Pete wrote on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:11:55 -0500:


> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>
>> On Tue 26 Oct 2010 05:20:46a, Pete C. told us...
>>
> >> jmcquown wrote:
> >>>
> >>> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> >>> ter.com...
> >> >>
> >> >> jmcquown wrote:
> >> >>>
> >> >>> "James Silverton" > wrote
> >> >>> in message ...
> >> >> >> jmcquown wrote on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:02:16 -0400:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>> "Dora" > wrote in message
> >> >> >>> ...
> >> >> >>>> Sqwertz wrote:
> >> >> >>>> Are these
> >> >> >>>>> the fancy "paddle-based" (as opposed to
> >> >> >>>>> turntable-based) microwaves that Wayne is always
> >> >> >>>>> touting? I have never heard of them outside of his
> >> >> >>>>> posts.
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> -sw
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>> My apartment came with a newly-installed
> >> >> >>>> over-the-stove Kenmore microwave. I was surprised
> >> >> >>>> to find it didn't have a turntable - it has a
> >> >> >>>> rectangular plate which travels from side to side.
> >> >> >>>> Seems OK, although I haven't done any serious
> >> >> >>>> cooking in it.
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>> Dora
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>> The last microwave I had (a Sharp) was fine for
> >> >> >>> nuking frozen dinners or vegetables. But there was
> >> >> >>> no way to turn the turntable off. Sometimes you
> >> >> >>> don't want or need a turntable. It drove me nuts!
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> You could remove the turntable and cook without it
> >> >> >> but the only reason I can see for doing this is that
> >> >> >> the dish is too large to rotate.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> --
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> James Silverton
> >> >> >> Potomac, Maryland
> >> >> >>
> >> >>> Precisely why I wanted not to use the turntable, James.
> >> >>> Sure, I could remove the glass turntable but the
> >> >>> "track" it ran on kept going round and round. I used
> >> >>> to make a decent microwave lasagna, but a glass lasagna
> >> >>> pan on a turntable? Nope.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Jill
> >> >>
> >> >> I take it you didn't read the owners manual for that
> >> >> microwave? The specifically tell you that if you don't
> >> >> want the turntable rotating you just lift up the glass
> >> >> turntable and remove the plastic "spider" which just
> >> >> lifts out of a square drive hole. You put the glass
> >> >> plate back down it that's it, it takes about 5 seconds
> >> >> to remove or install the spider.
> >>>
> >>> I take it you didn't read my thread about 12 years ago
> >>> when I bought the microwave. (I'm one of those people who
> >>> *does* read the owners manual.) Removing the "spider"
> >>> wasn't the issue. I didn't want to put the glass plate
> >>> back down, I wanted to use my own rectangular lasagna
> >>> baking dish. Spider or not, it would try to turn it. That
> >>> didn't work out. It was a cheap microwave. It served the
> >>> purpose for popping in a frozen dinner or heating
> >>> up leftovers from time to time, but not much else.
> >>>
> >>> I was used to an old RCA (yes, like the television)
> >>> microwave. It had a a dual cooking rack (for cooking
> >>> several things at once on two levels) and a temperature
> >>> probe. It was somethiing you could actually COOK in
> >>> without the oven mechanisms trying to take over.
> >>>
> >>> Jill
> >>
> >> You are not supposed to operate the microwave with out the
> >> glass base platter installed. They are there specifically
> >> to elevate the food above the actual metal floor of the
> >> microwave so that the microwaves can bounce around under
> >> the food and cook the bottom. If you put something directly
> >> down on the floor the bottom will not cook. Since those
> >> spiders plug into a recessed square drive socket, I can't
> >> see how it would still be trying to turn your dish anyway.
> >>
>> FWIW, in many cases it's not the spider that connects with
>> the drive unit, but the glass turntable itself, which has a
>> molded center to conform with the drive unit. The spider is
>> there only to provide stability and is connected to nothing.

> On the ones like that that I have seen, there is still a
> little plastic drive hub that is removable so there is no link
> between the turntable and the motor drive.

>> Still other microwave units have a recessed turntable, so
>> that if one needs to use an oversized rectantular baking
>> dish, it can be set on top, not touching the rotating
>> turntable. Not to mention the already mentioned turntables
>> that have a switcht to turn them off.
>>
>> If all this still boggles the mind, you need to get out more
>> and look at how various units are made today.

I used to have a Sharp microwave but it died a while ago. I replaced it
with a Kenmore model 721 on advice from CR. The Kenmore is pretty good
tho' it lacks a button that gives multiples of 30 seconds heating that
was good for reheating coffee. With the Kenmore, I find that 1 minute 20
seconds is good for coffee and thus lazy me has to press buttons three
times instead of two and also find different buttons in my morning
stupor.:-) The Kenmore has a vapor sensor that works pretty well for
automatic cooking and defrosting.

I finally dug out the manual for my Kenmore.. What I believe others
refer to as a "spider" is a three-armed device that the manual calls a
"roller rest". This appears to be mechanically connected thro' a central
hole to something that rotates it and thus the circular glass turntable.
As far as I can tell , there is no suggestion to cook without the roller
rest but you are warned not to cook without the turntable.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not