Mini micros: you may have trouble fitting a large chicken or casserole dish into one of these ovens, but they could be fine for a small household. (Test: microwave ovens).(Evaluation)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2002 Australian Consumers' Association

On test: six microwaves with a 20-25 litre capacity--the most popular size these days. Although small, they have a reasonable number of cooking programs. All those tested have auto-defrost functions and most have automatic cooking and reheating options, but none offers sensor cooking (where the microwave senses from the vapours in the oven when a food is ready).

All did a good job with the functions they have, although only two--the BLACK & DECKER and WHIRLPOOL--did well in the test for even reheating of food that can't be stirred (like lasagne). The PANASONIC wasn't too bad, but the rest produced large variations in temperature, which could mean that, without a little care on your part, some parts of solid food won't be hot enough to be safe. See Microwave ovens: FAQs, page 42, for more on the importance of evenly heated food and what you can do to make sure your food's properly cooked.

You'd probably be happy with one of the models in the What to buy list if you're not after anything fancy and have a small household--large dishes simply won't fit in the ovens. You might also find one handy for the holiday house or caravan.

IN A NUTSHELL

* These small microwaves do a pretty good job, although some have more cooking programs than others.

* Some microwaves don't heat non-stirrable food very evenly, resulting in cooler spots that could harbour food-poisoning bacteria.

WHAT TO BUY WHIRLPOOL M 585 Micro $209 BLACK & DECKER BMO900 $219 SHARP Carousel R-240E $252 PANASONIC Inverter NN-S451WF $249 PERFORMANCE 3 Ease of Brand/model 1 Overall 2 Cooking use score (in rank order) score (%) score...

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