How much do you use your microwave?

[JumpJockey]

We're redesigning our kitchen at the moment and had been planning a 1.5 oven (one main with a little one above for the grill) but I'm starting to wonder if a microwave might not be a better idea. We've not got one now so I have no idea how often it would get used.

Now that DD eats proper food I'm cooking 3 times a day (as DH gets in late so we have our dinner together after dd is in bed), and it would make life easier if at least one of those could be heated up batch cooking kind of stuff. At the moment I can reheat soup, pasta sauce etc in portions small enough for dd but not shepherds pie or lasagne etc. And even using up leftovers often means cooking something pretty much from scratch.

So, how often do you use your microwave, and how often is that in comparison to your 'proper' oven?

I only use the microwave for baked potatoes. DH uses it to heat his baked beans when he has full English breakfast. I also used it occasionally to sterilise the breast pump and bottles for EBM. Apart from that, it doesn't get used at all.

I always reheat in a saucepan or in the oven - I hate microwaved food (jacket potatoes aside)

All the time at the moment as we dont have a cooker (it was leaking gas and we were lucky it hadn't blown us up)
and we cant afford a new one just yet.

When we had our cooker we used our microwave a few times a week, for the kids spagetti, beans, scrambled egg, reheating food and every day for sterilising the baby's bottles.

virtually never! My friend bought me one a couple of years ago as she said she had no idea how I coped! It lived in our office for a while as I had no proper space for it in the kitchen and now it is in the utility where my teenager sometimes uses it.
Jacket potatoes are soooooo much niocer done in the oven with a bit of olive oil!!

I use mine every day - to warm milk in the morning for hot chocolates for the dcs or for in our coffee, to defrost food, cook veg, cook rice. The benefit for me is that it is quick plus washing up is easier afterwards.

I use both most days.

Microwave for heating milk, for DC cereal/hot chocs
Reheating baked beans
doing frozen peas
occasionally reheating a meal - but tend to use oven /hob
starting jacket spuds - but still finish them in the oven.

TBH if I didn't have it I don't think it would make that much difference and I would have more worktop space.

My friend uses hers more as she has teenagers - so cooks a meal, plates up and if people are late in they can reheat it quickly

I use mine at least once a day - heating milk up, cooking frozen veg, starting off jacket potatoes. Whenever we go down to stay at Mum and Dads, who don't have one, I really notice it.

We're expecting Dc2 in a few months so it'll be used for frequent sterlising as well at some point.

But, I also use my grill quite a bit - cheese on toast, crumpets, fish fingers, and definitely wouldn't sacrifice that either.

Does it have to be an either/or, or could you keep the oven, the grill and a microwave?

I use my microwave most days, for heating milk,ready made custard, peas. Reheating plated meals, defrosting bread. I have an oven & top oven/grill. It never gets used as an oven because it tends to smoke a bit due to fat splashes from grilling bacon, cheese on toast etc. I do use it to warm plates.

You can get microwaves with grills - that way you'd have both.

It is really handy to defrost/reheat with less mess than a cooker

Microwave with grill sounds good. Our kitchen is v tiny so it's definitely an either/or situation! I don't think it would get used for 'cooking' in the strict sense, more for reheating things that otherwise would need the whole oven on (which seems like a massive waste of energy but then again I've not actually researched the power used up by a microwave!) and for defrosting.

Thanks for your answers! One that can do more than just heat up would be ideal, will look into those.

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Our kitchen has a fancy smancy built in micro/combi oven thing.

It has a special button just to reheat your coffee.

I use that.

Nothing else.

Sorry, I've just realised I should confirm that it would be microwave instead of the second little oven, not instead of normal oven full stop

Ok, being a geek with a gadget I've just checked out the power thing - our microwave costs about 15p per hour compared with an oven at 28p per hour (though it settles down when it gets to the right temperature). So using the microwave is quicker and cheaper**Disclaimer - not a very scientific test, which probably depends on what type of oven or microwave you have

i use it alot for defrosting stuff, heating up soup, baked potatoes, softening butter for baking. i used to make a fairly good chocolate cake in the microwave when i was a student!.

but you need a oven as well.

I hardly ever used mine - heating soup and beans, starting off jacket potatoes, that was about it.

I got rid of mine a couple of years ago, as felt it was a big waste of limited space and am glad I did. I replaced it with a beautiful kitchedaid mixer and I use that loads more.

bought combination one 12 years ago and use it all the time use microwave function to reheat frozen meals, beans, make hot chocolate etc. Use Grill function occasionally but use combination oven loads too makes best jacket potatoes ever can cook frozen pizza's in less than 10 minutes cook part baked baguettes wonderfully

When my microwave uttered its last ping I could only survive for one day before purchasing a new one. I do use it such alot. I don't use it so much for actually cooking but more for reheating or warming ingredients up to hurry a recipe along. It is surprising how few recipe books include the use of one with many of the well known books having no mention of one at all as though it's a 'dirty' word. For the home cook it can be very useful. Personally I would go ahead with 1 and a half ovens but if you have room I would have a separate microwave. I like to use my little oven to keep things warm and if I'm entertaining I use the microwave to heat up the vegetables, that have been cooked a little beforehand, so that there's not too much to dish up at the last moment. Combinaton microwave and oven are quite complicated things - a friend's,who had one recently, has already gone wrong twice.

fifichef i have had combi for 12 years only ever gone wrong once and that was because microwave element had fault cost me £5 to get repaired i suppose it luck of the drawer

I could easily live without my microwave. Used for making hot chocolate and heating up baked beans, both of which could be done on the hob.

Use the proper oven a lot.

Currently debating with dh whether to get rid of our microwave to free up some space.

I find it great as a cooking aid, for re heating, defrosting, baked potatoes but not cooking full meals.