# I will never cook these foods in anything but a microwave again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864 "2015-08-14T19:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/1 "2015-08-14T19:42:34Z")
Liver-liver is a pain in the ass to cook, too much it turns to leather. Microwave 9 minutes for half a pound cut into strips and I have a delicious well cooked and tender liver. Fish and shrimp, juicy as can be and no overcooking. Even pork steaks, I prefer the microwave. One thing I have noticed is online guides for cooking meat in the microwave seem CRAZY, some I saw for liver advised 20 minutes combined for a pound?! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/2 "2015-08-14T19:57:36Z")
I will never cook these foods in anything but a microwave again: 1. 2. 3. I will never cook these foods in a microwave 1. fish and shrimp 2. pork steaks (or any other type of meat) 3. liver (not fair, as I will never willingly cook liver, and if you held a gun to my head, it would still be a hard decision) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/3 "2015-08-14T20:16:37Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I will never cook these foods in anything but a microwave again: > > 1. > 2. > 3. > > I will never cook these foods in a microwave > > 1. fish and shrimp > 2. pork steaks (or any other type of meat) > 3. liver (not fair, as I will never willingly cook liver, and if you held a gun to my head, it would still be a hard decision) Fair enough, I just think the little box is unfairly maligned by snobs. They did a taste test, microwave cooked fish won. [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-03/entertainment/8703060930\_1\_orange-roughy-microwave-oven-wax-paper](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-03/entertainment/8703060930_1_orange-roughy-microwave-oven-wax-paper) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/4 "2015-08-14T20:27:09Z")
I prefer my fish whole, fried in a cast iron pan. You’ll never get crispy skin in a microwave, not ever. Hard-shelled shellfish like crabs do surprisingly well in the microwave. The meat steams in its own shell. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/5 "2015-08-14T20:29:22Z")
Bacon, wrapped in paper towels - fast, comes out nice and flat and evenly cooked, minimal odor, easy cleanup. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/6 "2015-08-14T20:30:56Z")
Corn on the cob does pretty well in the microwave. Most of the time, though, is for heating things more than cooking. Veggies in general steam up great but steaming is my least appetizing way to cook veggies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/7 "2015-08-14T20:41:29Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Fair enough, I just think the little box is unfairly maligned by snobs. > > They did a taste test, microwave cooked fish won. > > [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-03/entertainment/8703060930\_1\_orange-roughy-microwave-oven-wax-paper](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-03/entertainment/8703060930_1_orange-roughy-microwave-oven-wax-paper) You can’t get crispy fried or baked fish in a microwave, but there are a ton of fish and shellfish dishes that come out great. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/8 "2015-08-14T20:50:52Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Bacon, wrapped in paper towels - fast, comes out nice and flat and evenly cooked, _minimal odor_, easy cleanup. :dubious: Did you just refer to bacon as having an _odor_? And one that needs to be _minimized_? Get the rope boys. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/9 "2015-08-14T20:53:34Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Hard-shelled shellfish like crabs do surprisingly well in the microwave. The meat steams in its own shell. > [@zombywoof](#): > > Bacon, wrapped in paper towels - fast, comes out nice and flat and evenly cooked, minimal odor, easy cleanup. > [@garygnu](#): > > Corn on the cob does pretty well in the microwave. > [@TriPolar](#): > > You can’t get crispy fried or baked fish in a microwave, but there are a ton of fish and shellfish dishes that come out great. All true, but the premise is that one will _ **never** _ cook these foods in anything but a microwave. Crab legs reheat great in the microwave, but if I’m doing surf and turf on the grill, they go on the grill. Bacon is quick and convenient in the microwave, but I often want the rendered fat for other uses. Corn works well in a microwave, steamer, boiling water, grill, oven and probably another 1/2 dozen methods. As for the author of that 28 year old article, she’s probably a college intern or recent grad trying to fill a few inches of column space and who never learned the axiom “brown food tastes good”. And it only won versus other methods of steaming fish. Given an extra 28 years experience, I wonder if she’s changed her mind. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/10 "2015-08-14T21:02:50Z")
However there are still people who will never cook anything in the microwave, so they need to know it does work for some things. They also need to know it’s not going to make their food radioactive or whatever goofy idea some of them have. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/11 "2015-08-14T21:02:51Z")
CAVEAT I prefer soft non-crispy fish.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/12 "2015-08-14T21:26:31Z")
> [@grude](#): > > CAVEAT I prefer soft non-crispy fish.🙂 I grilled some barramundi yesterday. It had lovely, crispy skin, a subtle crust on the exposed side, yet was still moist and flaky in the middle. Served it with grilled corn and grilled asparagus, with some grilled lemons as its only sauce. The fish was neither crispy nor overcooked. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/13 "2015-08-14T21:29:12Z")
Liver is very easy to cook on the stove. Just bread it and fry. A microwave is best for winter squashes – acorn, butternut, buttercup, delicata, etc. It cooks quickly and tastes better than any other method. ---
**Author:** ![Shaggy\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Shaggy\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaggy_Z)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/14 "2015-08-14T21:43:18Z")
If I’m making a single baked-like potato I used only the microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/15 "2015-08-14T22:03:29Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Bacon, wrapped in paper towels - fast, comes out nice and flat and evenly cooked, minimal odor, easy cleanup. I prefer oven bacon - still ridiculously easy and a quick clean-up ( if you use foil ). Also the odor is half the appeal :D. I do cook corn in the microwave if I’m just doing an ear or two, but otherwise it is mostly a leftover re-heating machine. But I usually have lots of those, so it still gets plenty of work. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/16 "2015-08-14T22:08:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A microwave is best for winter squashes – acorn, butternut, buttercup, delicata, etc. It cooks quickly and tastes better than any other method. I prefer mine in large cubes, roasted in the oven. But not in the summer, so the microwave would be a good backup. > [@Shaggy\_Z](#): > > If I’m making a single baked-like potato I used only the microwave. I like sweet potatoes baked in a microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/17 "2015-08-14T22:09:18Z")
The horrible thing about bacon is that there is a VERY short period of time between “just starting to get done” and “starting to burn.” Either microwave or stovetop, I can never seem to hit that sweet spot. What’s the secret of timing it? Like, “Wait until it starts to smoke, and take it out ten seconds earlier” isn’t working for me. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/18 "2015-08-14T22:11:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What’s the secret of timing it? Like, “Wait until it starts to smoke, and take it out ten seconds earlier” isn’t working for me. With regard to stovetop bacon, it sounds like you have the heat too high. Turn it down until it just sizzles, medium high at the most. That gives you a bigger window between underdone and burnt. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/19 "2015-08-14T22:29:38Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > With regard to stovetop bacon, it sounds like you have the heat too high. Turn it down until it just sizzles, medium high at the most. That gives you a bigger window between underdone and burnt. Agreed: It’s vital that once you hit the “not quite done” stage to turn the heat down immediately- or even OFF if you’re using something like cast iron that retains a lot of heat. However, I use a rather unusual method to cook bacon: I broil it. I have the type of oven that doesn’t have a separate broiler compartment, so I put the bacon tray on the lowest rack, to keep it away from the broiler coils at the top. I start off on high broil until the pan and bacon warm up enough to sizzle, and turn it down to low broil once browning starts. My wife prefers very crisp bacon so this seems to be the best way to get it nice and crunchy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864/20 "2015-08-14T22:46:13Z")
As mentioned, corn on the cob does exceptionally well in the MW. Wrap it husk and all in plastic wrap or put it in a plastic food bag, nuke it for about 2 minutes, turn and do it for another minute. Cut off the fat end and squeeze the ear out of the husk, leaving the silk behind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-cook-these-foods-in-anything-but-a-microwave-again/727864.md?page=2)