Do you use a microwave? If so, what for?

[AnonymousBird]

I've never had one, other than in student digs a zillion years ago. My mum always told me they were common and meant you weren't cooking properly. DH not a big fan either, so we've just never had one.

I don't have room for one in the kitchen, and also they are damned ugly, so I don't want one on show. But in my newly laid out utility room I would have room to put one on top of the washing machine. Everyone I know seems to have one, and people have always been amazed when they came round with our DC were younger that they then couldn't heat up their bottles/baby food or whatever. Am I missing out?

But, I'm not sure what I would really use it for? I wouldn't spend much money on one either, so if it is one of those things that is rubbish if you buy a cheap one, then I also need to know this!

Thanks.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I use mine for defrosting, and the occasional ping dinner, if I'm being very lazy.

Scrambled eggs, easier to clean a jug than a pan.

I boil milk for hot chocolate in the microwave too.

[DonaAna]

If you haven't felt the need for one, don't buy one.

We mostly use it for heating leftovers. I have a baby and a microwave is the quickest way to make oatmeal porridge twice a day for her.

I love melting chocolate in the microwave. It's also good for melting butter.

I probably wouldn't use mine if it wasn't close at hand.

[BelligerentGhoul]

We've got one of the cheapest ones that John Lewis had. It's fine.

I don't use it for a great deal tbh but wouldn't be without it for rice (have a microwave rice cooking pot thin which is fab) and porridge. I make my cheese/white sauce in the microwave too.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

How do you do that BG?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I mean, the cheese sauce. Doesn't it go lumpy?

[TrillianAstra]

Defrosting things.

Melting things.

Warming things

Microwaveable curry is a great hangover cure.

If you live the kind of life where you always know in the morning:

exactly how many people will be home for dinner that night

that you won't decide to go out

or to have a takeaway

or get caught up and not be home in time to cook the thing you planned

then you won't need a microwave, because you can take things out of the freezer in the morning to defrost. It still might make your life easier though.

[SardineQueen]

Porridge
Ready made curry from waitrose
Is good for spinach

Erm

That's it

I lived in a flat for 10 years without one and never missed it, they are definitely not essential IMO but can be handy from time to time.

[BelligerentGhoul]

No lumps...

Melt the butter in a pyrex jug. Add the flour and mix. Whisk in the milk bit by bit.

Microwave on medium power. Keep taking it out to whisk it again. Watch it like a hawk so it doesn't explode all over the microwave.

Add cheese, mustard, s&p as usual, once cooked.

[Pesha]

Cheap ones are fine IME.

I use it for jacket potatoes, finish them off in the oven sometimes but still so much quicker; baked beans, frozen peas, sweetcorn etc; hot chocolate; melting butter/chocolate etc as someone else said; reheating left overs; porridge and dc like to warm weetabix sometimes too; and defrosting things.

I first got one for my 18th birthday (left home at 16 so was quite domesticated!) and was most excited about being able to make 'proper' hot chocolate so easily and with less washing up!!

[AnonymousBird]

Leftovers - now that is precisely the kind of thing that would be useful.

Also quick defrosting

And rice, now I am interested in that. Rice can be such a faff (it should be so easy, shouldn't it?). Is it very easy in the microwave?

Very interested in the cheese/white sauce method - I am so unfamiliar with a microwave that I cannot picture how you do that? Please do divulge! Does it stay smooth without constant stirring/whisking?

Crikey, just looked at John Lewis - they do what looks like a pretty decent one for £60!!! Jeez, was expecting like £150 or something.

[Lucylu5]

Defrosting mainly (life saver as usually forget to get things out of the freezer)
Odd cup of hotchocolate and porridge.

[peeriebear]

Reheating my cup of tea after hectic morning rush
Part cooking jacket spuds so they take half an hour in the oven instead of an hour and a half
Heating frozen peas
Scrambled eggs
DD1's porridge (no pan to wash!)
DD2's tomato soup (ditto pan)
Melting cheese on toast when I don't have time for the grill
Reheating leftovers
Lots more little things. I couldn't be without one. I remember as a child we did not have one and if we had come in late and had dinner re heated, it would have to be in the oven, red hot plate and dried up gravy, and took ages!

[SneakyJamCavern]

starting off jacket potatoes
heating milk for hot chocolate
Porridge
occasionally defrosting bread, but I prefer not to, as the window between it being frozen and microwaved dry dry is about half a second
Not much else but tbh it's never actually occured to me that I don't need one - but I don't! :o You have opened my eyes.

[peeriebear]

Re rice, if you buy a packet of microwave rice it takes 2 minutes and is delicious :) I buy the packets of pilau rice when I make curry.

[SneakyJamCavern]

ahhh just rememered the rice - no forget what I said I couldn't be without it

[BelligerentGhoul]

My rice thing is just a plastic pot, with a separate 'basket bit' inside it and a lid. You out the rice into the basket bit, pour boiling water over it, shove the kid on and mike it for ten minutes - perfect fluffy rice every time.

[BelligerentGhoul]

The LID not the kid - do not microwave either a baby goat or a small child, whatever you do.

[theDudesmummy]

warming DS's bottle of milk
reheating tea
jacket potatoes
defrosting
teenagers make microwave popcorn

[NettoSuperstar]

I used to have one, but it blew up and I couldn't afford to replace it.
By the time I could, I'd got used to not having it, and realised I hardly ever used it anyway.
I don't miss it at all and that was 5 years ago.
I've put a coffee machine and grinder and mini chopper where it used to be, and I love them far more than a microwave.

[DonaAna]

Figured out a couple of other uses where I find nuking indispensable:

heating up milk for bechamel sauce
heating up broth to add to risotto
heating up liquids just very slightly to start making yeast bread
And yes, reheating my forgotten cuppa

[supadupapupascupa]

i second the microwave rice cookers, could not be without mine.

defrosting

heating beans/tinned food in general

the odd micro meal

but mainly rice

[EverSoLagom]

Defrosting stuff, especially meat.
Heating milk for my coffee.
Occasional instant puddings.
Baked potatoes - 1 minute in the microwave then stick them in the oven, makes sure they're fluffy all the way through.

My Mum has a veg steamer that goes in the microwave, she does everything in it.

[wubblybubbly]

Heating tortillas for fajitas/wraps
reheating a cuppa
heating milk for cocoa
scrambled eggs
baked beans/tinned tomatoes/anything tinned really
frozen peas/corn
reheating home frozen chilli/spag bol sauce/curry/soup etc
porridge in the morning
green veg broccoli, sugar snap peas
cooking jacket spuds then crisp up in the oven

I also made a chocolate pudding thing once, which was actually rather tasty and incredibly easy. Not sure why I didn't make that again. I'll look it up!

[supadupapupascupa]

ooh! warming plates!!! 1min and done