the numbers only have some meaning when full number range the power of the oven is stated.
intermediate numbers can work well with large volumes to heat thoroughly without stirring and not burn.
That sounds like CYA language to me. The popcorn companies realize that there are people out there who will just throw the bag in, push the button, and leave it, when in fact, it isn’t that precise and needs to be monitored. I use the popcorn button on my microwave and there is usually at least 30 seconds left when I take it out, well long enough to burn it if left for the complete cycle.
As for the OP, in addition to full power, defrost, and popcorn, I use the reheat settings, the potato setting, and I experiment with various power levels to avoid overcooking the edges of things.
Mine has lots of buttons. The ones I use a lot:
Rice
Baked Potato
Veggies - Fresh / Frozen
Butter - Soften / Melt
Reheat - 1 Dinner Plate - 2 Soup/Sauce - 3 Casserole - (there is a 4 but I don’t know offhand what it is)
I use “warm” for melting butter. My oven is ancient (it has dials!) so timing is hit or miss.
Microwaves vary considerably in power. If you have something other than a $50 Wal*mart dorm-room special, it probably has more power than a little box.
I frequently use longer times at 50% power on things that are not entirely liquid. All or mostly water? Zap it at full power. Soup, chili or vegetables? They’ll cook much better, with no dried edges, hot spots, boiling over and spattering at half power. You need to give the water-borne heat time to spread through the denser materials without boiling spots. I have other power levels I’ve learned to use with specific tasks and items. I’d have to relearn them with a new oven, even one of the same approximate power.
But other than that, and the 30-seconds-per-press quickstart, I don’t think I’ve ever used a microwave preset. They’re kind of the successor to “18-speed blenders” and the like. Can’t think of a time I’ve tried one and it worked satisfactorily.
I asked a similar question back in '07. Some of the same people respond back then too (silenus)
For some reason (probably, in my mind, an effort to avoid mishaps) I generally prefer to run mine at about 30% for more minutes instead of at full power for fewer. That’s the one I have at home. At work I use it at 100% (for less time) because A) there are other people using it at work besides me, B) I have more of a time constraint when I’m having lunch at work than I generally do when I’m at home, and C) the one where I work right now has a messed up display which makes it pretty hard to read. Set time and “Start” is all I bother to do with that one.
I mostly use the full power one minute quick button. If it’s a frozen dinner I’ll punch in the minutes. I’ve tried to figure out how to do 5 minutes at 50% but it’s hopeless. All the “hotdog” type presets are useless to me. Can’t get them to work. My old microwave had a 2.5 minute popcorn present that worked, but my current one doesn’t. Maybe it does. I don’t know.
I got my microwave out of the dumpster, and I use whatever buttons still work on the keypad.
I find that certain prepackaged microwave soups and noodles are designed for a lower power microwave and will boil over on full power. So I cook those at 80% power.
This is my method as well. When reheating lunch at work or leftovers from last night, even most soup or chili, two minutes at 50% is usually just right. If it is particularly liquidy or something like a cup of coffee, max power. I’m also fairly strict on covering the food with a glass or porcelain bowl and letting it sit for a bit after the two minutes. If the bowl is hot to the touch when time’s up, the food is probably ready.
Pastrys like doughnuts do better at 50% for 15 seconds. The glaze falls off if your overheat them. A day old pastry tastes so much better heated.
I use 50% to soften butter. Most things I heat at 100%.
I don’t know how to use defrost mode on my new microwave. Never needed it that badly. Theres some pre-programmed modes for specific foods that I never have used either.
In answer to the OP, nope. And I only use a microwave at work, as I don’t own one myself.
Sometimes I use the timer button if I’m cooking something in the oven, because the dog HATES the sound of the oven timer when it goes off. So it’s easier to use the microwave one.
Buttons we use:
Add 30 sec
2 minutes
3 minutes
(none of the other buttons on the number pad work so if you want more than 3 minutes you have to keep adding 30 sec.)
Stop
I use low power (1 or 2) for melting butter. Trying to use anything else is suboptimal.
I also use the reheat button a lot, it’s nice for leftovers.
I use “Reheat” all the time.
I use “Popcorn” and “Vegetables - Baked Potato” a lot.
I also use “Add 30 seconds.”
And of course, I use the Timer constantly.
I have a circa 2000 Sharp Sensor that has preset buttons for different things like pastry, frozen pastry, frozen vegetables, frozen dinner, popcorn, potatoes, warming drinks, and defrosting by the 1/2 pound and for different meats. It works wonderfully, I don’t know how it does it. It’s like a little white magic box in my kitchen. It doesn’t have some pre-set time for things like frozen dinners; it seems to sense a certain amount of steam or something, and doesn’t put a time on the display until it “knows” there’s 1 or 2 minutes remaining, it’s always different (but the same for the same dinners).
I do my own timing and percentages for delicate things like melting butter or softening cream cheese without exploding. Usually 30%.
Not even defrost. A microwave is binary on/off.
I occasionally use defrost. What I mainly use are 1,…,5 which run it at highest setting for that many minutes (I cannot find a microwave now that has that feature) and the 30 sec button which both adds 30 seconds or runs for the 30 sec. I never cook anything in the microwave.