Operations such as precasting and repair of concrete can benefit significantly from rapid strength development. Previous investigations have shown that microwave curing is an effective means to develop high early strength in concrete. Moreover, with certain combinations of processing parameters (including microwave power, application time and duration of microwave), the later age strength (at 7 days) can be comparable to that of specimens cured at room temperature. The present investigation illustrates how optimal processes, which provide high strength at both the early and later stage, can be obtained with the help of feedback temperature control. Using 0.4 w/c ratio concrete as an example, the optimal power history (in terms of a continuously varying curve) is identified. To enable processing with low cost microwave generators (such as the ones in the domestic oven), the optimal power curve is approximated with discrete power levels. The discretized optimal power is found to give very good results for concrete with 0.4 w/c and below. Compared with the use of fixed power, the use of variable discrete power can provide better combinations of early age and long term strength with less energy consumption. As examples, at the early age of 4.5 hrs, compressive strength of 29.5 MPa and 35.4 MPa are achievable with w/c equal to 0.40 and 0.325 respectively. In both cases, the strength at 7 day shows no deterioration compared with specimens cured at room temperature.