KitchenAid - 1.1 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Microwave with Sensor Cooking - Black Stainless Steel

Great microwave, so far. I switched my old over-the-stove microwave out, primarily to gain more space between the microwave and the burners below it. Now, I have plenty of space in my microwave for our needs, but have gained a ton of useful work-space above my cooktop. Works well. Great design. Cons to date are minor: the design is sleek and clean with most buttons hidden. But, the unnecessarily large Kitchen Aid logo detracts from that nice design. It also means you have to open the microwave door to get to most of the function buttons.

Don’t have an outside vent. We looked for the best rated recirculating filtration system. The fact that it’s low profile was a plus. Love the way it looks with more space above the range. It’s hitting on all cylinders. Decent overhead light, powerful fan for our enclosed space and the microwave is what you’d expect.

When buying it I had doubts about the size, now installed at home the size is perfect, there is no difference with one of regular sizes, with times I have to put more time to meals than with my previous microwave. Beautiful but no powerful

Item is sleek, saves space, easy to use and clean.

As a range hood with 500cfm rating we have found this unit much quieter than expected, though at highest speed it's notably louder (and moving *much* more air) than a 400cfm unit from another brand that is likely made in the same factory. Dimensions are a frequent question and were of real interest to me when shopping: I wanted the smallest possible intrusion into the over-range space, so as to be the least distraction to the cook. Height: 10 1/4" per marketing; 10 5/16" per Q&A. It is 10 1/4" on the side face. The lip at the mounting plate's base adds 1/64". The inevitable sag off the front mounting bolts adds 3/64". So yeah, installed it's gonna be 10 1/4 at the rear and 10 5/16" at the front. No big deal in itself, *but* this could make the opened door swing into the kitchen when left ajar. If leaving an oven door ajar is part of your cooking style, you might want to install the rear mounting plate 1/32"-1/16" low to balance the door swing. Depth: 18" marketing, 18 5/16" installed. The unit's side faces are 18" but the rear includes several protrusions that the mounting plate accomodates. I somehow overcame my temptation to tear out the sheetrock, notch the studs, and put in new sheetrock to gain back the "lost" airspace above the range. The extra 5/16" has been less of an issue than expected, so I'll leave it as is. Width: 30" marketing, 29 7/8" in some other place (installation manual, maybe?) The chassis 29 7/8" and the side's sheet metal has enough flex to bow out and close the gap in a 30" cabinet opening. This makes a much easier install without scraping up the unit or your cabinets on the way in. The sides' sheet metal flexes out 1/32" on each side to touch the side cabinets for a nice clean & flush look. Venting efficiency: Very good, I'd say excellent for a sub-600cfm hood. Keep in mind any vent 500cfm or greater requires an air-balancing intake into the house. Any exhaust greater than 200cfm really will tax your living space's ability to leak in enough air to balance, and as you approach 400cfm only the draftiest houses will leak in enough to keep from drawing in bad air (from a gas furnace system, radon-trapping crawl space, etc). So before you crank up the speed past 2, crack a window 1-2"; for max running, don't be afraid to give yourself a full 2 square feet of open window for air-balance inflow. Grease traps: this is one of my pet peeves with household range hoods: why do they all use aluminum mesh? The downsized "restaurant-style" grease traps really work, they're easy to remove, and so much easier to actually clean. Finally a household level option that is designed to be maintained! Just remember: while they've made it so-o much easier to maintain, you still have to do it. Try cleaning them, frying a seared-steak, burger or bacon meal, and pulling them out right after: voila, there is your meal's exhaust, ready to wash right along with the pots & pans! And it's a good learning moment to learn which meals put how much grease into our kitchen exhaust systems. Venting range exhaust into the indoor space: I saw this comment on several reviews and I think the concern is warranted. I installed as a rear-exhaust through wall, with a 90-degree to vertical 7" duct, without a damper for maximum air flow - and in part because I thought a poorly installed or obstructed damper might be a source of these complaints. This did not reduce recirculation to zero: the front vents (ostensibly for the microwave's operation and venting only) do return some small amount of dirty air into the kitchen. This makes sense to me - if the microwave is venting its own air, that air must be coming from under the unit, and that's the same air I'm trying to get rid of. I've still got more to look into on this, but for now I've covered the left-side vent with a fridge magnet and that takes care of it enough for us. It's easily removable as I wouldn't want to go against manufacturer recommendations when using the microwave. We replaced an old Venmar dedicated range hood with this unit. At 800cfm it was more than we needed. Downsizing the this 500cfm unit means we can't get away with belching out smoke without opening a window, but that's for the best anyway (we have a gas furnace and a crawl space, so turning the kitchen into an 800cfm negative-pressure vacuum was not our brightest remodeling move). This unit helps remind us the proper source for air balance is the good ol' kitchen window. Microwave: it works! I guess! I heated a cup of water from 60 to 150 in about 30 seconds to pre-test before full installation. That's the last time we've used it. We're not microwave people I guess, and getting a microwave hasn't yet changed that. Um... it stays clean. it's big enough for us. The good news, if you're reading this you'll find plenty of other reviews with more to say on the microwave! :)

It is great looking and always gets noticed. Dose a great job lighting the stove top and the wisper fans clear away smoke and steam beautifully. Oh yeah, its a great microwave too!

Easy to install after watching videos on YouTube. Paper Instructions that are included a bit muddy... looks great. Haven’t missed a tall microwave yet. Lights look great that shine down onto stove. A big pot of boiling water is a lot for the vent to handle. I had to wipe down microwave after boiling cabbage and open door to wipe vapor to see display. Could’ve been sealed at bottom better by design...Overall 4 stars.

The amount of space you save is fantastic The features are all there like any microwave and it is sleek it has lighting underneath and it is the best microwave I've had and I've had the KitchenAid with convection oven that does everything This one is perfect for today's living

Our new hood has been installed and use now for awhile now. First the price as a whole is very high. With that said, for us it saved me from doing all the vent work to the roof. That has some value. Was an outstanding choice for our pot filler as well, with the hood only being 10 inches instead of 20 or 30. The is Geeat on low or high, The fan outstanding, 500 cfm. Some vented hoods are only 300-400. All in all it’s exactly what we wanted. O ya, kinda important we don’t use microwaves. But Mom and Dad live with us and they use it like cray. They love it. Pop says it’s heats his of coffee up like a champ. Overwhelmingly recommend. USMC/USAF Ret.