OK. The Great MicroWave Debate

[rickr]

We have a microwave oven, and have owned them for decades. We use it to warm up leftovers, but that is about it. I would never use it for cooking.

 

[mom11]

My 2 cents...

or...make that my 11 cents. If you are considering using a microwave as a method of birth control, take it from me: It does NOT work. At all. I have the 11 kids to prove it. And because of the 11 kids I use my Radarange a lot.

 

[arbilab]

Anybody notice the excess energy it takes to cook a TV dinner resistively makes it taste substantially better than the pinch-a-watt microwave? There are things the microwave does well and things it does poorly. Kinda like any cooking method. Real damn hard to make boiled egg with charcoal.

Cooking breaks down food. That's a third of why we do it. The other 2/3rds are it tastes better hot and it kills bacteria.

Why do frozen entrees fare poorly in the nuke? Because it burns the periphery in the time it takes to heat the core. Besides boiling water for tea, I use the m-w most on power 3 or 4. There are several things it does very well on high. Among which, scrambled eggs, meatloaf, and hamburger (in a browning skillet). It will even make fudge, but don't turn your back on it.

Packaged food m-w instructions are for speed and convenience, not flavor or nutrition. There simply is not a kitchen machine that can make up for, pardon the expression, ignorance.

Somehow I managed to eat half my life without a microwave. But having (the same) one since 1982 I would NOT want to give it up.

 

[circlew]

I've not had a microwave for about four or five years now. The GE I had was about four years old when it blew up.

I missed it for about a month, but after that it was just like I didn't even know they existed. I found I liked the outcome of the food better using a regular oven. If I'm having a box dinner like Stouffer's or such, I just heat the oven, stick the food in, and go do something else while it's cooking. I find I enjoy the food more after I've waited a little while for it.

The ONLY time I've missed it was when I wanted to defrost frozen liquid egg product. Now I just plan ahead, and put the container in the refrigerator the day before, or thaw it in cool water.

 

[jeffg]

"I found I liked the outcome of the food better using a regular oven. "

That's because microwave ovens do not cook food, they simply heat it. Or in other words try getting a nice flavorful crust on a steak cooked in a microwave. Won't happen without a separate attachment, and even then it's nothing compared to proper stovetop grilling. Ditto grilled veggies etc.