# Life after the microwave

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 6, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499 "2009-11-06T00:42:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499/21 "2009-11-07T09:23:26Z")

</div>

Virtually any Stouffer’s open-faced dish tastes better cooked in a conventional oven than it does in a microwave.

P.S. There’s no such thing as “ziplock tupperware”. Ziploc and Tupperware are two different brands.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499/22 "2009-11-30T01:26:55Z")

</div>

I finally gave the Stouffer’s orange box Mac & Cheese a try tonight. 50 minutes in the oven…well, it doesn’t have that crusty top which I always loved, but goddamn is it tasty! I’m keeping this on my shopping list.

Almost a month down, and surviving just fine

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499/23 "2009-11-30T02:18:14Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Reason #3…and I’m not sure how significant this one is, but my stove/oven’s gas supply is included in my rent. The electric bill is not. I wonder how much $ a month I’ll save without a microwave running for 10-15 minutes a day?

The higher end of microwaves are around 2000 Watts, and you’re running it for a quarter hour, so each day you’re using about a half a kilowatt-hour of energy. Electricity prices are less than 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, so you’re using about a nickel worth of electricity per day that way. You’ll save a lot more by preparing food yourself rather than buying the pre-prepared microwaveable stuff.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499/24 "2009-11-30T03:52:14Z")

</div>

> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#):
>
> Our microwave died a year ago and we haven’t replaced it yet. The only thing we miss it for it popcorn.

I’ve lived probably about ten years with a microwave. I finally bought one for reheating foods, because it seemed to me a waste of time and gas to reheat foods in the oven or on the stovetop. Plus it’s awesome for steaming certain vegetables (like asparagus). A microwave need not be unhealthy–in fact, for many vegetables it’s one of the easiest ways to preserve all the nutrients. (I also use it for a certain type of quick and easy roux that doesn’t require constant vigilant attention on the stovetop. I dislike popcorn, so I don’t use it for that.)

Anyhow, it’s easy enough to live without a microwave. It depends on what you’re trying to reheat. With stuff like stews, you can usually just dump it in a pot and heat. With rice, you might want to add just a little liquid and cover it, or fry it. With meat, I’ll put it in a 350 degree oven until it’s warmed through.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-the-microwave/516499.md?page=1)