Best of the Best

It used to be the world had two kinds of people: those who Really Cooked, and those who Microwaved. The people who Really Cooked were perceived as organized, domestic and family-oriented, making healthy meals for their families with smug, Donna Reed-like industriousness.

The people who Only Microwaved, by contrast, were said to be unhealthy, lazy and obsessed with instant gratification--if it couldn't be made in three minutes or less, they couldn't be bothered.

For many years, I belonged to the latter group. In fact, when my first microwave died the year after I graduated college, I sat at the kitchen table and cried. What would I do, I wondered. How would I eat?

Although my cooking skills have improved a bit since those days, as someone who frequently gets home from work at 9 p.m., I understand the lure of the three-minute meal. But that doesn't mean I want to eat salt-laded, preservative-laden frozen dinners that could easily be mistaken for the cardboard containers they come in.

Even when I do take time to cook something elaborate, I value my microwave for its ability to heat things up fast, keep things warm or soften butter.

Fortunately, the latest, greatest microwaves have come a long way from the 1970s models that made everything taste oddly gummy-flavored. In fact, not only have microwaves improved in terms of taste, but many also offer the ability to steam vegetables, make crisp bacon, bake cookies, broil a roast and more, along with the standard heat, reheat and defrost modes.

Enhanced styling, decreased noise and greater design flexibility also help define the newest crop of microwaves. Here's a look at some of the most exciting and innovative microwaves on the market today.