CBS News
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.
NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.
The world’s oldest mummies have been around longer than the mummified pharaohs of Egypt and their ornate tombs — but the ravages of time, human development and climate change are putting these relics at risk.
Chile’s Atacama Desert was once home to the Chincorro people, an ancient population that began mummifying their dead 5,000 years ago, two millennia before the Egyptians did, according to Bernando Arriaza, a professor at the University of Tarapaca.
The arid desert has preserved mummified remains and other clues in the environment that give archaeologists information about how the Chincorro people once lived.
The idea to mummify bodies likely came from watching other remains naturally undergo the process amid the desert’s dry conditions. The mummified bodies were also decorated with reed blankets, clay masks, human hair and more, according to archaeologists.
While UNESCO has designated the region as a World Heritage Site, the declaration may not save all of the relics. Multiple museums, including the Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum in the ancient city of Arica, put the Chincorro culture on display. Some mummies and other relics are safely ensconced in those climate-controlled exhibits, but the remains still hidden in the arid desert remain at risk.
“If we have an increase in sea surface temperatures, for example, across the coast of northern Chile, that would increase atmospheric humidity,” said Claudio LaTorre, a paleo-ecologist with the Catholic University of Chile. “And that in turn would generate decomposition, (in) places where you don’t have decomposition today, and you would lose the mummies themselves.”
Other clues that archaeologists can find in the environment may also be lost.
“Human-induced climate change is one aspect that we’re really worried about, because it’ll change a number of different aspects that are forming the desert today,” said LaTorre.
Arriaza is working to raise awareness about the mummies, hoping that that will lead to even more preservation.
“It’s a big, big challenge because you need to have resources,” Arriaza said. “It’s everybody’s effort to a common goal, to preserve the site, to preserve the mummies.”
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.