Is a 900 Watt Microwave Powerful Enough? [ANSWERED]

There are various sizes of microwaves available in the market ranging from 650 watts to 1250 watts. Of course, microwaves with lower power are less efficient compared to microwaves with higher power. So, what about a 900-watt microwave? Is it a low or high-power unit? How powerful is it actually?

The fact is a 900-watt microwave can be considered the average power microwave if you consider the average value of the power range of microwaves.  But it’s theoretical, isn’t it? Overall, a 900-watt microwave is powerful enough to cook or reheat most basic food items. 

Keep reading to get a better idea about the 900-watt microwave’s efficiency.

Is 900 Watt Enough Power for a Microwave?

Frankly speaking, whether a 900-watt microwave is sufficiently powerful or not mostly depends on your cooking preferences and the types of food you typically prepare. In general, 900 watts is a typical power output for a microwave and a 900-watt microwave will heat up to around 525°F (that’s around 273°C). 

It should be sufficient for most heating and cooking tasks, but it may take a bit longer to cook a larger, thicker, or wider range of items. If you are planning to do a lot of heavy-duty cooking or reheating, you may want to look for a microwave with a higher power output.

These are the considerations to determine whether a 900-watt is powerful enough –

Capacity

The cooking capacity of a microwave depends on the size of the microwave, the power output, and the type of food being cooked. A 900-watt microwave typically has a capacity of around 0.7 cubic feet. This means that it can comfortably fit a 10-inch dinner plate. So, it can be said that it’s typically suitable for cooking food for 1 or 2 people. 

Duration

Typically, a microwave with higher power is capable of cooking or heating food faster than a microwave with lower power. That means the first one takes less time comparatively. Being a mid-range power microwave, a 900-watt generally takes more time than higher wattage and less time than lower wattage microwaves.

Cooking Efficiency

If you’re thinking of reheating food, warming up beverages, or doing some other basic cooking tasks; a 900-watt microwave should work well for them. Here’s a list that includes a variety of things that you can do with a 900-watt microwave – reheat leftovers, heat water for tea or coffee, cook pasta or rice, cook popcorn, cook baked potatoes, make scrambled eggs, defrost frozen food, melt chocolate or butter, steam vegetables, etc.

Energy Efficiency

Microwaves with higher wattage tend to consume more electricity than microwaves with lower wattage. The simple reason is they need much power to maintain their overall work efficiency. If energy efficiency is a concern, a 900-watt microwave may be a good compromise between power and energy savings being a mid-range wattage unit. 

Final Verdict

In the end, it can be said that a 900-watt microwave is sufficiently powerful to meet all the basic cooking needs. But when it comes to your cooking preference and the food you usually prepare, it can be more or less powerful to you. It has been found that a 900-watt microwave may take comparatively more time than higher-wattage microwaves in terms of cooking heavy meals, but it does cook evenly. So, if you don’t hesitate about the cooking duration, you can go for it to meet overall cooking requirements.