Has anyone got rid of their microwave ? Would you?

[Arisbottle]

My microwave has died because one of the children tried to microwave a tin of beans in it. Yesterday I removed the microwave from my kitchen and I am really impressed with the space it has created , especially as my kitchen is not huge and I cook a lot.

Currently I use the microwave to do the following;

Heat those ready cooked rice sachets to speed up weekly meals, about once a fortnight.
Make scrambled eggs
Heat up ready meals and soups about once a week .
Steaming food ( we steam food a lot , although I also have a separate steamer which tends to sit out on my work surface as it is used so often. )

I would like to stop using ready meals altogether , it is a lazy , unhealthy and expensive habit.

When I went to view microwaves I was distinctly underwhelmed, they felt plasticy and unlikely to stand up to family use . I did quite like a sharp steamwave one which felt very solid and would allow me to abandon my separate steamer. But it was £250 and would take up valuable space in my kitchen.

So has anyone got rid of their microwave, do they miss it? Would you get rid of yours?

Alternatively am I under using my microwave! What do you use yours for?

Ours gave up the ghost about four years ago. It has been very effectively replaced with a couple of small non stick saucepans. The only time I miss it is when I have the urge to make a quick microwave cake (good food mag keeps providing recipes and I keep thinking great then remembering!)

I got rid of mine about 3 years ago when realised how much worktop space was being used for, essentially, a plate warmer.

I don't miss it at all. As pp have said, porridge, beans etc are just as easy on the hob.

Of course the space snow filled with assorted other gadgets but at least they're more attractive to look at ;)

We rarely use ours. It lives in the fishtank cupboard though, so takes up no worktop space. When we use it we just open the door.

When we planned our kitchen I designed a special microwave shelf so it is not on the Worktop. They are so handy for left overs, porridge, emergency hot chocolate. Soup

I don't have one either it broke years ago and as i never used it really i didnt replace it. only person who has missed it is dd who liked those popcorn bags from the pound shop you just put in the microwave.

Never had one. The only time I wish we did is Christmas, steaming Christmas pud is such a faff compared to putting it in a microwave.

Everything you use it for though would be easy enough without. Why not just see how you get on? Soup scrambled eggs and rice are quick enough in a saucepan.

Mama I had exactly the same thought about Christmas puddings .

Our kitchen is quite new, ideally I would love a built in microwave.

We got rid of ours when we redid our kitchen earlier this year. We hardly ever used it and I don't miss it except for making hot chocolate . For us it was much better to free up work surface space.

I didn't have one for ages and I missed it, mainly for defrosting.

You can do Christmas Pudding in a slow cooker - I did last year and it was great. Was a shop bought one, obviously you could put home made in too

Ohhh yes and hot chocolate. I love my hot chocolate, but hate washing up pans that have had milk in them!

Porridge, scrambled eggs, hot chocolate are loads easier in a microwave

Porridge every day for one person, we use those sachets and no need to stir in tne microwave so you can get on with other things. Popcorn is easier than in a pan too, just bung it in a bowl and sap till the popping stops, I tend to burn it in pans even if I shake it constantly. Reheating cold cups of tea, heating wheatbags, defrosting sauces etc from the freezer are our other main uses, I would have to buy more saucepans if I didn't have it. If ours went I would replace it but probably with a smaller one. I don't think we would gain much counter space wise as we store a lot of stuff on top of it in plastic baskets.

We've never had one. MiL comments on this every time she visits.

I'm sure if we had one we'd find a use for it but as we don't I just cook porridge/eggs on the hob.

I like the extra space on the worktop...

We haven't had one for years and don't miss it at all (and that is with a baby and a toddler) - but you do have to be more organised. There is no last minute defrosting or reheating.

Thanks , we are definitely going to wait until after Christmas to see how we cope without one

Ours is in the garage!
It's plugged in and we can use it if we need too........it has been used twice this year so far!!!
My work surface and health are far more important!!!

Didn't replace our last one 6+ yrs ago and haven't missed it - prefer the space. Babyfood stage had long gone and was mostly used to heat up milk. The kids prob would have made more of their own hot drinks sooner if we had had one! But wasn't worth the space just for that.

And I speak as one who only had a microwave for cooking for about 5 yrs as a single gel in a flat - so I did know how to cook in one!

I have never had a microwave since shared student houses simply because I've never missed it, there hasn't been one incident where I've thougth "this would be so much easier with a microwave"

I use one at work (only way of heating stuff there) and find it more of a pain than the hob/oven at home

The thought of not having to clean the thing is a huge incentive

Now I have 2 dcs I found when ours broke that I use it up to 10 times a day! Heat milk for ds, porridge for me,porridge for baby dd, reheat my tea, reheat something for lunch, defrost meat for tea, cook frozen v
eg, warm up cake for dessert, bedtime milk for ds, food for dd...
I could use the hob but takes longer and produces washing up.

I have never had one (for reasons to do with worktop space among others, OP) and I cook a lot.

I don't use ready meals tho and maybe the lack of microwave is one reason why? There are heaps of things (as I am sure you know) that you can cook from scratch just as quickly anyway.

No one here eats porridge (barf), no littles for frozen reheats or milk, never any leftovers sadly so no need for one really

Haven't had one in years . Think they make food taste awful.