Cooking In Microwaves: Love It Or Hate It?

BeeMee

BeeMee

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Personally I love it.

When I'm feeling lazy and too hungry to wait for the darned oven to warm up, I pop some potatoes or eggs in there and a few minutes later - voila!

Some of my favourite dishes made in the microwave are; savoury scones, (using mustard powder, cheese and so on) a quick omelette, and even a deliciously moist and soft chocolate cake which is ready in 10 minutes or less (the recipe which I stole from my mother, bwahaha).

There are some drawbacks, I'll admit. It has a tendency to make your eggs slightly rubbery - something which I, quite honestly can live with. I'm not a very picky eater.

What about you? Know of any more pros and cons? Or better yet, have some great and quick microwave recipes to share?
 
One major downside that I can see is that most frozen or packaged meals that are meant for the microwave are too highly processed to be nutritious and too salty or something to be neutral. The stereotype is that slow foods are healthier foods.

But, it's slow. I pack a couple of slices of bread (white or whole wheat) into a bowl, in another I whisk eggs with cheese and deli meats (if it's savory) or cinnamon sugar (if it's going to be sweet), pour the eggs over the bread, let the bread soak it in, and then pop it into the microwave for quick-cook eggs-in-a-basket-but-not or french-toast-bread-pudding-but-not.
 
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Oh wow, that's a great idea. Never tried to make either of those in the micro before, but it makes sense now that it should be super easy. And my mom loves french toast, so I'll be passing this along. Thank you~

As for processed foods, I see where you're coming from. I hadn't really considered that because we just don't eat a lot of that in our house.
 
It might be okay or better if the microwaved meals are made, so to speak, from scratch instead of ready-packaged.

I hope you enjoy the eggs-in-a-basket-but-not and french-toast-bread-pudding-but-not! :)

It's common knowledge not to microwave eggs that are still in the shell, but I had to find out the hard way that microwaving bread doesn't make toast...it makes soggy, hot bread. That's why these microwave bread recipes are meant to be moist at the end. Maybe it depends on the air humidity, though.
 
Hehe, just like I learned the hard way not to microwave peeled potatoes. It doesn't cook them, it turns them into something ... strange and usual. o.o Always, always leave the skin on, Bee ... always ...

And thank you, I certainly will. Already told my mom about them and she made an interested sound - the kind that means she's gonna try it when nobody else is around to see if it flops.
 
I really don't care for cooking stuff in the microwave. I mainly use it for warming up stuff, of preparing frozen packaged foods.

There are a few things though that I enjoy using it for. One of them is cooking pasta when I am in a hurry. I love how I can make a bowl of egg noodles in the microwave in less time than it takes to bring a pot of water to a boil. When I want a quick pasta dish, I will saute up some chicken and veggies while the noodles are cooking away in the microwave then just combine everything. Another favorite of mine, are those microwave ready french fries. They come packaged in a special container that will crisp them up. They really do work, and are a fast alternative to baking them. Plus they are much healthier than frying them too.
 
I hate cooking in the microwave. The food does not have the same taste when prepared that way. Even if I used it to defrost something, I am always disappointed in the quality of the food. I do use it to heat water and broth when I am cooking. It makes for easier preparation of other foods. I have used it to bring butter to room temperature for baking. Sometimes I have used the steamed vegetable packages, but some of the veggies come out burnt. The are some recipes for individual cakes in a coffee cup that I have been wanting to try just to see if the cake tastes good.
 
I got rid of my microwave ages ago. I still have it, just in case the oven stops working or something, but I only ever used it to heat stuff up, which is pretty much the same as what I can do in a pan on the stove.
 
I've never heard of fries you can make in the micro - that sounds amazing. I'm an absolute fry addict, so that would be awesome. I'm definitely gonna go take a look next time I go shopping.

Something I've been wondering about is what other kinds of meat dishes you can make in the microwave? I really have no experience in that particular area, so it's sort of a grey area. I imagine it would come out kind of soggy or blehhh ...
 
The microwave is easy, and convenient. For stuff I need to heat up quickly, it's nice, but food will always taste better if it's cooked in a pan or in the oven. I use my pasta boat in the microwave a lot, because I hate wasting space on the stove top, but if I can put something in the oven... I will, even if it means waiting 30 minutes compared to 3.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the microwave. I think we expose ourselves to far too much radiation. My microwave is like built into my kitchen (I rent) but I think I've used it maybe twice in the two years I've lived here. I would much rather take the extra time and pop something into the oven or toaster oven!
 
Another point I find interesting in the microwave vs stove issue is that, on the whole, a microwave is more energy efficient when it comes to heating or cooking. Meaning you save energy and money. I myself live in a country where we struggle with power outages often because at peak times (such as when people are all making dinner) our power stations simply can't keep up with the demand.
 
I like it! But because I'm not always familiar with how it works, I don't get to use it all the time. I always ask for the assistance of my mother or my sister whenever we get to cook rather interesting dishes using the microwave, but I always get excited whenever we get to use it.

I do agree that it's a power saver, though. I really noticed the change when the bill came, and I'm really glad about the decision to buy a microwave.
 
Nope, don't like cooking in it at all. The food never comes out as good as it does with other methods.
That being said, I do use it sometimes if I'm feeling lazy. And obviously it's great for reheating leftovers.
 
I stopped using microwave ovens years ago. But when I did use them, I didn't cook with them. I only used them to warm up food. One of my favorite aspects of cooking is the aroma in the house. I seem to enjoy my meal if it seems good and makes my place smell good. There is no aroma with microwave cooking.
 
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