To what extent do you use a microwave oven to ‘cook’? What I mean is, we have a microwave oven which we use if we want to boil a cup of water quickly, heat microwave-specific products, such as popcorn or frozen dinners (which we don’t actually do, but I suspect many others do), brown some ground meat, or reheat leftovers that were previously prepared in the oven. Otherwise, we would never cook an actual meal using a microwave. I find they heat too unevenly to be very useful for proper meal preparation, and apart from browning meat, can they even dependably/predictably produce controlled maillard reactions like a grill or oven?
I remember when my parents purchased a microwave oven for the first time circa 1981. It came with an instruction manual which also contained some recipes in the back. I also recall seeing some microwave cookbooks at the used bookstore not long ago, so I know that preparing entire dishes using just a microwave is a thing.
We’re just about to renovate our kitchen, and when we talked about the new microwave, realized that we only ever use ours for coffee, popcorn, and leftovers.
I use a microwave to cook veggies before roasting. It cuts the roasting time in half. Corn on the cob tastes better from a microwave than a pot of boiling water. I’ve also learned how to make a perfect poached egg in the microwave.
We were recently reevaluating kitchen space and came to a similar conclusion. However, even for those very few tasks we end up using the microwave pretty much daily and the appliance managed to retain its designated four-square foot spot on the counter
That does sound a bit weird but when it comes to the kitchen space is space. Few other places in the house seem to compete so heavily for space as kitchens.
I use it all the time for frozen/canned foods and leftovers. Also to heat up garlic bread, one of my favorite need-a-snack-now foods.
I suspect I’m in the target demographic for it; I don’t cook cook much, I mostly make meals that are either made for it or need little prep beyond heating (such as garlic bread).
As a childless bachelor, I use the microwave oven more than any other kitchen appliance… Mine is mounted in a wall cabinet above the stove, so it doesn’t use any counter space.
We use ours for steam-in-bag veggies, melting butter/cheese/chocolate, reheating leftovers, defrosting things in a hurry. It gets used most days, but not primarily as a cooker.
When it comes to actually cooking meals, I’ll use a microwave to make those Knorr Rice or Pasta sides, usually doctored up by adding some frozen vegetables and protein.
How do you brown hamburger in the microwave? Do you mean that you cook it in the microwave instead of browning it in a frying pan? Doesn’t it get kind of rubbery?
Ours is mainly used for reheating leftovers. I use it to make cocoa, heat up canned or frozen veggies, pre-cook carrots before roasting (sometimes they take forever), melt butter, melt chocolate chips, make oatmeal and Malt-O-Meal, sometimes cook up a hot dog.
It’s easy enough to do most of that on top of the stove, but all of the extra dishes and cleanup makes it very convenient. My mom told me once how she used to hate leftover night back when I was a kid. She said she’d have to use every pot and pan she had and then had to wash all of them.
We use the microwave for pretty much all the things detailed upthread, but the biggest effect it has is to do with how we now routinely cook. There are two of us, and a we’ll routinely prepare food for four or six. This isn’t “leftovers” - these are pre-prepared meals (or parts of meals) to be reheated down the line. For a casserole or a chili or a curry or a soup (etc) it works perfectly. A huge labor-saver.
(FWIW we tend not to have leftovers…)
(You can also make cheese on toast and pizza toasts using a toaster and a microwave. A treat for lunch).
It’s possible to make decent scrambled eggs in the microwave. Some family-run, non-chain coffee/pastry shops around here make eggs this way routinely so that they can offer breakfast sandwiches without having a commercial kitchen on premises.
Scrambled eggs in the microwave is somewhat faster than on a stovetop, but not by a lot. Cooking them in a microwave is fairly fussy, though – it it NOT a set-and-forget operation. You have to stop the microwave every 30-45 second or so to stir the eggs around. You also have to remember to add a bit of milk to the eggs beforehand (I realize that many people do this with pan-scrambled eggs, too, but I never do) or else the eggs come out overly dry in the microwave.
It’s also possible to bake potatoes in the microwave, though you have to remember to flip them partway through. They come out fine.
We use ours mostly for reheating uses or for heating up a mug of water. But, for cooking, it’s excellent for steaming vegetables. Honestly, it’s my preferred method for steaming veggies.
There is also a microwave roux technique that I find works really well and is less hassle and more consistent for me than stovetop roux. Do be careful if you try it, as that roux gets really hot in there. (ETA: Uh oh, I feel nervous talking about microwaving roux with a New Orleans Saints avatar just above my post.)
Also, I can whip up a quick mug cake for the kids in the ol’ nuker, which is nice if they crave a sweet treat.
Wanna know how best to re-heat something dense, like casserole leftovers?
Make a “doughnut.”
Seriously.
Spread it into a ring shape, so the center (which usually stays cold in the nukulator anyway) is just open space, leaving more surface area to warm up.
You may thank me later. I accept PayPal donations of gratitude.
I have so many questions (most of which were already asked) but that ^^ is not something I’d ever consider using a nuke for.
