# One of the greatest pleasures in life... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869 "2006-10-10T00:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/1 "2006-10-10T00:11:18Z")
…is when something comes out of the microwave at the perfect temperature. Not molten lava, not an ice cube. Just…perfect throughout. I think it happened to me once about 10 years ago… ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/2 "2006-10-10T04:46:16Z")
The perfect Hot Pocket: Disregard any heating directions for microwaving. Manually set the timer for 1.50 minutes, at power 7. It’s the perfect Hot Pocket. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/3 "2006-10-10T05:27:33Z")
I get the temp right from my microwave most of the time. Do you use the timer like my husband? That would be, hit three random numbers and hope for the best. I use the % feature a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/4 "2006-10-10T06:14:39Z")
At least you guys have digital timers on your microwaves. Mine has a dial with minutes and half-minutes marked around it. My settings consist of “Heat” and “Defrost.” Things taste better when cooked in a real oven anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/5 "2006-10-10T12:19:30Z")
The perfect Hot Pocket always eludes me. I think my microwave only outputs heat on one side or something. I almost always wind up with a 50% molten/50% filled with cheesy ice cubes Pocket, no matter how much I rotate or micromanage the heat. Man, I’m feeling trivial this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/6 "2006-10-10T13:02:59Z")
I’ve managed to perfect usage of my microwave. I only use it to melt butter. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/7 "2006-10-10T13:25:28Z")
My microwave came with the flat; it’s got one of those rotary timers. Of course, the 3-wavy-lines setting can boil water in the minimum 30sec time but any other setting can barely make it warm. I’ve learned to nuke stuff about 10min before I actually mean to eat it. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/8 "2006-10-10T16:01:22Z")
The \*Popcorn Button \* is the pinnacle of human achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/9 "2006-10-10T16:09:04Z")
I’ve learned that you double the time, and set the powerlevel to 70%. Works _great_. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/10 "2006-10-10T20:29:09Z")
[QUOTE=Runs With Scissors] …is when something comes out of the microwave at the perfect temperature. Not molten lava, not an ice cube. Just…perfect throughout. I think it happened to me once about 10 years ago… [/QUOTE] Which leads to one’s greatest disappointment: Never getting that result again! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/11 "2006-10-10T20:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=Missy2U] I’ve managed to perfect usage of my microwave. I only use it to melt butter. 😃 [/QUOTE] You can also saute chopped onions quite well. Put some oil or a couple of pats of butter in a glass bowl and some chopped onions and give it about 30 seconds at high. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/12 "2006-10-10T21:52:02Z")
[QUOTE=DeVena] The \*Popcorn Button \* is the pinnacle of human achievement. [/QUOTE] When it works. The one on my old microwave worked _perfectly_, but I recently moved into a place that came with an under-cabinet microwave and the popcorn button just isn’t quite right. I’ve taken up my old method of stove-top popping (I love my [Whirley Pop](http://www.popcornpopper.com/24000.html)), but sometimes I really miss my Pop Secret Homestyle microwaved popcorn! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-in-life/375869/13 "2006-10-11T00:32:27Z")
I discovered the secret to perfect microwave popcorn - when you can time three seconds between pops, it’s done. Figure out what it takes to get your microwave to do that, and you’re golden. Buttery, that is. I think another secret to microwave cookery is that you almost always have to stir then cook some more. Stuff almost never cooks properly in one go.