Convection Microwaves: Best Countertop, Over-The-Range and Built in Models

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While microwaves are built for convenience, the convection microwave has the added versatility of cooking, baking, and roasting as if you were using a regular oven. Of course, in most cases, you won’t be able to use a convection microwave for cooking enormous meals, but they are perfect appliances for quick baking jobs or supplementing other ovens or stoves.

There is more than one style of convection microwave, so in this article, we’ve rounded up all our favorite appliances to help you make the right choice for your kitchen. We base our opinions on affordability, appearance, versatility, build quality, durability, and performance.

Specifications

• Type: Countertop / Convection
• Dimensions: 22 in x 13.5 in x 17.8 inches
• Appliance Weight: 39.1lbs
• Capacity: 1.2 cu.ft
• Turntable: Yes
• Available Colors: Stainless Steel
• Wattage: 1000 Watts

Things To Love:

1. Top Performance: Once people have got to grips with the many features of this Panasonic appliance, consumers are in love with how it functions. Any task you ask of it, it performs quickly and effectively.
2. Microwave, Air Fryer, Broiler: The Panasonic NN-CD87KS is not only a microwave; it’s a convection oven with air frying and broiling capabilities too.
3. Genius Sensor: The ‘Genius Sensor’ automatically detects your food’s humidity and calculates the optimal power levels and cooking time to ensure perfectly cooked food every time.
4. Turbo Defrost: Using turbo defrost technology, this Panasonic microwave defrosts food even faster than standard appliances, enabling you to prepare meals at a moment’s notice.
5. Air Frying Basket: A multilayered basket lets you cook multiple meals simultaneously for increased versatility.
6. Stylish Control Panel: With six simple push-buttons and a sleek dial, Panasonic has given the NN-CD87KS model a minimalistic yet elegant control panel, making this appliance easy to use. 
7. Built-In Option: If you prefer a more premium look, you can buy an additional trim set to make this microwave appear as if it were a built-in model.

What’s Not To Like?

1. Extremely Pricey: Countertop appliances are usually the most affordable microwaves; the Panasonic NN-CD87KS is one of the most expensive countertop models.
2. Substantial Learning Curve: Because this appliance has so many functions and features, it will take a lot of time and effort to figure out what benefits each one has and how best to use them. Fortunately, Panasonic provides a ‘quick start’ guide for assistance.
3. Visual Deficiencies: There are a couple of issues with this appliance that could prove troublesome to people with less than perfect eyesight. Firstly, the interior light is relatively dim, providing little insight into what’s happening inside the appliance. While the text on the buttons is so small, you’ll struggle to see it.  

Final Remarks

The Panasonic Home Chef convection microwave is at the top of its class in style, effectiveness, and functionality. Very few small kitchen appliances can heat, defrost, crisp, broil and air fry like the NN-CD87KS can. Of course, all that functionality comes at a price … and it’s a very hefty price.

Specifications

• Type: Countertop / Convection
• Dimensions: 21.77 x 21.3 x 12.8 inches
• Appliance Weight: 44.8lbs
• Capacity: 1.5 cu.ft
• Turntable: Yes
• Available Colors: Black Stainless Steel
• Wattage: 1000 Watts  

Things To Love:

1. It’s So Pretty: The Toshiba EC042A5C-BS microwave is one of the best looking appliances on the market. The black stainless steel finish, and cool crisp control panel will look superb in any kitchen.
2. Auto Bake Menu: Toshiba utilizes this microwave’s convection capabilities with a bunch of pre-programmed settings of all your favorite foods. They include; popcorn,  pizza, muffins, dinner roll, french fries, beef, whole chicken, turkey breast, and pork.
3. ‘Warm Hold Function’: This ‘keep warm’ feature will help your food retain its heat until you’re ready to eat. More appliances would do well to implement this function.
4. Easy to Clean: Microwaves are notorious for creating a mess when you’re cooking soup, stews, or anything with a lot of liquid. Toshiba’s ‘easy-to-clean’ stainless steel cavity is both scratch and stain-resistant that easily wipes clean.
5. Eco-Mode: When on Stand-By, this Toshiba microwave uses 50% less power than standard appliances, reducing your energy bills and protecting the environment.
6. Sensor Cooking: A built-in sensor detects your food’s humidity levels and automatically adjusts the time and power levels to ensure your food is cooked to perfection.
7. Defrosts Excellently: Consumers love the defrost function on this Toshiba microwave, as it defrosts food efficiently without starting to cook your ingredients.

What’s Not To Like?

1. LED Issues: The internal LED is bright and allows you to keep a watchful eye on your food as it cooks. Unfortunately, many customers have had issues with the LED failing over time, which requires considerable time and effort to get it repaired.
2. Can Only Set Cook-Time in Whole Minutes: It’s not possible to set the cooking time in anything other than full minutes. If you want a half minute added, you’ll have to program the time (e.g., 5 minutes), start the cycle, then add a half-minute via the ‘Add 30 seconds’ button.
3. Initial Plastic Smell: When using the convection oven, you’ll find it omits a plastic smell for the first few uses. It will dissipate over time, but it’s very pungent to begin with.

Final Remarks

No countertop convection microwave offers better value for money than the Toshiba EC042A5C-BS. It has a decent 1.5 cu.ft of cooking space, looks beautiful, and has tons of practical features to help with cooking, defrosting, baking, and crisping your food quickly and efficiently, But most importantly, it’s relatively affordable when compared with rival models.

Honorable mentions

Cuisinart Countertop Convection Microwave (CMW-100)

This compact microwave is perfect for small kitchens or single people. It’s super powerful for such a small appliance and has many pre-programmed settings to remove the guesswork and make your life easier. This convection oven works well, and the nonporous stainless steel won’t absorb moisture, odors, or food particles.

While it performs adequately and is reasonably affordable as a stand-alone unit, for just a little extra money, the Toshiba (EC042A5C-BS) microwave has 50% more cooking capacity, is a tad more reliable, and let’s be honest; it looks far prettier.

GE Profile Microwave PEB9159SJSS

On the face of it, this GE Profile microwave is super affordable for a convection microwave. It’s a good size too, which is perfect to cater to the needs of small families. GE furnished this countertop microwave with sensor cooking technology for perfectly cooked foods.

Unfortunately, despite having the same 1000 Watt power output as the Toshiba EC042A5C-BS (and also the Cuisinart CMW-100), GE didn’t quite nail it in terms of performance. Many consumers feel this microwave is underpowered, and it takes longer to cook food than it should. The lower price point makes it a good choice if you don’t have the budget for the previously mentioned models.

Sharp microwave (SMC158BW)

The Sharp microwave (SMC158BW) is the iPhone of microwaves. With a sleek white exterior and an absolute ton of innovative features (it’s also super expensive for a countertop appliance) that assist you in the kitchen, this appliance is worth looking at if you’re after something with a great aesthetic.

Though it’s a decent microwave in its own right, we think the Panasonic (NN-CD87KS) Home Chef convection microwave performs marginally better, and not only that; it’s cheaper too.

Galanz GTWHG12S1SA10

This 4-in-1 countertop convection microwave from Galanz is the most unique looking microwave we’ve ever seen. It’s also one of the few microwave appliances that offers convection, air fryer, and toaster oven capabilities alongside its primary function.

While these features are ok, this microwave falls foul to the phrase ‘Jack of all trades, master of none,’ as it doesn’t excel at any of them. The built-in air fryer is inferior to the Panasonic appliance, though the Galanz microwave is a decent alternative to those on a tighter budget.

Specifications

• Type: Over-the-Range / Convection
• Dimensions: 30 in x 17 in x 17.3 inches
• Appliance Weight: 77lbs
• Capacity: 1.9 cu.ft
• Turntable: Yes
• Available Colors: Stainless Steel / Black Stainless Steel (KMHC319EBS) /  White (KMHC319EWH)
• Wattage: 1000 Watts

Things To Love:

1. Enormous Capacity: With 1.9 cu.ft of cooking space, this KitchenAid convection microwave comfortably fits almost any container or tray to be almost large enough to consider it your primary cooking appliance.
2. Superb Design: With the control panel situated at the bottom of the door rather than to one side, this microwave is not only super-wide but also has a large viewing window so you can keep an eye on your food.
3. Dual-Layer Cooking: KitchenAid increase the already massive capacity of this convection microwave with the use of a dual-layer cooking rack so you can cook different foods simultaneously.
4. Steam Cleaning: This microwave uses the power of steam to help remove dirt, grease, and grime.
5. Sound-Based Popcorn Setting: If you want perfect popcorn, this microwave listens to your food, so it knows precisely when your snack is ready.
6. Steam/Simmer Function: Thanks to a specially designed container that comes with this KitchenAid microwave, you’re able to steam and simmer in this appliance for increased versatility.
7. Halogen Task Light: The halogen ‘task light’ is not only useful for illuminating your work area; it looks pretty good too.

What’s Not To Like?

1. Buttons are Difficult to Read: While the electronic control panel is pleasing to look at, the buttons’ text is small and challenging to read. That difficulty is compounded at night as the panel isn’t back-lit.
2. Tricky to Install: Many consumers report difficulties in installing this over-the-range microwave. It’s not helped by the fact that it weighs 77lbs.
3. Poor Instruction Manual: There are a ton of excellent features on this over-the-range microwave, but KitchenAid does a poor job of explaining how to use them. This leads to frustration towards the appliance among consumers.

Final Remarks

While more expensive than countertop convection microwaves, the KitchenAid 1.9 (KMHC319ESS) appliance is a reasonably priced over-the-range microwave. The large capacity and vast array of features (all of which actually work) mean this microwave is so good, it can be used as a primary cooking source to save space in your kitchen.

Specifications

• Type: Over-the-Range / Convection
• Dimensions: 29.9 x 16 in x 17.1 inches
• Appliance Weight: 77.5lbs
• Capacity: 1.9 cu.ft
• Turntable: Yes
• Available Colors: Stainless Steel / Black Stainless Steel (WMH78019HV) / Black (WMH78019HB) / White (WMH78019HW)
• Wattage: 1550 Watts

 Things To Love:

1. Scan-to-Cook Technology: Scan the barcode on the packaging of whatever food you want to cook, and the microwave will set the appropriate time and power levels for the ultimate ease of use.
2. Smart Appliance: Connect your Whirlpool convection microwave to an app on your phone or implement the voice control system via Alexa or Google Home.
3. Back-Lit Tap Touch Controls: This ultra-responsive control panel is aesthetically pleasing, reacts well to your touch, and is back-lit for better nighttime viewing.
4. Steam Assistance: Whirpool utilizes steam for cooking and cleaning in this microwave for increased versatility and a more straightforward clean-up process.
5. Remote Lock: Deactivate the control panel on your Whirlpool over-the-range microwave to avoid any accidents or unwanted access to your appliance.
6. Remote Start: Use your phone to turn on your microwave from a remote location so your food is ready when you get home.
7. Sensor Cooking: This microwave tracks your food’s humidity levels to ensure you never overcook a meal again.

What’s Not To Like?

1. Over-Powered Reheat: While the 1550 Watt power output helps cook food quickly, it seems too much for the reheat function, which often overheats your food. Some trial and error are needed to find the right settings.
2. Hit and Miss Smart Features: The connectivity of this Whirlpool microwave is a huge selling point of this appliance, but some consumers have found their effectiveness to be patchy at best, with voice commands and remote access sometimes failing.
3. Time-Consuming Set Up Process: If it wasn’t enough for the smart features to work intermittently, they are very time-consuming and challenging to set up.

Final Remarks

The Whirlpool Smart (WMH78019HZ) 1.9 Over-the-Range convection microwave is an appliance for people who love technology and want connectivity to enhance their smart-home. 

This enormous and powerful microwave is crammed full of smart features to give you complete control of your kitchen. And while some of the functions could prove troublesome, this appliance’s relatively low price point makes it one of the most affordable smart convection microwaves on the market.

Honorable mentions

GE Profile PVM9179SKSS

The GE Profile 1.7 over-the-range convection microwave offers consumers the chance for an ‘built-in’ style small microwave that can connect with other GE products for a superb matching ensemble.

While this microwave is a solid and dependable machine that performs as you’d expect, it doesn’t offer as much in the way of features and efficiency as do the Whirpool and KitchenAid products we’ve looked at. Still, it has a more affordable price point, making it a good choice for those on a tighter budget.

Sharp’s R1874T

Sharp’s R1874T 1.1 cu.ft over-the-range convection microwave is aimed at people looking for a smaller appliance if they have limited kitchen space or need something for occasional use. It’s got a few decent features and a powerful exhaust system to remove any unwanted odors.

It’s a good choice if it fits your needs; however, if you have the kitchen space and would prefer a more powerful appliance with additional features, the Whirpool Smart microwave is a better choice for a similar price.

Specifications

• Type: Built-In / Convection
• Dimensions: 29.75 x 18.5 in x 25.1 inches
• Appliance Weight: 100lbs
• Capacity: 1.4 cu.ft
• Turntable: Yes
• Available Colors: Stainless Steel / Black Stainless Steel (KMBP100EBS)
• Wattage: 950 Watts

Things To Love:

1. Stunning Appearance: Built-in appliances give consumers that premium look and professional kitchen appearance. In our opinion, the KitchenAid KMBP100ESS is one of the best-looking examples you can buy.
2. ‘CrispWave’ Technology: The CrispWave technology from KitchenAid allows you to fry and grill food in a microwave, which was unthinkable when microwaves were first introduced into the market place.
3. ‘EasyConvect’: This built-in microwave will take traditional cooking times and temperatures you’d use on a standard stove and convert them for convection use, to remove all the tricky calculations.
4. Outdoor Grilling, Inside: It’s possible to achieve outdoor grilling style results with this built-in microwave. A broil element and high-powered convection cooking provides you with food that tastes almost like it was cooked on a barbeque.
5. Sensor Cooking: Like most high-end microwaves, this appliance employs sensor cooking to ensure your food doesn’t end up dry and rubbery. 
6. Steamer Container: KitchenAid includes a steamer container with this microwave to simmer and steam foods to perfection.

What’s Not To Like?

1. Super Expensive: The old saying goes, ‘You get what you pay for,’ and while you ‘get’ a lot with the KitchenAid KMBP100ESS, you certainly have to pay a lot for it.
2. It’s Loud: Convection microwaves are often loud when you’re using them. This KitchenAid appliance is slightly louder than usual.
3. Dim Interior Light: While it’s not a deal-breaker, the interior light on this microwave is dim, making it a challenge to see inside.

Final Remarks

High-end appliances require high-end price tags. While the KitchenAid KMBP100ESS is extremely expensive, what you get in return is a gorgeous built-in microwave that can perform almost any task as if it were a standard cooker or stove.

Things To Love:

1. Reasonably Priced: While built-in appliances aren’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, this Cafe model is relatively affordable compared to similarly-sized microwaves.
2. Customizable Handles & Knobs: Give your convection microwave a unique appearance and match it to your kitchen decor with a selection of different colored door handles and dials.
3. ‘My Cycle’: Save your most used custom times and power levels for future use at the touch of a button.
4. Warming & Proofing Mode: Bake perfect bread with the help of the warming and proofing mode featured on this Cafe microwave.
5. Microwave Rack: Included with this appliance is the ‘Microwave rack,’ which allows you to cook multiple food types at once.

What’s Not To Like?

1. Takes a While to Heat Up: While the standard microwave mode works perfectly, you’ll have to wait a while for this appliance to reach the optimal temperature when using the convection mode.
2. Buttons Not Back-Lit: While the control panel looks crisp and clean during the day, the button text is small and difficult to read at night as the control panel isn’t back-lit.
3. Derailed Turntable: A number of consumers are frustrated at the turntable’s propensity to derail, resulting in unevenly cooked food. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s annoying when it does.

Final Remarks

The Cafe 1.7 (CWB713P2NS1) Built-In convection microwave is an affordable way to bring a premium appliance into your kitchen. While it doesn’t feature all the bells and whistles like KitchenAid built-in microwave, it has more than enough modes to supplement other cookers and stoves you have in your kitchen.