Are microwaves even worth it anymore?

[Diane Lane]

The longer the water stays in the microwave, the hotter it gets, as we all know. Heating it to the boiling point spells disaster!
At 212 degrees, there is sort of a violent chemical reaction between the instant coffee or tea and the boiling water - which causes it to "boil over" and create a big mess! And your hands could get seriously scalded in the process!!

To be safe, I start off with cold water in the mug. I set the power on High, but the water is in the microwave for only about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. This helps keep the water from getting way too hot & staying just below the boiling point at about 180 or 190 degrees. There is very little if any violent chemical reaction between the coffee or tea and the hot water, keeping things safe.

I just don't like how it tastes. Also, my friends seem to think heating a cup of water for a minute is enough to make hot chocolate/coffee/tea, and that doesn't work for me, yuck . Note, these are also people who don't cook.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

At 212 degrees, there is sort of a violent chemical reaction between the instant coffee or tea and the boiling water - which causes it to "boil over" and create a big mess! And your hands could get seriously scalded in the process!!

To be safe, I start off with cold water in the mug. I set the power on High, but the water is in the microwave for only about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. This helps keep the water from getting way too hot & staying just below the boiling point at about 180 or 190 degrees. There is very little if any violent chemical reaction between the coffee or tea and the hot water, keeping things safe.

There is no violent chemical reaction involved.
All you have done is super heat the water. You need a catalyst to allow it to actually boil and all you are seeing is the effect of adding a catalyst to the super heated water.
I have seen the same happen with non-dairy milk when you put the teaspoon into the milk and it will suddenly boil over.
I am guessing, but I would imaging pretty much anything would act as the catalyst, so you could use a wooden spoon, or sugar or even some cold water. It just needs that trigger to release it from the super heated state it is in.

 

[Cinisajoy]

There is no violent chemical reaction involved.
All you have done is super heat the water. You need a catalyst to allow it to actually boil and all you are seeing is the effect of adding a catalyst to the super heated water.
I have seen the same happen with non-dairy milk when you put the teaspoon into the milk and it will suddenly boil over.
I am guessing, but I would imaging pretty much anything would act as the catalyst, so you could use a wooden spoon, or sugar or even some cold water. It just needs that trigger to release it from the super heated state it is in.

I forgot where I read it but I have heard if you put a bit of sugar or salt or non-metallic spoon in the water then heat it, it won't super heat.
I haven't tried this.
As per hot water for tea, I keep an old coffee pot full of water on the simmer burner in the winter.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I went back to a smaller size microwave in the effort to save some space in the kitchen. It has 900 watts of cooking power. Not too bad for a small microwave!!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

As per hot water for tea, I keep an old coffee pot full of water on the simmer burner in the winter.

I'm on bottled gas here in Australia. My water is rain water in 2 tanks, if I run out, that's it. I have a bore water tank as well, but that is washing machine, toilet and outdoor taps only and it is brackish. As for sewage, its a septic tank. Heating is an open fire in the main building (no insulation) and a pot belly stove in another small single room building (cabin like). None of the other buildings are heated except for the wood fire pizza oven area by the side of the outdoor entertainment area and the grill (literally a sheet of metal over an open fire) in the covered part of the outdoor entertainment area. If I run out of gas, I have no hot water, no hot food, no gas rings, no oven and no shower whatsoever. Keeping anything lit for any length of time is not an option. Wood is roughly AUD $250 per tonne. Bottled Gas is over AUD $1.45 per litre before tax. Only my water and sewage are free (unless I run out of water and then its $$$ time). And I haven't even covered electricity! My last bill (admittedly in the very cold part of winter) was over AUD$100 per week and that was running with no heating during the day and 2 electric fires on prevent freezing mode overnight (if it freezes we loose water). Oh and if I have no electricity I have no water either. I now save every plastic bottle that comes our way and it is filled with water and stored as a precaution.
I actually have bowls at every sink. You wash your hands in the water in the bowl. You only rinse your hands in clean fresh water to get the soap off. There is no need for clean water to wet the soap or your hands or even getting the worst of the soap off your hands. You learn to live differently when your only water is from the sky or you have to carry in every single log for your heating after splitting it and stacking it away from the house (fire risk in summer and bush fires are serious business)!

My next task is a solar shower from another roof's guttering... I have no neighbours to scare off!

Anyhow I side track, sorry....

 

[Morning Glory]

I think I don't use my microwave enough. Its partly habit, I think. I use it for many things but, like most people, I suspect, it is generally to re-heat rather than cook the food. Yet I know perfectly well that it can cook vegetables and fish to perfection.

I use it sometimes to help rise bread dough - a tip that might be useful if you live in a very cold house. I use it speed the process up. Basically you put the dough in a pyrex type bowl, cover in clingfilm and microwave on high for 10 seconds. Leave it in the microwave and wait ten minutes then repeat. Do this once more.

 

[Lullabelle]

In winter I use it to quickly cook porridge, a pot of shop bought mash, that kind of thing so they are useful just not something we use every day.

 

[Morning Glory]

In winter I use it to quickly cook porridge, a pot of shop bought mash, that kind of thing so they are useful just not something we use every day.

Yes. Great for quick porridge. Whole sweetcorn and whole globe artichokes are also something which cook really quickly in the microwave. Perhaps I'll make it a sort of mission to post some microwave recipes here!

 

[Yorky]

I use mine to precook jacket potatoes prior to putting them in the oven (1.5 minutes each for small ones) and for grilling (it incorporates a grill which is the only grill we have). We also use it for reheating jacket potatoes. That's about it really. I have plenty of time so that is not an issue. OK, if I have forgotten to defrost frozen food I may use it to defrost but I would normally go for another, non frozen, dish in that event (we have an excellent restaurant 100 metres away that sells carry out Thai food much cheaper than I could make it).

I'm not sure whether our new halogen oven will replace the microwave or not. Time will tell.