Could you live without your microwave?

We don’t have a microwave in our house at all and don’t need one either.

It looks as though you might find a microwave useful for defrosting so perhaps on balance the answer to your question is yes but perhaps not at the top end of the range if that is the main purpose for it. It may also be useful to have a mirco-wave during periods such as kitchen refurbishment or when for some reason you main oven is out of use.

There is no good logic in having a microwave cooker. Having a microwave cooker that is an oven and a grill makes excellent sense as you are maximising the utility of the space provided. Kitchens are generally small so I take a view that all items need to be as useful as they can be,

Scrambled eggs, porridge, baked potatoes, re-heating food, additional oven space for holidays are all very good reasons to invest. There are very few things that cheap but yet so useful in saving money/electricity and time.

You don’t need a microwave. I had a hand me down for a short while and gave it away, because it changed all the food [I would not be surprised if it damaged the nutrients in the food too]. Good restaurants don’t microwave. And the (unchecked) story goes that when someone microwaved blood products to defrost them, the recipient died.
I reheat by steaming or baking. Potatoes are best cut into wedges and baked quickly in the oven. The microwave saves time, but doesn’t improve the food.

The only time I’ve wished I had a microwave (and a couple of times zipped round to my neighbour’s to use theirs) is on Christmas Day. To be able to do the pudding in minutes rather than it taking up a hob for 3hours is a real bonus, but not worth having the other 364 days a year, to my mind.
My mother in law once gave me an old one of hers. After it cluttered the work surface for 6 months without being used I junked it without a twinge of regret.
My all-gas cooker is brilliant – the heat is there immediately and none is wasted. I loathe cooking on electric stoves, but am still nostalgic for an Aga as I grew up with one – again, the heat is always there when you want it.

Warming the mixture for a heavy fruit cake in a microwave oven makes it easy to mix thoroughly and shortens the baking time, saving electricity. I often put food in the microwave before finishing cooking in the oven or browning it under the grill.

A simple microwave oven is easy to keep clean because it does not get hot, so a quick wipe with a damp cloth and it is as good as new. Mine is over 20 years old and in daily use, and there are no stains or food deposits inside. I would not want a combination oven because they are harder to keep clean.

Of course we could get by just fine without a microwave, people seemed to manage ok before they were invented. But they are cheap to buy and have their uses, mostly part cooking and reheating.
They will never replace a proper cooker with a hob and an oven, you simply cannot cook properly or at leat in the same way, but as I said a microwave can be very useful.
Apart from the convenience of quick heating where a microwave really scores is in it’s energy efficiency. You can for example bring a litre of liquid to boiling (or whatever temperature you want) more quickly and in doing so consume less energy than by use of a cooker.

Bit of a daft question really “Do we really need a microwave”?
Course we don’t, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make use of a cheap and efficient appliance if we want to.

Microwaves are very much greener than ovens,gas or electricity. And they are super for cooking fish or veg-or do you like your greens pulpy and overcooked,some do! It will also do pasta,all these things need a modicum of experimentation like anything else. Top chefs don’t like them -maybe the fear being deskilled?

I thought I could do without a microwave when we moved into our new house and inherited a gas-fired Rayburn – but then a hot hot summer came, and putting the Rayburn on was unbearable, so if we wanted anything other than salads and bought quiches, the microwave was essential. The Rayburn doesn’t have a grill really, so the built-in grill in the microwave is useful. I agree about the ‘baked’ potatoes – in the Rayburn they take about three hours and have skins of leather, but if I mostly cook them in the microwave then they only need crisping in the oven for about 20 minutes. But the best reason for having a microwave is the SCRAMBLED EGGS! I just make sure that I don’t cook them too long and they’re lovely and soft – and no sticky pan to scrub.

I live alone and I don’t have a cooker! I use my combination microwave for most things and my single induction hob for stir fry’s and other things that need to be done on a hob.

We have two microwaves, but no oven. We bought a newer microwave because it can do so much more than the older model. But we still keep the older microwave for ‘ready meals’ etc.

We use the Halogen oven to replace the electric cooker.

You are so correct…neither would I calibrate or trust built in thermometers,I did write independant!
No harm with defrosting in a microwave oven as long as it’s contiuous cooking i.e. Part of a cooking process that is not interupted .

I can cook using a candle as in my Boy Scout days but that is a Luddite attidude. HAVE TWO MICROWAVE units from Tesco, cost £50 each with grill, easy to understand instructionbook. Dont have adequate kitchen ventilation in my retirement flat so microwave cooking tends to keep the fumes under control. Hopefully I will celebrate my 86th birthday in Ddcdmber

A microwave isn’t a “need” item – we can all manage without but having done it both ways, I wouldn’t give up my microwave and use it for all sorts of cooking – particularly cooking potatoes and veg courses. My son uses the convection oven for pizzas – which it cooks far better than our conventional oven (and quicker).
Oddly, though, I rarely use it for defrosting. Mostly just out of preference – it actually defrosts very well.

Off course they’re essential; how else would I repetitively reheat my cold cups of tea?

Apart from ordinary uses, I like to heat my coffee milk and the instant coffee granules in the cup prior to adding the hot water – it makes it so easy to get the much better heated milk flavour without a coffee machine or a dirty saucepan. I use three revolutions of the table for my two cups with circa 15 mm of milk in the bottom of each cup. You will need to test the revolutions for your machine unless you have digital timing as my old microwave is clockwork so the revs are the only way to get it accurate enough. It works time and again and apart from fancy coffee machines it’s a green and cheap way to heat the milk to get a great tasting cup to start the day.

I guess you don’t have a baby? Since our little new arrival we’ve been using the microwave all the time!

We don’t have a microwave and we’ve never had one. Elderly parents do have one.

I’m worried that we are not teaching children to cook and that when elderly I will have to live on sandwiches (as that is what hospitals and carers seem to expect to feed the elderly for supper).

It is difficult to find microwaves that are simple to use if your sight and hearing is failing. All you want to do is heat soup – good nutritious filling soup not just powdered snack soup – or something for one from the freezer. What you need is knobs with a pointer or that click and/or bumpons. I haven’t got around to customising one yet as this does not seem to be available. (I contacted Bosch but they said they didn’t have an alternative knob that could replace the existing one – which would have been a simple part of the alteration.)

Aren’t meals on wheels often delivered frozen?

My mum got a Toshiba Deltawave microwave in 1985 from a late relative. Never been without one since. It was updated in 1989 with a Belling Triplette which was used heavily until it’s demise in 2002.
The combi features are fantastic. Speed of a microwave and finished off decently. I tend to find those who find the combi features pointless are those who have never owned one.
On a Sharp Combi now which at 10 years old is showing its age but it has worked hard for it’s keep. Much quicker and cleaner than a full size oven and for me on my own far more economical. I have bought a back up one last weekend. Its a Prestige from Comet. Build quality is so-so but at £59 for a combi, Alot less than the £350 paid for the old Belling or £200 for the Sharp.
I would never be without one as I work very long hours and need the speed of a microwave/convection combi to keep me from buying take away food!
Jacket Potatoes with a crisp skinand fluffy filling in 20 mins? That’s a combi microwave for you 🙂
Grill is also great with such even cooking.

Microwave Oven is “nice” to have kitchen appliance, practically it is a very useful processor. Numbers of vegetables can be cooked with the help of this magical device that too with very less time. I really enjoy my cooking in a different style and can able to make new and delicious dishes ….. <3

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Microwaves need someone who is prepared to experiment. And break the rules.

There are two rules that you cannot change: cooking eggs without sticking holes in the yolk and oil based cooking..

Yes, you CAN cook in shallow metal dishes – but they shouldn’t anything else.

Like rice? Take a shallow microwave bowl, out your measure of real rice (not Aunt someone or others brand). Fill with cold water, swirl with your hand to remove dust, repeat until water is clear.

Leave just over one-half inch of water above the rice and cook on high for 10 minutes. Remove, the surface should be covered with a little amount of water. Set aside and the rice will absorb the water, stir and you are ready to serve.

Fish is also an excellent dish to microwave. Place herbs and condiments on top, wrap in cling wrap and cook – according to weight.

Enjoy!

How can any one live without a microwave oven in their home?
They are the most convenient,energy efficient and clean cooking appliance in the kitchen today and produce the most nutritious food,
Energy efficient – they save up to 85% of your cooking costs in comparison with conventional cooking
Nutritious – More nutrients are retained in microwave cooked food (especially vegetables) than by any other cooking method – including steaming
They are clean and environmentally friendly – not to mention useful for defrosting and cooking simple items – like fairy cakes – 6 cakes in 1 minute – or a steamed sponge pudding (or Christmas pudding) in 7 – 8 minutes!
Why would you not want this versatile piece of cooking equipment in your kitchen?

Don’t you think this microwave is harmful?