The Haier 1.2 cu. ft. Stainless Steel Microwave MWM12001-SCGSS has a long list of excellent features. This unit is a bit more complicated than the average microwave, but when you see what it can do, you'll understand why. Styled in beautiful brushed stainless steel inside and out, this unit saves space with its compact styling, while still providing ample interior cooking space. It comes with a 12.4-inch glass turntable plus a wire baking rack. Cooking, defrosting or reheating on shallow round or square plates or casserole dishes work best and allow the turntable to spin freely.

In addition to the standard microwave options, the MWM120001-SCGSS also includes convection cook capability, sensor cook options and a grilling feature. A blue backlit digital control panel displays the function selected, followed by any additional information (e.g., temperature, weight) and counts down the remaining time. Other subtle touches include audible tones and visual indicators that show the progress and alert you when preheating is completed or a cycle has finished.

The most challenging aspect of this oven is figuring out how to operate the numerous functions. Within each option, there are one or more selections so you need to learn the idiosyncrasies of each button. In most cases, you begin by pressing one of the control buttons. There are 10 function buttons (Power Level, Grill, Convection, Combination, Sensor Cook, Sensor Reheat, Popcorn, Weight Defrost, Time Defrost and Timer/Clock), plus a selector dial and Start and Stop buttons. The tricky part comes from knowing whether you need to press the function button more than once and when to use the selector dial. A good rule of thumb is to press the function button until the desired option appears on the screen and to use the selector dial to choose the cooking time, temperature, and/or food type and weight. Since many of the functions are displayed in code (e.g., d-2 for Time Defrost and d-1 for Convection cooking at the lowest temperature), you may want to keep the instruction booklet handy until you familiarize yourself with the many choices.

One exceptional feature is the Sensor Cook option, which is preprogrammed to detect the moisture level inside the oven and adjust cooking time accordingly. This unit has eight sensor cook settings -- each geared toward a specific food. You can cook frozen entrees, fresh or frozen vegetables, baked potatoes, ground meat, fish fillets, and even pasta or frozen pizza using one of these settings.

This unit also has convection feature, a grill feature and a combination setting that combines microwave energy with convection cooking. The convection capability really expands the realm of food choices and meal possibilities by allowing you to bake foods like cookies, cakes and pies. For cooking breaded chicken, pork chops and other meats, we liked the combination settings, which cooks foods from the inside and the outside simultaneously. Oven temperatures range from 100 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and the automatic timer can be set up to 95 minutes. If more time is needed, you need to reset the time/temperature and press start again.

The grill feature acts more like a broil function, providing direct heat to brown foods from above. The grill temperature is preset to 329 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot be changed. We found the instruction manual helpful for explaining the various functions; however, a good microwave- convection cookbook is a must if you're going to take full advantage of this unit's many features.

The simplest features are often the best, so we loved the Start/+30 sec. button, which provides one-touch operation in 30-second increments. With its wide assortment of features, the Haier MWM12001-SCGSS is well equipped to handle any type of cooking.


Pros: Stainless steel housing, multiple cooking modes (microwave, convection, grill and combination), 8 sensor cook options, one-touch 30-second Start button, blue backlit display
Cons: Complicated programming, selections are shown in code, reversible wire rack is awkward

Warranty
1 year, liimited, 10 years, magnetron tube