Are you really going to use all the advanced functions?
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
*****The Background******
Before I start the actual review I’ll let you know a little about why I choose to buy this (or indeed any) microwave. Around two years ago a friend and close neighbour of mine gave me an old microwave as they no longer had need for it. Assured that it was in perfect working order I then proceeded (as students do, don’t they) to use it for nearly all my cooking purposes - you can probably tell it was hardly the healthiest of diets - until one fateful day....
The day in question I was feeling in an adventurous mood so I decided the microwave was up to the task of cooking a fairly substantial meal. I’m not going to embarrass myself more than I have to by stating what the meal was suffice to say I have learnt my lesson.. So I set the timer for around 40 minutes and went to my room to revise. About halfway through my nostrils were filled with the terrifying stench of melting plastic. In a panic I rushed out of my room and in the hallway I could see smoke just drifting out from my kitchen and then the smoke alarm went off. Going downstairs (I could barely see by the way) I quickly turned it off and spent the next few hours trying to shut up the smoke alarm, and the next few weeks trying to get rid of the smell and stains. I then spent the next 6 months too scarred to even think about replacing it but eventually I summoned up the courage to purchase this Hinari model through a mail order catalogue.
******The Company******
Not knowing that much about Hinari I was slightly concerned that the price would not prove it to be the equal of similarly priced machines (I paid £50 give or take a few pounds). Even now not knowing a great deal about the company I have endeavoured to get some information from their official website. This itself took longer than expected as our usually trusty steed Google failed on all searches. Typing in www.hinari.co.uk forwarded me to their little piece of the Alba Group website. To my surprise I found they own many well-known brands, apart from Hinari, including Bush, Goodmans and NTL. The only information they gave on Hinari was this promotional intro:
Hinari Domestic Appliances a popular UK brand for 19 years, Hinari has an enviable reputation for its value for money approach. Hinari is seen as the natural starting point within each of its numerous product sectors in which it has achieved leading market shares. Building on this success, Hinari is expanding beyond its traditional by entering the larger appliances and the home air conditioning sectors.
******The Product (Design)*****
When looking for a new microwave I had only two pre-requisites - it had to be digital and it had to fit in with the rest of my kitchen i.e. is grey/silver. So I saw this Hinari, meeting both needs and being fairly attractive and I was pretty happy to part with my cash.
Within a few days I had received delivery of the fairly substantial box, which I’m guessing, as it didn’t state, weighed in at a good 25Kg. Grateful that I only had to take it once up four flights of stairs I quickly took it into my kitchen and opened the box. The box itself was fairly sparse on information bar telling me that it was an 800 watts microwave oven and that I should handle with caution. It also had a large picture on both of the larger sides depicting my new purchase in a not so glorious form, but hey I’m not going to mark it down for that. Inside the microwave seemed fairly well protected albeit with the polystyrene that makes that awful grating sound when you pull it out of the box. Satisfied that it was in one piece I removed it from its polythene bag and placed it on my newly made shelf.
Upon first look it appeared far more stylish than the catalogue picture seemed to show and I was fairly impressed with how easily it fitted straight in. The sides of the microwave are a fairly dull grey with a sticker on the left-hand side stating that the corner cut away on the door (the lower left hand side of the door) was designed like that to allow clearance when opening and it was not, in fact, a fault. It also has an arrow pointing down, which is the only reason I noticed it in the first place. The front itself comprises of the small digital display at the top with a variety of touch control buttons below as well as the standard 0-9 numerical keypad. The bulk of the front is comprised of the door, which is definitely the finest-looking part. It is silver in colour but done in the same way as you see on many marble floors - as I am unaware of what this effect is called I have settled on speckled. The outer edges of the door are fairly flat but going in a few inches the door curves inwards until it reaches an oval window for you to view your finest cooking at work. The handle is silver plated in a downward oval shape though this straightens at the top and bottom and runs nearly the fall height of the door. Rather than the usual push- click then pull design it is just a simple matter of pulling the handle with a small amount of force for it to click open. There are two further stickers on the front, the first summarising most of the microwaves basic and advanced functions. The second sticker seemed almost entirely designed for me, given my last escapade with these machines.
“Warning - Pierce the skin of foods with non-porous skins for example POTATOES, to allow steam to escape as the build up of pressure can cause the food to burst and create a fire hazard”
And this is the only reason that all three stickers remain to this day. I would also like to point out that the capitalised potatoes is how it’s written on the sticker and not me hinting at the cause of my previous misfortune.
Upon opening the door I was relieved to find my user guide along with the 4 components that make up the turntable (Glass tray, roller ring, shaft and washer). The inside seemed fairly small despite one of my stickers claiming it had a capacity of 20 litres. I found the turntable straight forward to put together and if you have any difficulty the user guide helpfully takes you through it step-by-step.
A quick mention on the user guide (I shall refer to it later too). It is about 30 pages in length with the first 5 pages dedicated to safety instructions and getting started with the microwave. The bulk of the guide goes into good detail on the variety of function and programmes and how to put them to use before a final few pages on troubleshooting and technical information.
****** The Product (At Work)******
Firstly I will give a brief description and judgement of the touch control buttons and their main functions:
Weight Defrost - This function allows you to defrost three kinds of foods - meat, poultry and seafood. Select the type of food by pressing the button the required number of times, enter the weight using the numerical keypad and the microwave calculates how long it will take and automatically starts. I have only used this on a handful of occasions as I find the categories too vague and the user guide has it’s own recommended times for a larger variety of foods in a defrost chart.
Jet Defrost - This is the more conventional version of defrosting in that you press it once enter the time and it will start (upon pressing start of course!). The fancy name should not fool you into expecting jets of steam entering the magical chamber to assist the process. It does the job well as long as you are aware of how long different foods take to defrost. It has begun to cook my food on a few occasions so be careful.
Power - The only time I have pressed this button is on my first thorough read of the user guide as a test. It allows you to cook the food by a percentage of the 800watt power ranging form 0% to 90% in multiples of 10. You must first enter the time you want to cook the food for before applying this. Useful if the food you are cooking requires 2 minutes at 640watts (80%) but I have yet to come across such a demanding product.
Time - Only second to the Start button in the amount of times I have used it. Cooks (is it cooks or microwaves? Ah well I’ve started with it so that’s how I‘ll continue.) at the maximum power for whatever time you require with a clever combination of using this button and the numerical keypad.
Memory - I don’t recall having ever used this though it does seem like it could be handy. The microwave is capable of multi-stage cooking with the aid of this button. Say you wanted to defrost and then cook some frozen veg. Firstly press Jet Defrost and then the amount of time you want, then press the time button to select the second stage and how long you want it for. Finally press the memory button then the start button to commence. You could also use it to cook food at two or more different power levels for the different stages. Having said all that I have just realised you can cook frozen veg as it is so if anyone can think of a good reason to use this please let me know.
Express - Again I have yet to use this. 1 One press of this will start cooking for 15 seconds and each further press will double the time to a maximum of 2 minutes, so four different times can be achieved.
Clock - Allows you to set the time (really it does) on the digital display in 12 hour format. Good but not great as the memory on this, when the power is off, is too short so it becomes a pointless exercise if you are an energy saver.
Pre-Set - Now imagine the situation. You are leaving for work in the morning and have already decided a ready meal will be your dinner choice, you also arrive home from work at exactly the same time each day. Place the meal in the microwave and then press the pre-set button (note it is useful to have the clock set to the right time here). Now enter the time you want the food to start cooking followed by Start and hey presto! OK I am being harsh but my past experience will not allow me to stray from the microwave when in use so I have no intention of utilising this.
Start - The most important button on the microwave. The microwave will invariably fail to work if you decide against pressing this.
Cancel - Good if you’re hot chocolate is over flowing.
And there’s more!
If you have kids or fidgety fingers it has a child lock preventing any starting of the microwave until it is unlocked. You can also use the power level 0% to use the microwave as a timer, which is an unnecessary waste of power in my opinion. Having re-read the user guide I’m sure the final feature is the auto-reminder where the microwave will emit 3 short bleeps every two minutes after it has finished if the door is not opened. The bleeps are the same as when it finishes and seems fairly standard on modern microwaves.
Technical Specifications:
Power Consumption: 1200 Watts Power Output: 800 Watts Operating Frequency: 2450 MHz Oven capacity: 20 litres (0.7 cu ft.) Outside dimensions (mm): 295x458x370 Oven capacity dimensions: 251x300x302 Energy Rating: E (maff rating)
Please note the above rating is not for efficiency and I have found the information below to explain:
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (now DeFRA) power consumption rating for Microwave ovens - A is the lowest rating, E is the most powerful.
******And Finally******
My overall opinion on my Hinari microwave remains high as when I paid for this item I wasn’t really looking for the extra features, it was the design that was more important to me. If you are looking for a basic microwave to just do the basics then yes, I’m sure you could find better value than this. Remember though microwaves tend to last a lot longer than conventional ovens so perhaps it is worth paying a little bit more for the overall package.
More details
Durability
Long
User's Manual
Excellent
How much did you pay?
£50 (approx)
Any repairs?
None
Special features?
Express cook, Jet Defrost, Weight defrost and many more!
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