Skip to main content
DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

BUY NOW
  • Design and Usability

  • Performance

  • Why We Love It

  • Cooking Performance

  • Sound

  • Heating and Defrosting

  • Design and Usability
  • Performance
  • Why We Love It
  • Cooking Performance
  • Sound
  • Heating and Defrosting

When all is said and done, your range will thank you for putting this microwave over it.

Design and Usability

GE plays it safe

Looks-wise, GE hasn't taken any risks with the PVM9179SFSS. It's your standard over-the-range microwave with stainless steel trim, a side-mounted control panel, and a handle that opens the door. While the PVM9179SFSS is unlikely to be remembered for shifting the appliance design paradigm, at the very least it should match your existing stainless appliances.

Instead of a number pad, this microwave uses a scroll wheel to select cook time, weight, and temperature. It helps to declutter the control panel, but users who get confused by menus should look elsewhere.

{{ photo_gallery "design" }}

Performance

Your oven's new best friend

When judged on microwave settings alone, the PVM9179SFSS is a veritable performance powerhouse. Whether it be heating water, reheating food, or just basic sensor cooking, this particular GE performed each and every task admirably. If we had to pick a nit, we'd say the defrost setting was slightly uneven—we noticed a few overcooked sections of our frozen ground beef—but it was also ridiculously fast.

As is usually the case for combination convection microwaves, the PVM9179SFSS doesn't do as good a job with convection baking as it does with microwave cooking. While you should have no trouble browning food and even heating basic side dishes, we recommend sticking to your range for more complex recipes.

Why We Love It

We go together...

The GE PVM9179SFSS stainless steel convection microwave is a perfect match for a range, and one of the best over-the-range microwaves we've tested.

With stellar cooking performance, a straightforward design, and a sale price that often dips below $600, this combination microwave/convection oven and range hood passed every one of our real-world cooking tests.

Whether you're boiling water for tea or defrosting a chicken breast for dinner, this GE is ready to help out. The convection setting won't put your oven out of commission, but it will help brown and reheat food.

Cooking Performance

We wonder how many microwave owners only end up using them for popcorn. If you're one of them, the PVM9179SF1SS performed fairly well in this area. After putting our bag of microwave popcorn through the motions we were left with a mountain of fluffy corn, and 93 unpopped kernels.

The PVM9179SF1SS also heated water in a flash—we measured just 3 minutes between you and a cup of hot tea.

The sensor cooking function was also excellent, and it baked our test potato to within 1°F of the target temperature of 185°F. The cooked potato was also evenly cooked overall.

Unfortunately, the PVM9179SF1SS's convection cooking modes weren't up to the standards set by traditional ovens, but that's not a surprise for a microwave/convection combo unit. We tried it for baking cookies and found that they were evenly cooked from top to bottom, but some were burnt while others were closer to raw dough. Stick to the range beneath for anything but the basics.

Sound

We measured a sound level of 51.8 dB when the PVM9179SFSS's microwave was running. That's about the same noise level as a quiet conversation, so it shouldn't prove too annoying. Predictably, the extractor fan was a bit louder and output a sound level of 63.5 dB.

Heating and Defrosting

The PVM9179SFSS reheated food with little trouble. We heated up a dish of macaroni and cheese and noticed only minor temperature variances after mixing.

The PVM9179SFSS also did well in our defrosting tests. We thawed 1 lb. of ground beef in just 3 minutes. While the resulting food was unevenly defrosted with a few slightly cooked sections, there were no frozen sections remaining.

Meet the tester

James Aitchison

James Aitchison

Editor

@revieweddotcom

Aside from covering all things sleep, James moonlights as an educational theatre practitioner, amateur home chef, and weekend hiker.

See all of James Aitchison's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next