Over the Counter Microwave

Sharp R-1520LW
A Product Review

The over the counter microwaves are one of the latest models from all vendors.

The biggest advantage of this kind of microwave is the huge counter space savings that one can get, while retaining the microwave in a convenient and easy-to-access location.

Sharp has come out with many models in the over-the-range series. The R-1520LW is one of the high end models.

This microwave has 1100W power and 1.5 cu.ft capacity. It houses nearly 14” Sharp Carousal turn table which is the largest table in this series from Sharp.

It is ideal for holding large dishes for cooking in large quantities.

Thus, the R-1520 is not just a great family microwave; it can also give you that edge in case you decide to throw a small party at your house.

The Features

The R-1520 Over the Counter Microwave also comes with Sharp’s Smart & Easy ® sensor technology. With this innovation, the microwave can sense the moisture content inside to determine the amount of cooking, reheating or defrosting required.

It can adjust the power levels and time accordingly. To make the best use of this technology, though, it is important that you dry the microwave inside well.

Since, moisture content is vital in the sensor technology, any moisture that is not from the food, will mislead the calculations.

Sensor Defrost allows you to defrost frozen meat with minimal effort. You can refer to Defrost center chart for more details – it has ground meat, steak chops, boneless and boned chicken.

The unit does support manual defrosts too, in case the chart doesn’t cover the meat that you picked.

Similarly, for the reheat too, the manual has a reheat center chart – it has frozen and fresh muffins/ rolls and beverages.

In the sensor cook chart, you have a large variety of commonly cooked foods. The chart covers ground meat, rice, seafood, frozen entrees, frozen vegetables and chicken breasts. It also has some quick recipes that you can mane with the sensor technology.

This Over the Counter Microwave also has Keep warm and Hot water features. The Keep warm settings can keep your food warm for nearly 30 minutes. The Hot Water feature lets you heat water for tea or coffee. All you need to do is press the Hot water button as many times as the number of cups of water you want to heat. It supports up to 6 cups of water.

The LW is a white colored model; the other variations are LK for black and LQ for bisque. So you can choose from the color that suits the look and feel of your kitchen. Besides, the unit supports three languages: English, French and Spanish and two measurement scales: lbs and kgs.

The range feature comes with light and fan. The light pad is touch sensitive. One touch turns on the light at high intensity, second touch makes it low and third turns it off.

The fan too comes with a touch pad. But it also is sensitive to heat. If the temperature rises, it automatically turns on to protect the microwave.

This way you are assured of a well protected microwave and a very efficient range top system. The fan unit also comes with a grease filter to prevent grease from choking the exhaust.

The filter is detergent safe and simply using hot soap water you can clean it with minimum fuss.