I read an Anti-Microwave thread and got rid of my own!
Replies
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I must be the exception on this thread - or maybe other readers arent game enough to post against the grain
- I use my microwave a lot.
Defrosting meat, reheating leftovers, cooking frozen meals, cooking small items like cheesey cauliflower that its not worth turning the whole large oven on for - even just mini defrosting - eg am making an omelette for my tea, using eggs and diced veggies - and then I defrost a handful of diced ham from the freezer to add to it.
yes I know a handful of diced ham wouldnt take that that to thaw on the bench - but if I decide on the spot to add it in, I can do so
Incidentally, although I have a good length of bench space, the only appliances kept on the bench are the microwave and the electric kettle - other things like toaster, rice cooker,crockpot, sandwich maker get kept inside the cupboard and just brought out when we use them.8 -
paperpudding wrote: »I must be the exception on this thread - or maybe other readers arent game enough to post against the grain - I use my microwave a lot.
Defrosting meat, reheating leftovers, cooking frozen meals, cooking small items like cheesey cauliflower that its not worth turning the whole large oven on for - even just mini defrosting - eg am making an omelette for my tea, using eggs and diced veggies - and then I defrost a handful of diced ham from the freezer to add to it.
yes I know a handful of diced ham wouldnt take that that to thaw on the bench - but if I decide on the spot to add it in, I can do so
Incidentally, although I have a good length of bench space, the only appliances kept on the bench are the microwave and the electric kettle - other things like toaster, rice cooker,crockpot, sandwich maker get kept inside the cupboard and just brought out when we use them.
I think there's a strong selection bias on this thread. Our family uses the microwave a lot. We don't eat many pre-made meals, though. Instead we heat up leftovers, or water for a single cup of tea, or defrost meat or other frozen foods. It's a huge time saver.
I work with high power microwaves so they don't present a lot of mysterious horror to me.
I'm old enough to remember my mom heating things up by wrapping them in foil and putting them in the oven at 350 degrees. It would take a while to heat up leftovers, for instance. Now we can heat leftovers in minutes - with much better energy efficiency to boot!6 -
paperpudding wrote: »I must be the exception on this thread - or maybe other readers arent game enough to post against the grain - I use my microwave a lot.
Defrosting meat, reheating leftovers, cooking frozen meals, cooking small items like cheesey cauliflower that its not worth turning the whole large oven on for - even just mini defrosting - eg am making an omelette for my tea, using eggs and diced veggies - and then I defrost a handful of diced ham from the freezer to add to it.
yes I know a handful of diced ham wouldnt take that that to thaw on the bench - but if I decide on the spot to add it in, I can do so
Incidentally, although I have a good length of bench space, the only appliances kept on the bench are the microwave and the electric kettle - other things like toaster, rice cooker,crockpot, sandwich maker get kept inside the cupboard and just brought out when we use them.
I don't have one but it is simply through lack of space. I used one all the time growing up and continued to do so when I moved out and had roommates or lived alone. I was horrified when I started dating my now husband and learned that he didn't have one nor wanted one. Of course we then moved into an apartment with the tiniest kitchen and no microwave. We both love cooking and there was no way we were giving up any of that precious space for a countertop microwave. Next we bought a house, and again no microwave. The kitchen is much larger than the one in the apartment, but not huge and we greatly appreciate leaving as much counter space as possible as work space. And the cabinets are at maximum capacity plus some. If we ever remodel, we have already decided that a microwave will be installed. I greatly look forward to heating frozen pot pies or leftovers much more quickly, and not having it take hours to thaw green chile.
My husband and I both grew up and work in scientific environments in which the kitchen microwave is not at all scary to us, nor is our lack of microwave about being trendy. Although I will admit that it's pretty funny to see people's reactions to us not having one. THE HORROR!1 -
paperpudding wrote: »I must be the exception on this thread - or maybe other readers arent game enough to post against the grain - I use my microwave a lot.
Defrosting meat, reheating leftovers, cooking frozen meals, cooking small items like cheesey cauliflower that its not worth turning the whole large oven on for - even just mini defrosting - eg am making an omelette for my tea, using eggs and diced veggies - and then I defrost a handful of diced ham from the freezer to add to it.
yes I know a handful of diced ham wouldnt take that that to thaw on the bench - but if I decide on the spot to add it in, I can do so
Incidentally, although I have a good length of bench space, the only appliances kept on the bench are the microwave and the electric kettle - other things like toaster, rice cooker,crockpot, sandwich maker get kept inside the cupboard and just brought out when we use them.
I use mine at least daily, but often more. If my current one died right now, I would likely be heading out the door shortly thereafter to get a new one. I do a fair amount of cooking too, but usually in larger batches, so the microwave is great for reheating, or if I want a small snack of something warm.6 -
I have always had/used a microwave since they 1st became available. Use it mainly to heat up coffee, tea, water, precooked bacon and various leftovers and to steam veggies and precooked rice
Seldom try 2 use it to cook anything from scratch w/it but will use it to coik scrambled eggs in a pinch
It's not essential but it's a convenience like all other appliances. They come in all sizes, most are very cheap, usually are built in above the stove in most houses and apts now and the smaller ones not take up much more space than a large toaster oven.
Just drop off used/broken micros and other electric devices at your local recycle center and pick up a new one on your way home at Costco or Best Buy.0 -
I use my microwave to heat water for tea and that's about it. I hate the texture that microwaves impart to food. The only reason we have it is that my husband cannot imagine life without it. And yes I was raised by hippies lol.0
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We're in a similar spot. It allows us to reheat breakfast every morning in a timely fashion, and steam vegetables without using one of the stove burners. So when ours went, we immediately put a new one in.
We actually handled the coffeepot clutter by buying an Ikea island and putting it where a kitchen table "should" go, and the shelves underneath hold all of the boxes of tea, packages of coffee, travel mugs, etc, and the top has my kettle, the big coffee pot, the Keurig, and the K-cup holder, plus sugar. Plus it gets the person who just wants a cup of coffee out of the way of the person moving between stove and sink and main island doing real cooking.0 -
I use mine daily: Heat the skim milk for my coffee, cook my rolled oats; and less often for puffing up puppodums; thawing cooked (formerly dry) beans or winter squash from my freezer, then heating a portion; making my very thick brand of peanut butter more spreadable on crunchy therefore more breakable cracker-like thingies; etc.2
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I use mine most days but there is a limit as to what i use it for:
1) Reheat leftovers
2) Melt butter for popcorn
3) Heat the milk (1/2 gallon at a time) for my homemade yogurt.
4) Make "Steam in the Bag" veggies.
Once in a while I will cook oatmeal or warm something so it spreads better.0 -
I'm not anti microwave, I just don't do most of the things people have mentioned.
Reheat leftovers: I often prefer cold, stews or soups or most bean dishes I prefer doing on the stove, most of the leftovers I reheat I do at work so use the work microwave.
Water for coffee/tea -- I use my electric kettle (one of my favorite appliances)
Butter for popcorn -- popcorn is better without butter (yes, this should go in the unpopular food opinions). If I find my contraption that does airpopping in the micro I may switch back to this for my occasional popcorn vs. cooking on the stove, but the stove is super easy.
Veg -- I like veg better steamed on the stove or, more often, sauteed or roasted or raw
Heated milk -- I never use heated milk, but I do occasionally heat frozen berries
Oats -- I like to make them in a rice cooker.
Frozen stuff -- I defrost in my refrigerator (almost always) or use a cook from frozen option
Happily for me the microwave my house came with has a nice spot off the counter, however, so it doesn't take up space I miss, and I like having it in case I need it.0 -
i cook pretty much all my mon-fri food in the microwave!!! Loads and loads of veggies. Re-heating portions of stuff that have been frozen like chilli, spag bol, chicken dishes etc, even, poaching eggs. Fish cooks really fast with a zap - about 1 min! Hate taking more than about 2min to make my meals, so there it is. Also hate washing pans.2
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. .........usually are built in above the stove in most houses and apts now and the smaller ones not take up much more space than a large toaster oven.
This must be a location thing.
I'm not sure what you mean by built in - like an oven or hot plate that you can't move??? I haven't seen any microwaves like that, they are all free standing here in Australia. All I have ever seen anyway.
So, if you move house you take the microwave with you, it isn't built in or attached or part of the house like a stove or built in wardrobe.
And where it goes is very variable - some kitchens have designated space, either over the oven or under the bench.
I prefer it at bench height myself so mine is on the bench - but that is just personal preference, there is no 'usually'
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Also useful for liquefying honey that has gone solid, and softening brown sugar that has gone hard. An alternative to dropping tomatoes and peaches in boiling water to peel them.0
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paperpudding wrote: ». .........usually are built in above the stove in most houses and apts now and the smaller ones not take up much more space than a large toaster oven.
This must be a location thing.
I'm not sure what you mean by built in - like an oven or hot plate that you can't move??? I haven't seen any microwaves like that, they are all free standing here in Australia. All I have ever seen anyway.
So, if you move house you take the microwave with you, it isn't built in or attached or part of the house like a stove or built in wardrobe.
And where it goes is very variable - some kitchens have designated space, either over the oven or under the bench.
I prefer it at bench height myself so mine is on the bench - but that is just personal preference, there is no 'usually'
Bench=counter?
Here (where I live, not talking for the US as a whole), they aren't on the counter. Sometimes they are over the oven with some kind of fan thing in place of the vent hood. In many houses or condos where the stove has a hood (like my current), they are in a build-in shelf, more commonly above the counter (to preserve counter space) but sometimes below. Removable, but they will be there with the appliances when you buy. It would be unusual for someone to take one with them when moving. (I think some places houses don't come with the other appliances either -- seen that on House Hunters International -- but here they do.)0 -
In the states, you can get a free standing, counter top microwave, or one called over the range which is made to be mounted on the wall behind and above your stove, usually under a smaller cabinet and as lemurcat said, has a vent and van on the bottom that takes the place of a range hood. The over the range models are larger, usually, than the counter top versions and require an extra plug in installed, usually in the cabinet above the microwave.
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I had never heard of an over the range model, though, until I was out of college; in my neck of the woods where I grew up, everyone had them on the counters.
My best room has a microwave she's still using that she had in college 20 years ago, and she had inherited it then from her sister-in-law who had also used it in college, so its at least 22-25 years old! She says she's thought about getting a new one, but that she feels kind of bad since the old one has lasted so long; she kind of wants to see just how far it will go
She was my roommate for several years and it was in storage most of that time, but I made sure to dig it out and give it back to her when she moved out.
I use mine, but usually to re-heat or defrost; rarely do I ever cook something in it, unless its a rare quick frozen meal or can of soup. Usually a couple of times a week - I use my crock pot almost as much 0 -
I'm not anti microwave, I just don't do most of the things people have mentioned.
Reheat leftovers: I often prefer cold, stews or soups or most bean dishes I prefer doing on the stove, most of the leftovers I reheat I do at work so use the work microwave.
Water for coffee/tea -- I use my electric kettle (one of my favorite appliances)
Butter for popcorn -- popcorn is better without butter (yes, this should go in the unpopular food opinions). If I find my contraption that does airpopping in the micro I may switch back to this for my occasional popcorn vs. cooking on the stove, but the stove is super easy.
Veg -- I like veg better steamed on the stove or, more often, sauteed or roasted or raw
Heated milk -- I never use heated milk, but I do occasionally heat frozen berries
Oats -- I like to make them in a rice cooker.
Frozen stuff -- I defrost in my refrigerator (almost always) or use a cook from frozen option
Happily for me the microwave my house came with has a nice spot off the counter, however, so it doesn't take up space I miss, and I like having it in case I need it.
I agree that an electric kettle is far superior to heating water for tea over a microwave or electric stove. In 2012, I was a house guest of people with an electric kettle and bought one as soon as I got home.
I make popcorn rarely, but when I do, it's on the stove, in oil, and then I add butter. Otherwise, there's no point as far as I'm concerned. (This is a lot of calories, hence the "rarely" ) 0 -
paperpudding wrote: ». .........usually are built in above the stove in most houses and apts now and the smaller ones not take up much more space than a large toaster oven.
This must be a location thing.
I'm not sure what you mean by built in - like an oven or hot plate that you can't move??? I haven't seen any microwaves like that, they are all free standing here in Australia. All I have ever seen anyway.
So, if you move house you take the microwave with you, it isn't built in or attached or part of the house like a stove or built in wardrobe.
And where it goes is very variable - some kitchens have designated space, either over the oven or under the bench.
I prefer it at bench height myself so mine is on the bench - but that is just personal preference, there is no 'usually'
Bench=counter?
Here (where I live, not talking for the US as a whole), they aren't on the counter. Sometimes they are over the oven with some kind of fan thing in place of the vent hood. In many houses or condos where the stove has a hood (like my current), they are in a build-in shelf, more commonly above the counter (to preserve counter space) but sometimes below. Removable, but they will be there with the appliances when you buy. It would be unusual for someone to take one with them when moving. (I think some places houses don't come with the other appliances either -- seen that on House Hunters International -- but here they do.)
Yes, mine is over the oven with a fan thing in place of the vent hood.
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kshama2001 wrote: »I'm not anti microwave, I just don't do most of the things people have mentioned.
Reheat leftovers: I often prefer cold, stews or soups or most bean dishes I prefer doing on the stove, most of the leftovers I reheat I do at work so use the work microwave.
Water for coffee/tea -- I use my electric kettle (one of my favorite appliances)
Butter for popcorn -- popcorn is better without butter (yes, this should go in the unpopular food opinions). If I find my contraption that does airpopping in the micro I may switch back to this for my occasional popcorn vs. cooking on the stove, but the stove is super easy.
Veg -- I like veg better steamed on the stove or, more often, sauteed or roasted or raw
Heated milk -- I never use heated milk, but I do occasionally heat frozen berries
Oats -- I like to make them in a rice cooker.
Frozen stuff -- I defrost in my refrigerator (almost always) or use a cook from frozen option
Happily for me the microwave my house came with has a nice spot off the counter, however, so it doesn't take up space I miss, and I like having it in case I need it.
I agree that an electric kettle is far superior to heating water for tea over a microwave or electric stove. In 2012, I was a house guest of people with an electric kettle and bought one as soon as I got home.
I make popcorn rarely, but when I do, it's on the stove, in oil, and then I add butter. Otherwise, there's no point as far as I'm concerned. (This is a lot of calories, hence the "rarely" )
I am with you on both points. I really dislike popcorn made in the microwave so I use an air popper but melt the butter in the microwave. I have never like water heated in the microwave for tea, I always used a stovetop kettle but went to an electric kettle about 10 years ago.0 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »I had never heard of an over the range model, though, until I was out of college; in my neck of the woods where I grew up, everyone had them on the counters.
Our first microwave (when I was a kid) was from around 1980, I think, and it was on the counter. Now it seems de rigueur for them to be in a dedicated shelf if the kitchen has been redone at least as recently as the '90s. (Again, here=where I am, and the few other places I am familiar with real estate in, as there could be differences within the US.)0
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