"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>

Yes, James. That's pretty much what I ran into with my Sharp. It was cheap
but there were no instructions for removing the turntable. And they pretty
much said not to cook without it. It was useless other than for heating up
frozen dinners. I hated it. Won't ever buy one again, that's for sure.

Jill