Whirlpool Velos Microhood Model GH7208XRB: Product Review

When it comes to saving space in a kitchen, consumers have long been turning to the micorhood. These appliances combine the cooking power of a microwave (and sometimes oven) with the hood above your stove saving you valuable counter space. Whirlpool has been in the business of making both large and small consumer appliances for quite some time and produce some of the most popular microhood models on the market today. I have gotten my hands on Whirlpool's top of the line Velos SpeedCook Oven and Microhood Combination model GH7208XRB. This is one of the most versatile personal appliances around and I'm going to let you know how it performed for me so you can decide if it is going to meet all of your kitchen's needs.

Appearance: 4/5

Cooking: 5/5

Value: 3/5

Overall: 4/5

Product Overview:

At first glance this is a very handsome product. Mine is a the stainless steel version but it comes in white, black and a monochromatic stainless. I think the most popular will be the stainless as it is only modestly more expansive than the other materials while the monochromatic is about $150 more expensive then the standard stainless. Secondly this product is huge, a whopping 88 pounds! It has 2 cubic feet of cooking space and despite that the microwave feature does a fantastic job cooking evenly. It is large enough for about any size family. If you have a large range below then this is probably a good option for you because it does a fantastic job venting and with its 4 available speeds has more sucking power then the traditional microhood.

As I mentioned in the introduction this is the most versatile above the range microhood I have ever used. It will likely handle about any recipe you could throw at it. Whirlpool has made this microhood a convection oven, a steamer, a traditional oven and of course a fully functioning microwave. I was able to defrost my chicken, grill it brown (thanks to the included halogen lights) and immediately bake it without even moving the dish.

Thanks to the LCD screen Whirlpool has placed on the outside of this culinary beast, it is easy to program and use all of wonderful features this microhood has to offer. I have some family members who aren't the best with electronics however operating this oven was a breeze even for them.

Cleaning this unit was easy as is the case with most stainless steel products. The only downside is that it is easy to leave fingerprints on this surface. I would imagine the monochromatic stainless won't have that problem but I haven't had the opportunity to test it.

Product Value:

This certainly isn't one of the cheaper offerings from Whirlpool but you can pick up the Velos SpeedCook Oven for a little over $1000 depending on the surface you choose. I doubt we'll see any significant price reductions on this microwave in the near future thanks to its recent release, so if you're in the market don't hesitate to grab one of these.