GE Profile Microwave Review: Bells, Whistles, Buttons & Messages!

For six years we had a regular countertop microwave. I had wanted an over-the-stove model, but I'd heard horror stories from people who had them and had problems. After doing a little research, I found out that if the mounting guidelines are followed, there should be no problem. 

I actually wanted to buy a model that was cheaper than the JVM1660BB003, but there was a $50 rebate on anything over $400 promotion going on. That brought the price of this model down to the same as the cheaper oven I'd been intent on buying. 

The cabinet that you are going to mount the microwave under must be at least 66 inches from the floor of your kitchen. This will allow enough space between the top of the stove and the bottom of the microwave so the heat from the stove will not damage it. Since we were taking out a hood and fan, we had a friend who's an electrician come and install it for us. We didn't have to worry about a vent connection since we vent it inside the house. The exhaust comes out of vents at the top of the microwave. 

There is nothing to press to open the door, a slight tug pulls it open. There are two shelves in the unit, so theoretically you could heat up to five plates of food. I took out one of the shelves and only kept one in the oven. On the bottom is a heavy glass turntable that removes and cleans up easily. 

Along the bottom of the door opening is a quick instruction sheet letting you know how to use the microwave. For more complex use, there is the instruction book. This way, though, you don't have to pull out the instruction book every time you want to do something. This is really handy when you first get the microwave. 

I like the ability to quickly cook a variety of foods. Just press any one of the touch-pad buttons numbered 1-6 and the microwave automatically cooks on HIGH for that number of minutes. There is a ADD 30 SECONDS button as well when you just want to add a little more cooking time. I can reheat a cup of coffee by just pressing the 1 and ADD 30 SECONDS buttons. 

Now, some might be puzzled by this since the microwave has a BEVERAGEbutton under SENSOR COOKING. I have found that the sensor cooking does not work that well unless the food is covered. It is easier to press 1 and ADD 30 SECONDS than to get a piece of plastic to cover my coffee mug. 

Also under SENSOR COOKING is POPCORN, VEGETABLE, CHICKEN PIECES, REHEAT, POTATO, GROUND MEATS and FISH. The sensor cooking is great for reheating a dinner plate covered in plastic since there is no guesswork or checking to see if it is heated through. The POPCORN button works the best of any microwave I've had. No matter which brand of popcorn I've tried, it's popped just about the whole bag with very few unpopped kernels left behind. 

For normal cooking, there are the TIME/COOK and POWER LEVEL buttons which enable you to adjust the time and power level as needed. There is a probe included if you want to use that in conjunction with the TEMP COOK/ROASTbutton, but I have never used my microwave for cooking roasts and the like, so I haven't tried that. 

DEFROST AUTO/TIME is what I use to defrost foods. On Auto, I just key in the approximate weight of the food and the microwave lets me know when to turn it over. The same thing applies to the Time feature, but this is somewhat less accurate since the oven doesn't know exactly what it is trying to defrost. Still, I have used both settings and they work very well. 

At 1000 watts, this is easily the most powerful microwave that I've ever owned. Usually, it cooks or reheats foods at the low end of the time range on the package instructions. 

On the non-cooking end, the microwave has a clock with the ability to put in your schedule and have an alarm go off to remind you of events. I use it to remind me to call in the ice cream order for our school every Monday. I can also record a message which is great when I want to leave a reminder for my husband when I go to bed and he isn't home yet. There is also a light for over the stove which can also be set on a timer. If you go out, you can have it turn on so you don't come home to a dark kitchen. The vent fan is great for cooking as well since it pulls away from the surface of the stove. 

As far as service goes, when we first put it up and used it, the oven would work for about a minute, then quit. We called GE Service and they came out. The problem was that the fan connection had loosened in transit and wasn't drawing the heat out of the oven. They fixed it and gave us new bulbs for the light at no charge.