I do wonder if there is any product out there that would not produce pages of negative reviews if every single user were polled. When researching appliances, there was a website available for posting only negative reviews about products. I think we partially based our choices on the brand that had the least number of pages of negative reviews (22 or 26 or so, compared with 77 or more for some of the others we were looking at). Having said that, I am so very glad we changed in the end from quartz to granite. I didn't consider Caesarstone, but did get samples for comparison. But I can understand why the building supply company I borrowed them from got out of the quartz business (maybe counters altogether). I love my leathered granite and am thankful every day for making the choice we did. I didn't see anyone answer the question about the other brands. I did see the thread on Silestone today, with mostly negatives, particularly them not covering chips in their warranty. Sounds like Caesarstone is also unwilling to honor the warranty for any reason. I can't understand how a company that markets a product expected to break down so soon can stay afloat, or at least continue to sell that particular product.

I also heard that one of the Korean companies was making microwaves. Sharp and Panasonic for sure. All microwaves degrade from the jump. The magnetron (is that what it's called? Too early for me..) degrades with use. Search the forum, and you'll get good explanations from Kas about this. Investing a ton of money in a microwave, therefore, doesn't make a lot of sense. OTOH, that part will last a heck of a lot longer than a few years, if you get a kitchen grade microwave (as opposed to a desktop cutsiepoo unit for which I have no data at all). The thing that makes so many microwaves "disposable" is wear and tear. If you have family members who SLAM the door, PUNCH the buttons, etc., and constantly fiddle with it, starting and stopping and opening and closing, and just using it a lot for one mug of hot water, the box is going to wear out long before the magnetron. If you're nice to it, and use it a couple of times per day rather than all day long, it could last 20 years or more. One of the things you can get with a more expensive unit, along with looks and snooty badge, is potentially a sturdier housing. It is also potentially possible to have a built-in unit repaired (I can't imagine it being worthwhile to repair a freestanding unit). There are people who do microwave repairs and they do make replacement magnetrons. The only situation where that seems like a possible good idea, however, is when you have the beautiful built-in that matches your beautiful kitchen which still looks like new. Re convection: The initial convection microwaves didn't work well as ovens, and also didn't meet the expectations of the buyers. That was before convection ovens themselves were well understood in the US. In the time I've been researching appliances and hanging out here (coming up on ten years), the general tone from users of them has gone from not worth the money to acceptable second oven. Again, I don't know if that's a change in quality or in user expectations. Convection ovens cook with circulated hot air. They do a good job roasting. Great for "cooking" or "baking" a casserole. Even baking a loaf of bread. For small things, like cookies, a lot depends on the pan, the cookie and whether or not it really wanted bottom heat. For most, it'll do an acceptable job. Some outliers really do better with a proper baking mode. Egg rising things like angel cakes and soufflés really don't like being blown about. If you can arrange the angle of the pan to the blower just right, it's possible, but still iffy. The heated air can also bounce off the surfaces in unexpected ways leading to uneven cooking/browning, contravening the evenness that you otherwise get from the movement of the air. It's likely that there are still poor ones out there, especially at the lower end. There must also be good ones. Just familiarize yourself with the features and abilities of the unit, and use that to sift through the consumer reviews to know whether it was the oven or the user, and make your judgment from there.

Heatheron40, very nice. I asked a question about doing a tile countertop in our guest cabin recently as I feel like the look would complement the cabin aesthetic. Also I’m dying to learn to tile and thought it would be a fun place to start as it’s not an everyday space and I could take my time. Most of the responses were against. Basically stating the grout would make me crazy. The guy at the said what you’re saying I think, he said that modern grouts are more resistant to staining and such, and also to go with a tinted grout of some sort. I love your use of pattern to give it interest and intention!

You brought back a memory of a Farberware indoor grill we received as a gift years ago. As I recall, it did an okay job of cooking whatever we put on it. I can't remember anything about temperature adjustments. However, as you said, cleaning ours was a major production. It's the main reason we got rid of it. Also, at the time we did not have much storage space. I found a photo online of what ours looked like. Hopefully your Rival Grill is less of a contraption than this one was.