Microwave Inverter Technology – Are Inverter Microwave Ovens Good?

April 22nd, 2010

Ovens & Cooking

Most microwave ovens allow users to choose between different power levels, but unfortunately, they do not use microwave inverter technology.

In these microwaves there is no change in the strength of the microwave radiation; instead, the magnetron is turned on and off in cycles of several seconds at a time which leads to uneven heating and cold spots in your frozen dinners.

You can actually hear this when it happens (a change in the humming sound from the oven), or observe it when microwaving foods which inflate when the magnetron is turned on and deflate when it is turned off.

For such an oven, the magnetron is driven by a linear transformer which can only be switched completely on or off.

Newer models have microwave inverter technology which uses pulse width modulation to provide effective, continuous heating at reduced power so that foods are heated more evenly at any given power level and can be heated more quickly without being damaged by uneven heating.

In simpler terms, rather than turn the magnetron on and off to control power/temperature, an inverter allows the magnetron to continuously run while only altering the amount of radiation that is coming out for your selected setting.

Next time you’re looking for a microwave, remember Appliances Online!