Venting ability and noise were the two reasons why I nixed the OTR idea. I decided to have no microwave.

Unfortunately for you, the market today does not have a quiet machine that does both microwave and venting.

David

I can't address the noise as we do not have one installed yet. Yes they are not ideal, but make sure to pick one with at least 300 cfm. There are at least 2 on the market with 400 cfm-- one by Samsung and one by Kenmore. We are venting to the outside so if you can do that , it is a bonus for the venting. Of course, being so indecisive I have not chosen one yet, but I am leaning towards a frigidaire as it has the smallest overall dimensions and 300cfm.

hth
babbie

You should be able to use an undercabinet hood.

Lots of hoods have been retired & replaced with OTR micro/ hood combos so you should be able to go the other direction.

My Mom selected this one from Panasonic which has a max 420cfm on the recommendation of a friend and it gets a couple of nods in the linked thread. Quiet? Don't know yet, it isn't hooked up.

Unit:

Installed:

Here is a link that might be useful: discussion of OTR micros

I was just wondering if you could explain more your sentence, "the cabinets have been built so I don't think I can switch to a regular hood". I have posted before (on Appliances Forum) about how I hated my OTR MW so much that I switched it out for a proper hood AFTER my kitchen was 100% completed. I.e. I lived with it for several months, and just was more and more unhappy with it every day. I felt that I had gone through so much trouble (and money) and stress to have the kitchen of my dreams, and yet there was this machine that was ruining it. That was me.

I can see two reasons not to replace an OTR MW with a hood: (1) your kitchen is small, and there is no other place for a MW than over the range, or (2) the expense of the switch. It doesn't sound like your kitchen is complete, or that you've already bought your MW, so the expense shouldn't be too bad. I had bought a very expensive Dacor OTR MW which was supposed to have the most powerful exhaust of an OTR on the market, but it was terribly inadequate. Not the Dacor's fault, it's just the intrinsic design of an OTR. So I had to sell the Dacor on Craig's List at a loss, purchase the hood, install the hood, purchase a countertop MW ($129 and it's great) which I put in my pantry, and also get my tile guy back to tile the backsplash up to the hood. Whew! So you can see how much I must have hated my OTR MW.

It doesn't sound like you will have those kinds of expenses cause your kitchen isn't done. So, perhaps explain why you feel you can't have the hood, and this forum can help you find a way!

I have a Maytag OTR MW which was only 3 years old when I redid my kitchen, so I kept it. I like having an OTR MW. It works for me. What's different now, is that my GC vented the OTR MW to the outside, where previously I had it recirculating. I like it MUCH better now that it is vented to the outside. I think?? if I decide to change it out to a more powerful vent/fan in the future, I can.
Barb

I will second that things can be changed even after your cabs are in. My fridge didn't work out and the new one will be taller. My contractor is cutting down the upper cab above the fridge and I ordered new doors. Yes, it added to the cost but it was a very small fraction.

Thanks everyone for your input. To give you some more info, I have not bought the microwave yet and our stove is electric. Also, we would be venting to outside either way as that's the current setup.

The cabinet over the stove I believe is shorter to accommodate the micro, which is why I was thinking I was stuck with the microwave option. I'll add a link to some photos so you can tell me what you think.

If I were to go with a hood I'd have to figure out where to put the dang microwave...

Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket link

You can go with a hood instead of an OTR without changing the cabinets. Hoods are designed to be installed higher than an OTR. A small countertop microwave could go on the counter to the left of the range, in that corner area.

If I am understanding you correctly about your cabinet, I don't think that's a problem at all. You can get hoods at varying heights. You should be able to find a hood easily that would be the ideal mounting height over your range. For example, my hood that replaced my OTR MW is 9" high, and the manufacturer specified a mounting height of 24"-27" above the range, which was easy to accomplish with my existing cabinetry. So I don't think your cabinet height is an problem.

As to placement of the MW, I am linking another thread which has many suggestions and ideas and pics of creative places for a MW.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Microwave Location