Nowadays, every kitchen has a microwave oven, it’s one of the most common appliances at home. Useful for heating, reheating, defrosting, it’s just as good for warming up day old leftovers as it is for cooking meals from scratch. Modern microwaves come with some nifty quality of life additions and advanced tech which we’re going to examine today.
This review article is going to look at the LG Neochef line of microwaves. We’ve researched LG’s microwaves so you don’t have to, analyzing important buying factors like ease of use, reliability, quantity and quality of features, and safety.
The LG Neochef, with its unique features, will appeal to many buyers. Combine it with high power and a good range of sizes and types and you have a solid range of microwaves.
In particular, buy one of these and you can look forward to the super convenient LG Smart Inverter and sensor reheating.
LG occupy the higher end of the market for microwave ovens, so you can expect larger microwaves combined with high power and ultra fast cooking times.
The LG microwaves excel in their sensor cooking, which uses humidity to automatically work out the right time for your food to be perfectly heated. No guesswork at all!
It even offers unique features you won’t find with other microwave brands like antibacterial coating on the inside of the microwave and a steady, six pronged turntable.
Put all of this together and it gets a big thumbs up. This is a quality purchase that will last years.
How does the “LG Smart Inverter” work?
The LG Smart Inverter is an example of microwave inverter technology which promises to deliver even and consistent heating on low power modes.
Typical, older microwaves deliver low power, like you might get when defrosting, by switching the magnetron on and off again continuously. Whereas inverter technology uses a neat trick to apply steady and consistent low power.
Putting it all together… with the LG Neochefs you know that any time you use your microwave oven on lower power, you’re getting actual low power. This will result in more consistent cooking and more thoroughly and evenly heated foods.
Sensor reheating – why you should buy a modern microwave
The great wonder of modern microwave technology is sensor reheating, called “Sensor Cooking” with LG. If you’ve tried this before, you’ll know what a dream it is to use.
For the uninitiated, sensor reheating works by putting your food in, selecting what type of food it is then pressing “Start”. That’s it.
The microwave can work out how hot the food is based on a humidity sensor and uses that to work out the exact time it should cook for. No guesswork trying to find the right time, or putting it in for an extra 20 seconds three times in a row.
The LG Neochef offers a staggering amount of options of sensor reheating that you can see in the photos.
Other features
Among the LG Neochef range’s other useful features are:
Smoothtouch controls. The Lg microwaves are stunning to look at and part of that is their beautiful keypad, check picture below. This glass control pad is specially designed to be super easy to use as well as being easy to clean.
“Easyclean” + antibacterial coating. the LG microwaves sell themselves on being very easy to clean, a simple wipe being enough in most cases of grime or something setting in. Their antibacterial coating helps with this, as well as giving you peace of mind on the hygiene of your microwave.
Six pronged turntable. You know how sometimes your turntable will slip off its three prongs and it’s kind of a hassle to get it back on? Well LG has pioneered a steadier six pronged turntable that avoids these headaches. It also means if you set a cup on the side of the turntable, you don’t risk it tipping over.
Bright LED light. The light inside the microwave is particularly bright, making it easy to see what’s inside and how close it is to being ready. Also handy for remembering you have something going on in there. It’s so bright you can hardly forget about it.
Power output
The LG Neochef offers a flat 1200W power output across the entire range. This is a powerful wattage, as high as anything you’ll see outside of commercial use.
Historically, microwave ovens hovered around 700-900W with a 900W being considered powerful. So the modern microwaves that offer 1200W are very powerful. Power output affects your cooking time. More power = faster cooking. So these 1200W microwaves will give you blazing fast cooking and reheating times.
With LG Neochef, even the smallest microwaves have the same power. This makes it a great choice if you want the convenience of a high powered microwave but don’t have space for a 2.2 cubic feet monster.
What models are available?
The LG Neochef range offers a number of models to account for size options with the features staying mostly constant. If you go for the smallest one, do check however as they have to remove a few buttons from the keypad due to the size.
Here are the main options in the countertop LG Neochef range. You can look here for more on the LG over-the-range microwaves of which they offer a lot.
– LG Neochef LMC0975ST – 1040W / 0.9 cubic feet with 11.5″ turntable
– LG Neochef – 1040W / 1.2 cubic feet with 14.2″ turntable
– LG Neochef – 1250W / 1.5 cubic feet with 14.2″ turntable
– LG Neochef – 1250W / 2.0 cubic feet with 16″ turntable
Each of these models comes with the option of stainless steel or black stainless steel finishes.
Reliability
LG has a solid reputation when it comes to reliability. As always, one of the best clues is to browse the thousands of consumer reports on Amazon to find common trends or themes in regards to issues, faulty parts or breakdowns. I’m happy to say that LG delivers in this respect, with a reassuringly few amount of problems from existing buyers. Click the link to read more.
LG offers a 1 year warranty on their microwaves and a 10 year warranty on the magnetron of the microwave – the longest available on major microwave brands.
Overall
We think the LG Neochef is a solid purchase. In terms of features, it knocks it out of the park with the sensor reheating being a particular favorite and the antibacterial coating and six pronged turntable being nice features you can’t find anywhere else.
Click here to if you like the sound of all this and want to buy it.
Not what you’re looking for?
If you’d like to browse more brands and options for microwaves then it’s a no brainer to check out this article, my recently updated and comprehensive review and roundup of the best countertop microwaves on the market. It includes LG and their Neochef range and compares them to all the other brand’s offerings so you can make the best choice.
