What are microwaves used for?

[Greensleeves]

I have got a microwave from Freecycle, it is pristine and lovely andI have never had one before. Our oven has been broken since we moved in here, so I am used to managing with grill/hob/turbo cooker.

What do people use their microwaves for? What can I cook in it? Can I do cakes/quiches in it? I don't really know wht they do

I mostly use mine for reheating things. I think you can use them for cooking, but I've never got used to it. Oh, I think veg cooks very well in it, just add a bit of water?

Jacket potatoes in 8 mins (but they don't go crispy on the outside

reheating stuff

scrambled egg .. takes about 50 seconds but you have to stir it every 10 or 20 seconds

frozen veg

that's about it really

i used mine for defrosting a few times. but got fed up with it and put it in a cupboard.

Reheating, defrosting, cooking veg/fish/bake potatoes. Apparently ours has the capacity to do a full roast dinner but have never read the instructions.

We tend to just use ours to ocasionally re-heat things quickly (eg. leftovers or baked beans for the kids), steam veg and for scrambled egg. Never actually used it for proper "cooking"

Reheating.
Cooking frozen ready meals.
Heating milk for hot chocolate/ready brek etc
I've even been known to make a sponge cake - they come out lovely if you time it just right

.......oh and of course jacket potatoes

Message withdrawn

Jacket potaotes
scrambled egg
warm milk / hot choccie

I've got a microwave pressure cooker and use it to cook rice

You can actually cook masses of stuff in a microwave, apparently (I know this because I write the RNIB magazine copy, and a bloke wrote in about this - they're easier to use for people with sight problems than conventional ovens. He did cakes and all). But in practice - I had this conversation with DP recently - we use ours for heating up cups of coffee; melting/softening butter for cooking; and above all for melting chocolate.

WOW, of course, I can use it for melting chocolate!!! I am a real sugarcraft fiend and I get so fed up faffing about with pans of water and balancing bowls. Thanks MI

Has anyone ever managed to cook pastry in one? Shortcrust, I mean? I used to make homemade jam tarts/apple pie/quiche/egg custard tarts/steak pie, before we moved here and found out that the bloody built in oven was buggered.

I don't use one. I think they are the devil's work, and food cooked in them tastes bizarre. Get yourself a new oven off freecycle instead.

But Franny, they're perfect for melting chocolate....

Aargh it is built in?

Bloody nora. Can't you save up and get it fixed? Being without an oven is grimola.

If I want to melt chocolate I put it in my mouth. Or on my -

must go, phone ringing

I cook things like: cakes, jacket potatoes (although they're nicest finished off in the oven), soup, cous-cous, boiled eggs (have got a microwave egg boiler thing), baked beans, porridge. Not really tried a whole meal, but the booklet that came with ours has a pretty comprehensive list of recipes.

In our house, pretty much nothing. I don't use it for anything at all.

I used to warm up bottles in it a long time ago - that's the reason we bought it!

putting cookbooks and cooking implements on.

lighting up the kitchen when the overhead light has gone

mostly for reheating coffee or water, here. i also kept my microwaveable steriliser unit in it for ages. didn't use it much, either.

i don't use them for veggies as there was a report here which makes it clear that they lose most of their vitamins.

Blondilocks, you do cakes in yours? Do they rise properly? Is it just an ordinary microwave? If it can do cakes then it must be able to do pastry!

I have an instinctive mistrust of the things. But I am sick of not having an oven. We keep meaning to get it fixed but it's just never a good time to spend £100+ on it.

hmmm re report

i dont micrwave stuff in water

i cover it

this is exactly why i use a microwave for veg.

also cos its faster and not watery and steaming is a faff

oh you can prove bread in it, most handy.

Frozen peas - perfect (much better than in a pan and it switches itself off.) Green beans better in saucepan, always chewy from microwave.

Does it have a grill and a jacket spud setting? Mine does and the skins get browned (a bit!)

Sponge puddings quick and easy eg this recipe . You can use jam instead of syrup but it will come out literally boiling so be careful.

Soften butter from the fridge, c 10 secs for about ¼ of a block. If yours only has a dial you'll have to time it yourself (trial and error)

You can make very squidgy cheese on toast in it - make toast in toaster, slice cheese on top, put in microwave on plate and heat in 20 second bursts until cheese is melted. (But you can also make a cheese toasty in a frying pan, much nicer)