To ask what you use you microwave for?

[Afternooninthepark]

At 47 and having lived together for 23 years, dh and I have never had or felt the need for a microwave.
However, ds (15) is badgering me to get one, he says he can make things quicker in it and in the future when we are away or out he and his sister can make quick and easy meals for themselves.
I remember having one when we lived at home and it was only used for heating beans and defrosting stuff.
They are obviously still popular as they are for sale everywhere.
So what do you use yours for?
Does anyone actually make proper meals in there microwave?

I bake a lot and find it indispensable for this. There are so many uses, and yes you can do things other ways, but would then end up taking much longer and using a bainmarie and multiple bowls.

Examples are:
melting chocolate,
tempering chocolate,
keeping ganache at the correct consistency,
making a roux, tangzhong etc.
making choux pastry (so quick and easy with a microwave),
melting butter,
re-emulsifying split meringue buttercream,
melting gelatine,
making mirror glaze,
softening homemade fondant,
poaching fruit,
pasteurising raw eggs,

I also use it almost daily to steam frozen vegetables (which are better nutritionally than ‘fresh’).

Porridge and beans and maybe reheating a meal
Dh and ds use mostly , i rarely use it as prefer a pan on hob for beans etc

oh, and the dc have a microwave toastie maker which they use for between school and hobbies.

Ooh. This sounds exciting. Off for a google.

We use ours daily.
DH makes porridge every morning
Starting off jacket spuds
Defrosting stuff
Ready meals
Mug cakes
Baked beans
Soup
Heating wheat pillows

Reheating leftovers. Pre-cooking baked potatoes. My DC make mug cakes in the microwave which are surprisingly good.

Oh and popcorn

Pre-cooking jacket potatoes, cooking baked beans or frozen peas if I forgot to pop them in a pan, popcorn and reheating/defrosting sauce-heavy meals like Bolognese/chilli/oriental takeaways. I might use a combo microwave more (as our grill in the oven is fierce), but I doubt it.

@Lockheart

Descaling the kettle.

What??? How???

2 minute rice bags
Hot chocolate
Wheat bags

@Lockheart

Descaling the kettle.

That reminds me of the documentary dreams of a life. Life's too short for descaling a kettle.

You can't put a kettle in the mirowave though!

They're useful for loads of things though as pp have said.

Heating beans and soup, scrambled eggs, occasionally for frozen veg and starting off jacket potatoes. Once in a blue moon I’ll have a ping meal if I’m on my own. Never used it to defrost anything.

*PLEASE will someone tell me how to poach an egg in the microwave.
Pretty please ??? *

I do eggs in a ramekin.

Grease the ramakin with a bit of butter, crack the egg in, pierce the yolk I do 2min on low because you want the white to cook more than the yolk.

You can also cook an egg just on a plate, just remember to pierce the egg.

Because of the way microwaves work they start cooking about 1.5-2.0cm from the edge, in eggs this is the yolk (and also where the 1970s idea that everything cooks from the inside out) they also have more fat so cook quicker than the white causing a build up of pressure, so piercing the yolk is like creating a pressure valve.

I find they come out a bit ‘bouncy’ in the microwave but my poached eggs in a pan are usually terrible!

My evenings are a bit frantic but I have lots of time in the mornings.

I have a large freezer, and usually shop from the yellow sticker aisle of reducedness. Microwave is marvellous for defrosting large blocks of meat and fish so that when I do have time to cook I can do so without having to go back in time to defrost things overnight.

I then make big batches in a morning, divide it up into that which will be eaten tonight, and that which will be put into single serving containers for the future. The microwave is great at cooking those single servings from frozen in minutes, useful when a child needs an early meal before Scouts or comes home starving.

Emergency sponge puddings.

Steaming veg.

I don’t like microwaved eggs or porridge so I’ll take the pain of scrubbing the saucepan for those. But starting off baked potatoes or steaming them for mash, yep, or, I will do a dozen or so at once in the oven (always seem to taste better when cooked in bulk), split them and freeze them in halves with baked beans and cheese already added, 2 minutes in the microwave instant meal for starving teens.

My mother does all sorts including bacon and burgers (yuck), suet puddings (yum), making jam (hmmm).

I could live without it. But I do find it very convenient, especially when we all need to eat at different times.

Packet popcorn so much tidier!
Melt butter for baking
Peas
Porridge
Reheat Leftovers
Soups
Baked potatoes
Beans or spaghetti
Rice
Noodles
Custard
Warm child's milk ever morning
Reheat cups of tea

Warm a scone yum
I also use mine as a hide in to defrost from the cat gadget

We couldn't do without ours. It saves on a lot of washing up of pans and pots because you can just warm things up in the bowl/plate/mug they'll be served out of.

We use it for warming up hot drinks, warming milk for our 3 yo, reheating leftovers, steaming veg, cooking jacket potatoes, melting butter or coconut oil for baking, warming up refrigerated butter quickly, defrosting frozen flatbreads or tortilla wraps, defrosting peas and other frozen veg, the list goes on.
It doesn't just save washing up, it saves time and effort - great for when you're in a hurry. We're in the minority having one here in Germany, where people are generally suspicious of "new" things like microwaves and cashless payments. But we love ours and it's extremely useful.

heating up things in a microwave instead of the oven saves a lot of energy which is great for the environment.

mytimeonline - get a popcorn machine! We love ours! Pop pop poppittty pop pop

For heating something up quickly, e.g. yesterday’s leftovers.
For the odd ready meal, like last night, after a 5 1/2 hour drive.

But mostly for baked potatoes, 2 big ones in about 14 minutes.
I don’t actually cook in it, but a dd does make porridge in hers.

Defrosting in a hurry, like the other day, with an unexpected guest for dinner.

Steaming salmon - put a frozen fillet in with cling film over it for a couple of minutes, comes out perfect.
Frozen veg.
Leftovers.
Microwave rice.
Heating up milk.

I don't use mine for any where near as much as it could be used for, but I would be lost without it. Heating stuff, I half-cook jacket potatoes before the oven. We do use it for ready meals, especially as the kids are older now and in and out at all hours.

Reheating
Softening butter
Microwave popcorn
Heating soup
Melting cheese and marmite onto my crackers
Microwave rice
To soften jacket potatoes before putting them in the oven to crisp up

Porridge, frozen veg, beans!

They are useful but I wouldn't spend much

I’m actually quite looking forward to it arriving now, even if just for the mug cakes!

As a bread bin