Benefits of a microwave

[sheothebudworths]

What the fuck is a wheat pack?

 

[moomoo]

What the fuck is a wheat pack?

Its a fabric thing with wheat in it. It's nice for aches and pains.

 

[Tank Girl]

booze and pills are nice for aches and pains too

 

[moomoo]

Yes but you can't put them in the microwave.

 

[Tank Girl]

exactly

unless you needed to keep them away from cats.

 

[trashpony]

exactly

unless you needed to keep them away from cats.

You don't know my cats

Also sheo (and this is from a woman who loves her microwave), often veg aren't actually any quicker to cook in the microwave than steam on the stove. Which rather defeats the object

Glad to have helped. I provide free impartial advice on all manner of useless household items.

I'm going to start a thread about toasters now

 

[Rosco]

Slice of bread into the toaster, break an egg into a tea cup, microvave for 15 seconds, take out and shake cup in a spinning motion and return to microwave for another 15 secs, job done one poached egg on toast.


Be careful to vary times according to microwave power or the egg will explode onto the roof of the microwave.

 

[Ms Ordinary]

I only ever use mine for heating up wheat packs.

That's the only thing I really wish I had one for! You can't really do that any other way, I think. I can't really justify giving up the space though.

 

[gentlegreen]

Just had spaghetti on toast. Took 3 minutes.

 

[RubyToogood]

Oh yes I do scrambled eggs in the microwave. No extra butter and they come out lovely. You do have to take them out and stir them constantly though.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Porridge, heating up cold black coffee, emergency defrosting and useful for frozen peas, gravy and the like for big family dinners when you have no spare hob space.

 

[gentlegreen]

... and of course as I worked out on holiday last year - a microwave with an infra-red grill can replace a toaster and kettle when you're camping with hookup - as well as enabling you to cook when the rain's beating down outside.

 

[aqua]

we went without our microwave without any problems for about 3 years

I bought one again about a year ago for the following reasons - to temper chocolate, soften butter for baking (our kitchen has no heating so in the winter this is essential), starting off jacket spuds, cooking bees his microwave pizza rolleyes: ) and that's about it

 

[Looby]

Wasn't it you who had to learn dotties steam-speed defrost technique for some chicken breasts?

That was me. I now either plan ahead or buy something else if there's nothing defrosted because we chucked ours away.

when I had one, about the only thing I used it for was as a handy cat proof box to keep things in.

I do miss this.

The only other thing I used to use if for was softening ice cream.

 

[Detroit City]

So - how much do you use yours and other than reheating, what do you use it for?

its good for making baked spuds and rice...

 

[geminisnake]

Did you not use any of the recipes I sent you aqua??

I use the microwave for cooking frozen veg, it works well for that ime.
You can get whole books with recipes in them for the microwave sheo. You can make cakes and shortbread and stuff in it. I don't do it often but it does happen.

 

[Looby]

its good for making baked spuds and rice...

It is a lot quicker to give jackets a 5 minute blast before putting them in the oven which is why we only have them at weekends now because they take so fucking long in the oven.

 

[aqua]

Did you not use any of the recipes I sent you aqua??

I'm trying to block the last 7 weeks of no kitchen out of my mind ask me again in a while and I'll mention that period too and how the microwave saved my sanity

 

[Maurice Picarda]

I don't understand this thread at all. What do you people do with leftovers? Do you never cook excessive amounts of food, or do you simply guzzle everything at one sitting, no matter how much you have overcatered?

 

[Looby]

I don't understand this thread at all. What do you people do with leftovers? Do you never cook excessive amounts of food, or do you simply guzzle everything at one sitting, no matter how much you have overcatered?

I just heat it up in the pan again.

I freeze big portions of spag bol/chilli/curry and then just reheat them on the hob. I do use the microwave at work for leftovers.

 

[Maggot]

Heating up baked beans (which I never have) and re-heating stuff is all it's good for.

That's all I use mine for.

... and of course as I worked out on holiday last year - a microwave with an infra-red grill can replace a toaster and kettle when you're camping with hookup - as well as enabling you to cook when the rain's beating down outside.

You took a microwave on a camping holiday?

 

[Callie]

jam/syrup/lemon curd sponge pudding is about 5 mins

I have a microwave but I dont really use it much. I intended to use it for defrosting stuff but it hasnt really been necessary.

 

[gentlegreen]

You took a microwave on a camping holiday?

Yes.
I took a toaster and a low wattage kettle, but was forced to buy a cheap microwave because the weather stopped me firing up the gas ring or the barbie. ...

 

[strung out]

Slice of bread into the toaster, break an egg into a tea cup, microvave for 15 seconds, take out and shake cup in a spinning motion and return to microwave for another 15 secs, job done one poached egg on toast.


Be careful to vary times according to microwave power or the egg will explode onto the roof of the microwave.

that sounds pretty nifty actually

 

[scifisam]

There's less washing-up involved when you reheat things on a plate in the microwave as opposed to in a pan then onto a plate.

There's also less washing up when you cook rice, porridge, scrambled eggs, pasta (little ones, not spaghetti), noodles, poached eggs, some types of veggie sausages, all sorts of things that only really require warming to be cooked: either you can cook those items on the plate/one of the plates you'll be eating off, or you'll only have a wipe-clean plastic dish to clean rather than a metal pan. It's also a fair bit quicker.

 

[geminisnake]

Do you never cook excessive amounts of food,

Very, very rarely. I've been cooking for the 3 of us for about 10 yrs now. I know how much we eat. On the few occasions there is too much I just heat it in the pot it sat in all night

Maggot, did you not see the photos of gg's tent last summer?? It was mental, totally cushty.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

microwaves makes your hair go curly

which may or may not be a good thing for you?!

 

[Biddlybee]

What do you want to use it for sheo?

Everything that you can cook in a microwave tends to taste nicer done on the hob imo

 

[feyr]

we have a fancy microwave/grill combo thing, although its about 10 years old, and on extended loan from the inlaws. i only really use it for the odd reheat, the occasional ready meal, very occasionally maing cheese on toast, although is normally less hassle to use the proper grill for this, and making hot chocolate . in fact, just made myself a tasty mugful now, much easier in the microwave; whack mug of milk in micro on high for 2 mins, chop up some choc, take milk out of microvave, stif in choc, chuck on marshmallows and cream, top with any remaining chopped choc only washing up is a knife, board and a mug as opposed to saucepan, bowl ( have to double boil on stove otherwise it tastes too metally i find) , chopping board,knife,mug,whisk/spoon and wipe down of hob. way too much hassle

 

[beeboo]

bump as I've just discovered the best reason for using a microwave - bringing horrible fridge-cold tomatoes up to room temperature loveliness in 30 seconds.

My perpetual dilemma over whether to keep tomatoes in the fridge or not has been resolved. Happy day