We try: Miele microwave oven:

What can I say?

Ever since we bought our new home about 2.5 years ago, I've been so excited about the day we would renovate the kitchen. The house we bought is about 60 years old and the kitchen hadn't been updated since the late 1970s/early 1980s. If I tell you it was mostly 'original' orange, not 'retro' orange, you'll have an idea.

So we saved. We now have a beautiful kitchen. It's obviously very modern - I even remember reading this article on Motherpedia last year when I was planning. It's got everything I wanted: great benchspace, child-proof cupboards, dedicated space for everything (including an all-important junk drawer!), easy to access drawers and the appliances I have always dreamed of.

I made one mistake. The inbuilt Miele microwave. It is an example of where a brand's reputation far exceeds the quality of their product. 

This is not to have a general criticism about Miele. We also got a Miele oven, Miele dishwasher, Miele coffee machine (a bit of an extravagance) and they're all fabulous. I particularly love the dishwasher as it's quiet; I can put it on at night and it doesn't disturb anyone with strange gurgling noises and it's also efficiently planned with a cutlery drawer. 

But the inbuilt microwave above the oven is a disappointment. It's inefficient, it's noisy, it's not intuitive to use - you have to look up the booklet - and I've had the repair man out twice in less than six months. Admittedly, it's been covered under warranty but the second time he told me that there was a particular fault in the product which meant the microwave mechanism tripped and no longer worked. He advised me to run it on 75% for everything, which defeats the purpose of having a microwave, doesn't it? Something which should take, say, 3 minutes, takes 5 and so on.

It also picks up a mark every time you touch it so, open the door and fingermarks are all over the handle and front; close the door, and more of the same. This would be relatively minor if there was nothing else wrong, but it adds to my annoyance about it.

On the plus side, it looks really nice - as long as I can keep it clean on the outside - but as we don't plan on leaving this house for a very long time, I feel as if I am going to be stuck with a microwave that is barely satisfactory and, for the price, certainly not cost-effective. I shouldn't have bothered with the matching set and just bought a less costly and better quality product. 

Overall

I'm giving it 3 stars, but I really think it's more 2.5 stars!

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The Miele microwave was purchased by the writer.