate-crime allegations.
Jurors also were asked to consider second-degree murder. Closing arguments in the case had begun Friday, two-and-a-half months after the trial began in Santa Ana.
Following the reading of the guilty verdict, Bernstein’s parents shared their gratitude to the jury, to law enforcement and to the “army of supporters and volunteers” who were with them through the six-and-a-half-year ordeal.
“This was a great relief that justice was served and this despicable human, who murdered our son, will no longer be a threat to the public,” his mother Jeanne Pepper Bernstein said. “We are grateful to the jury for their service and their long days and weeks they spent in that service. Justice has been served.”
Sam Woodward was charged with stabbing Bernstein to death a little over six years ago. The Newport Beach man admitted to stabbing Bernstein, a 19-year-old gay, Jewish man, multiple times in 2018, but pleaded not guilty to murder with an enhancement for a hate crime.
Orange County prosecutor Jennifer Walker maintained to jurors that Woodward stabbed Bernstein, his former high school classmate, because he was gay, and buried his body at Borrego Park in Lake Forest.
“To dig a grave in that terrain, and bury and clean up and murder someone in an hour and half..that is not someone who is just going, ‘Oh..something happened and I need to figure it out.’ That is determined,” Walker said.
Bernstein, who was a college sophomore, was home visiting his family on winter break in January 2018 when he went missing after going with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, California. Woodward picked Bernstein up from his parents’ home after connecting with him on social media.
Bernstein’s parents found his glasses, wallet and credit cards in his bedroom the next day when he missed a dentist appointment and wasn’t responding to texts or calls, prosecutors wrote in a trial brief.
Days later, Bernstein’s body was found buried at the park in a shallow grave.
The case took years to go to trial after questions were raised about Woodward’s mental state and following defense attorney changes. Woodward was deemed competent to stand trial in late 2022.
Woodward took the stand for several days and confessed to jurors that he stabbed Bernstein multiple times.
DNA evidence linked Woodward to the killing and his cellphone contained troves of anti-gay, antisemitic and hate group materials, authorities said.
“Now with the verdict in hand, we believe justice has been served and that Blaze’s memory will be honored through this outcome,” Pepper Bernstein said.
