Microwaves

[pcooley]

I've never owned a microwave, but recently I brought one home that a friend was no longer using.

I use the one at my work to heat up leftovers, and that's all that I've used the one at home for so far, and that was only once. It was nice not to make the double-boiler or the steamer basket dirty, and it is nice not to be burning natural gas to heat up leftovers given our rapidly changing climate. In general though, I wonder why I have so much counter space given over to this device I haven't needed for the 53 years I've been alive. (I thought my teenage son would appreciate it, but he is wary of it and does not like to use it.)

Are there things microwaves are good for, that I don't know about, that makes the space they take up worthwhile?

[Gardnr]

Hmmmm, I've never had one on the counter-always over the stove.

I heat tea water (I drink a LOT of tea). Steam any veggies with just a few Tbsp water. Bake potatoes. Partial defrost of items I forgot to thaw for meals. Reheat leftovers-as you've stated.

There are many microwave meal recipes out there.

[iris lilies]

I use my microwave oven multiple times a day. Just this morning I used it twice to make hot water for coffee. I used it to thaw out some beans on the edges. I didn’t thaw the entire package, I thawed part of it and then put the rest back in the freezer.

That’s typical use for us, doing this multiple times a day. DH uses it Dailey, too.

Eating frozen products for lunches and some dinners is very common for us. Having the microwave available allows me to not plan ahead. I don’t have to think hours in advance to let foods thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator.

Our microwave oven is perched on a shelf right by the refrigerator and over a counter. It was positioned that way because that’s the way we want it our kitchen cabinets are custom built by DH.

[Teacher Terry]

I have had one take up counter space but like it much better above the stove.

[sweetana3]

We eat a lot of what some call leftovers. I will make several meals and reheat in the microwave. Saves so much time and mess. If I forget to soften butter, zap 20 seconds in the microwave, Quick cook my veggies. I do not cook my meat in them because I like the browning and taste. We really like many Trader Joe entrees or casserole type dishes and they are fast to microwave without heating up the whole kitchen.

[razz]

I use my over-the-stove Panasonic many times a day. I make a large pot of tea and reheat cups throughout the day, reheat portions of large meals that have been frozen into packages, microwave lemon curd instead of stovetop, heat milk for yogurt, make custards ....
Love my microwave! I couldn't imagine cooking or reheating everything on the stove.

Sounds as though you need to find a convenient placement first to effectively evaluate its benefits.

[JaneV2.0]

I waited a long time before buying a microwave and kept it for maybe a year before handing it off to my beloved.
It took up too much space and I rarely used it. I have other appliances to take up the slack.

[pcooley]

It sounds like some things are just a matter of habit. I couldn't imagine life without my double boiler, for instance. That's my way of heating milk for yogurt. I don't know how I would get the thermometer to stay in the milk without the metal clip if I tried to do it in the microwave.

I've never been able to get in the habit of making large batches of food and then freezing portions, in spite of knowing that it's a good way to go. I might have another look at that, as we're trying to get our grocery budget down to save most of our income for our kids' college costs.

I have to say that most of what we eat are just variations of rice and beans - and the rice cooker and the slow cooker are always humming away.

[Teacher Terry]

When I cook we have leftovers for a day or two and I love my microwave to heat it up. I think baked potatoes are nasty in it so use the oven.

[Geila]

Honestly, the only times I'm glad to have one are when making microwave popcorn (rarely these days as eating popcorn now aggravates my teeth and gums) and for steaming individual ears of corn during corn season. I don't like how the microwave heats up stuff - it's not even and the food always cools down very quickly and dries out. I use my electric kettle to boil water and a skillet or saucepan with a lid to warm stuff up. Food just tastes better to me when I do that. I can definitely see a time when we'll just get rid of it. Ours goes to sleep after a couple of minutes so at least it's not sucking up energy all day long. I don't have a lot of stuff on the counter so the space is not a big deal. But I might move it to kitchen-adjacent and see how that goes.