Jacket potato for lunch

[Biscuitz1]

Just really annoyed right now as someone from work believes it is perfectly appectable to put a potato for 15 mins in the microwave!

There is already a queue as it is.

5 minutes!
Unless you are eating baby potatoes then mine take a minimum of 12mins.

It really doesn't, it really doesn't. I eat the largest baked potatoes generally available and cook in an elderly microwave with weak power and it still doesn't approach 15 minutes. Sounds like the OP microwave at work is pretty shit and they need o e that works like a normal microwave

Then everything would take even longer ...

It isn't unreasonable to eat a jacket potato for lunch, and a microwave is a reasonable thing to use to cook a jacket potato. It's not very considerate to tie up the only microwave for 15 minutes when colleagues want to use it to reheat their lunches, but in the absence of any rules around use of the microwave from your employer it's difficult to know what you can do about it.

If I were you I'd speak to the appropriate person (manager in a smaller business, or facilities manager in a larger organisation) and ask whether an additional microwave can be provided because it's frequently in use and queues form, keeping staff from their work. This isn't an unreasonable request.

I'd approach this as asking for improved facilities rather than complaining about your colleague's behaviour. Of course, your employer may choose to introduce some rules about reasonable microwave use instead of buying a second microwave, but that can't be helped.

There's room for other stuff at the same time.

We had someone who thought it was acceptable to get separate bits - so a microwaveable main, follpwed by separate vegetables and then would stick something like a sponge pudding in while she was eating the first stuff! I kid you not.

Sorry - was the 8 minutes the problem or her going on a break?

I take BPs for lunch. We have 3 microwaves but I usually nip round just before lunch to stick it before the rush.

I would gently mention it and ask if it’s ok to put yours in first as it only takes X amount of time and then has time to cool down.
Say it takes you a long time to eat or something.

If you work in an office environment you could ask that she puts it on before lunchtime.

She probably just isn’t thinking because there’s still 45mins for everyone else but I know in my work place it can be a good 10mins before being able to start our lunch break and then you need to queue at the toilets, then add on extra time to actually get your lunch out and put it in a plate to put it in the microwave etc - it all adds up and that hour easily becomes only 30mins where you can heat and eat your food.

Look for a cheap second hand one and buy it yourselves? You can even get free ones sometimes.

I quite enjoy eating my salad or sandwich and watching the chaos unfold…but maybe one day one of them will do this!

With the feeble powered microwave in OP's office, I suspect it's unlikely anything will heat up in 2 minutes ...

Office worker of many years here, we had to club together to buy our microwave, the one person who refused to chip in then brought mackerel to cook for lunch every day! The smell in our windowless tiny kitchen was awful 🙄

I love a jacket Potato for lunch. I buy the frozen ones (aldi) and they only take 6 mins in the microwave. If im having beans with it I stick them in with the Potato for the last few mins. We do have 2 microwaves in the kitchen at work and there's usually no queue. Ive tried pre baking my own then freezing but they had a weird texture when reheated 🫤

Get a food flask 😃

Was just coming on to say that! (Although probably now we'll here there is on,y one mini fridge in the whole workplace)

OMG, what did the police say?

I reckon you snooze you lose. Just get in there before her if you are that bothered.

What is an acceptable length of time to hog the microwave in your opinion?

What is a BP?

Put in a request for a second microwave.

That would be the sensible option or even club together and get one. They are dirt cheap

she must be cooking it on a medium heat

she must be cooking it on a medium heat

I half bake in the microwave then stick in air fryer. The pre set time for baked potatoes is 9 minutes in mine . I’m usually doing 2 which takes about 7 minutes before putting in air fryer.

What the heck happened to sandwiches and/or salad in a tupperware box?

In "My Day" there was a kettle and a fridge, and the milk was always either rancid or robbed by the office thief. None of this heating up the bones of an evening dinner on a break. Not a fkn chance or the boss would be in like a shot whooshing us out!

I'm old but I survived on the above repasts for many many years. I made my cheese or ham sandwiches on a Sunday for the week and froze them. Took one portion out every day. Added a bit of fruit and a yogurt, and job done.

Get away with yer microwaves. Bet there's a toaster, grill and boiling water urn aswell. The luxuries. You don't know you were born.

Well we had it tough. We used to dream of having a sandwich