To not own a microwave?

[WheresTheCat]

My Mum maintains microwaves radiate people's brains. So, I've never owned a microwave, used one a few times in my life and never really understood what they are for (unless you don't have an oven)

SO - should I have one - and if so, why?

oh, and I'm about to make myself a lovely mug of sticky hot chocolate. with real cocoa and honey.

havent had one since uni days. Occassionaly think I should get one, but that moment passes in a moment

I never owned one for two years. But since losing my son to Uni and now it only being me I use it everyday to nuke my dinner.

Oh fabby

That will be me in a couple of years, dd will leave home and I will end up living on pot noodles and bags of crisps.

I don't own a toaster either, sodding things.

I've had one for five days because my dad rescued it from a skip at work (hoarder builder dad find number 87!). So far it's been quite useful but only because I've just come out of hospital. It takes up a lot of room and I don't quite trust it....
We shall see.......

You're all totally crazy! Please educate me - HOW can anyone survive without a microwave?

I use mine constantly, for defrosting frozen food quickly (eg batch cooked spal bol, pasta sauces, butter if i've forgotten to take one out before the other one's run out... etc etc). If we have a roast meal and there's meat left over, i will reheat a plated meal the following day. How do you reheat food?

I use it for cooking peas and carrots in (much healthier than boiling in a pan which leaches out all the vitamin c, and quicker than steaming).

The only people I know without one are Europeaners living in the UK (from Holland/Denmark/France), so I wonder if it's a cultural thing. Maybe they just plan ahead more and don't make last minute decisions about what to eat like i do?!

i only got one in the last month, because i've changed my working hours, and need to be able to chuck food at the dc as soon as we get in the door. we got bored of "on toast" after a week, and so it's nice to be able to reheat stuff really quickly. but you wouldn't actually cook in one, surely.

They are a very handy thing to have at christmas. You can do your veg the day before, and simply reheat it in minutes.. much better than spending all day cooking.

And you can steam the christmas pud in 3 minutes!!!

I never used the microwave to defrost things anyway, everything had to take its time to defrost in the fridge.

Heat plates of food up by covering with a wok lid in the oven, it does the job without drying the food out.

I don't boil peas and carrots for long in a pan anyway, doubt all the nutrients escape tbh.

I don't know - I don't see the advantage in having one tbh.

I don't have one because I have never said "oo wouldn't it be handy if we had a microwave for.."

why buy something you've never missed?

I miss having other kitchen stuff, have a wish list a mile long

Actually squeaky - that has made me think. I used mine at christmas (I cook god knows how many veg, cook the swede and red cabbage on christmas eve and reheat on the day). Hmm may have to buy an el cheapo mic for crimbo.

Yes I freeze butter, as I get fed up of running out of it so buy in bulk... so always keep a load in the freezer and some in the fridge. The ones in the freezer are for emergency backup when the ones in the fridge have been used up, not sure how long butter keeps in the fridge.

Is that weird?

If I had one, I'd only use if for ill advised experiments. Apparently grapes explode if you microwave them? That's why I haven't got one.

We have one and with the exception of nuking veg for my babies' weaning foods, it gathers dust. I tried to heat a carton of custard in it yesterday and it caught fire.

i i used to always have one but it broke about a year ago and couln't replace due to the money was needed else where. Haven't missed it that much bar the odd occassion and that was only because themicroware would have been quicker,, still managed the task without it

I didn't have one until a male friend moved in with me. He offered to make us scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast one morning and wandered back into the room looking quite bewildered and asking where the microwave was and how could he scramble his eggs without one. He looked a bit like this when I suggested the hob

He owed me rent later that week and as he couldn't afford it he bought me a microwave on his credit card, which was not asked for or wanted , but since he is luffly and brings cake when he visits me he has been forgiven

I have found they're rather handy for heating milk and making porridge on a morning, so it's been replaced over the years. I don't use it for much else.

YANBU not have one if you don't want one. Why would you be?

Endo... if you microwave something in a dish which has metal detail on it, it causes flashes and sparks. Hours of fun.

Not had one for years - I don't trust them. I don't re-heat food really so it's rarely an issue. If I had one I would use it a few times a year to heat milk or melt chocolate - doesn't seem worth it.

Use mine alot, every day. I only know one person who doesn't have one.
I use it nearly every meal time
warm milk on weetabix in a morning
sweetcorn, peas, beans, soup, cooking pasta (no pans)
bottle of milk morning and evening for my ds
I couldn't survive without mine

We bulk buy big meat joints and cut them up into meal sized portions to a microwave is really handy for defrosting them quickly.

We heat milk up in the microwave.

And that's about it really...now you've got me thinking we don't really need one.

But when we were last without one we were really lost...so we must use it more than we realise [hconfused]

I melt butter in mine when I make pancakes. About once every 3 months or so. And that's about it. I was just thinking today how much extra space it would give me on the work surface if it went.

@endoplasmicreticulum Am off to find a grape!

When I threw my broken one away it was a revelation how much space it freed up.