So, did Dave laugh, or did he run screaming from the room?
I’ve mentioned this before, but before you discount all frozen bagels, give Ray’s NY Bagels a shot. I’m a bagel snob who grew up on LI; my uncle worked in a bagel factory too. IIRC, these are frozen right before they’re finished a normal cooking process, so the microwave finishes them off. 30 seconds on high - you can thank me later.
I’m a lot like Steven Wright. Except I’m not normal like him.
IIRC, he jumped out of his seat and yelped in surprise, then settled back down and shot a dirty look over at the professor, who was laughing. But it’s been a while, and I might just be filling in those details.
As a New Yorker, I say microwaving bagels is the immoral equivalent of eating NY pizza with a knife and fork. I do not buy freezer bagels, but when I do buy what passes for bagels in California I freeze the ones I don’t eat right away. Six minutes in the toaster oven is not as good as fresh from the oven, but reasonably close. I know many people toast them, but that leaves the exposed area dry.
The thing is that though they are not as good as fresh, microwaved (for a very short time) Krispy Kreme donuts are far better than non-microwaved stale ones. The alternative is eating the whole dozen when fresh and getting diabetes. Or worse.
To smack you upside the head? Agreed. [thwack!]
This is very much the description of resistance welding if you change some of the words.
People in general are bad at using microwave ovens. They want to hit the automatic one minute button at high power, but other power levels give heat a chance to distribute.
Oh, I’m guilty, too. One minute at high, stir, one minute at high, stir. If I had patience I should set it for 10%, five minutes, and then just walk away.
When I reheat food in the microwave - especially meat - I like to set the power at 70%. The meat doesn’t seem to come out as tough as if you just blast it at 100%.
When I was a kid I used to love those Microwave Magic Shakes, Burgers and Fries. Yeah, they had shakes you make in the microwave. They were frozen solid and you were supposed to warm them up just enough to drink but you would end up with ice cream soup but I still liked them.
My grandfather was a baker, from the old school. You could hammer nails with his bagels.
Do it on a big microwave-safe dinner plate. No paper towels under, and just one laid on top to protect the microwave walls from splatter. A turntable in the microwave is a must – and even with that, stopping the cooking process once to rearrange pieces is often needed. But the bacon comes out fine.
The plate, however, will be a dripping mess.
Nothing wrong with microwaving bacon when you’re in a hurry. Better to eat microwave bacon than no bacon at all.
I once complained that I had no cast iron skillet. Then I met a man who had no bacon. Or shoes. Because I stole them from him.
After you’ve walked a mile in those shoes you’re in a good position to criticize him.
I just had bacon. I’m taking a nap
I had a friend who refused to use microwaves because, and I quote: “They change the molecular structure of food”. Damn good thing, too, or it wouldn’t be cooked.
I wish I had known then about the terror of dihydrous monoxide to scare him with.
The advice is sound. I’ve been microwaving Krispy Kreme donuts for a long time, and they always come out better than fresh. You nay need to adjust microwave settings or your personal microwaving technique.
Cover them with a damp paper towel. Works on the day old fritters I get for a quarter from On-Cue.
This is a good general tip for many kinds of reheating in the microwave. A little steam can go a long way towards replenishing the moisture in, say, day-old biscuits or rice dishes. Also helps when reheating pizza (though the crust can never really go back to what it was fresh out the oven).