Makita announces portable microwave oven for heating food on site

Over the past 20 years, everything has moved in the direction of miniaturisation and portability, and advances in battery and increasingly efficient chip technologies have enabled the development of new products of this kind. However, we didn’t expect to see… portable microwaves. That’s exactly what professional tool brand Makita is proposing, and it has developed a microwave oven for the construction site that can heat food powered by batteries.

The Makita microwave oven is powered by standard XGT batteries compatible with all the company’s tools

This is not the first more “unconventional” device from Makita in recent years. We’ve recently seen jobsite coffee filters powered by the company’s power tool batteries, as well as robot vacuums that can clean your workspace. But this is one device that completes the company’s “break” device offering. While you’ve got a Makita coffee maker, you can also enjoy a hot meal next to your coffee, heated in a microwave oven, powered by the company’s same XGT batteries.

The microwave requires two such batteries, which you attach to the back, to provide 500W of power for eight minutes. Then the power consumption of the batteries will limit the power to 350W until they are completely consumed. According to Makita, these batteries are enough to heat 11 meals or 20 drinks. Basically, you can provide hot food for a whole team of workers. Of course, the portions will have to be heated one at a time, as the oven’s capacity isn’t very large.

However, we’re talking about a microwave, so we’re dealing with some pretty heavy equipment at 10kg. It also has a carry handle, and operation of the device stops automatically if it’s running while being carried. Also, the oven door automatically shuts the oven off when open.

The first market to receive Makita’s microwave oven is Japan, where it will be available for sale for 71,500 yen, equivalent to 510 euros. Given that it’s a “professional” piece of equipment for use in work environments, the price isn’t huge, and compatibility with the Makita batteries that many teams already have could secure a few sales.