Topic: Does any one actually use their microwave to cook in?

[Jayb]

I'm with Hector and Realfood, use my combi all the time, baking, roasting grilling etc can't fault it and wouldn't be without it  ;D
Don't think I would use a pure mircowave anywhere near as much. They are great for fudge though  ;D

[PurpleHeather]

BUT WHERE ARE THE RECIPES?

[tricia]

I can't believe that no-one uses a microwave steamer for veggies! I've been using mine for most veggies for years - wouldn't do them any other way. Also for cooking apples, pears, plums etc. in a pyrex dish. They need no water and are cooked in a couple of minutes.

I also heat my plates, poach and scramble eggs, reheat coffee or homemade soups - the list is endless. My motto is 'use the microwave wherever possible - saves on the fuel bills.'

If anyone is interested I have a lovely fish quenelles recipe in a wonderful white wine/cream sauce - which I first made in 1990.

Tricia

[elvis2003]

i found we never used ours so gave it away to someone who was after one,i personally dont like the way they cook food,not evenly enough for me,personal taste thing

[valmarg]

We (or should I say OH) use ours a lot.

Bread sauce is so easy, with no gungy saucepan to clean out.  Mushy peas, soak loads of peas, put in a large bowl and bring to the boil, simmer until nice and mushy.  Let go cold, put into portions in tubs and freeze.  Which is fine if you are a mushy pea fan ;D.

Cheese sauce, parsley sauce are a doddle in the machine.

Cheesy leeks (posh name leeks au gratin) - steam leeks in micro with water, butter, salt and pepper.  Make cheese sauce.  Put drained leeks in a heatproof dish, cover with cheese sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and breadcrumbs, put in the oven with the yorkshires.

If you want an actual recipe, try this:-

TREACLE PUDDING

3 tablespoons golden syrup
4oz self raising flour
2oz shredded suet
2oz caster sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons milk
2 drops vanilla essence

Place the golden syrup in the bottom of a lightly buttered 1½ pint basin.
Mix the flour, suet and sugar together.  Beat in the egg, water, milk and vanilla essence.  Spoon the mixture on to the syrup in the basin.
Cover the basin with cling film and cook on high for 2 minutes.  Remove the clingfilm and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Leave the pudding to rest for 2 minutes before turning out and serving.

This recipe is for an oven with a maximum wattage of 800.  You may need to adjust for higher rated ovens.

Suet treacle pudding within 20 minutes of deciding you fancy a pudding to eating it.  We had to stop making them - they weren't doing the waistline any good. ??? ??? ;D

[gaz2000]

scrambled eggs,beans,and jacket potatoes are built for the microwave  :)

prefer oven baked jacket potatoes tbh but for a quick and easy meal the microwave does the trick,10 to 15 mins

and their ready for butter and cheese

[tricia]

Treacle sponge - in case you don't have any suet!

Microwave Treacle Sponge
Ingredients
2 eggs
4 oz self-raising flour
4 oz sugar
4oz butter
2 tbsp milk
some Golden Syrup
Instructions
Mix eggs, flour, sugar, butter and milk.
Pour golden syrup into bottom of a glass pudding basin.
Pour cake mix on top.
Microwave for 5 minutes or thereabouts according to power of microwave.
Eat with custard.

Tricia

[BarriedaleNick]

Perfect poached eggs in 50 seconds!

Ollie - Do you have to prick the yolk to stop it bursting?

No - just cover well with boiling water (it can rise & pop if you don't - even more fun!). Works best in a bowl that continues to be concave right to the bottom if you see what I mean, so it's nicely concentrated in the middle. The smallish pyrex bowls (about a pint and a half?) are perfect. Just to be clear:
Boil kettle, Pour into bowl, Break egg into boiled water, full power about 50 secs.
Start yer toast first!

Cheers - Ollie Ill give that a go tomorrow for me brekkie!  ;D

[1066]

I can't believe that no-one uses a microwave steamer for veggies! I've been using mine for most veggies for years - wouldn't do them any other way.

I've tried to but seem to muller them!! They come out overcooked and miserable tasting. I bought one of those plastic steamer things for the microwave and still I manage to murder the veggies!!

With Porridge I add milk to a pan, heat it up, then add oats, turn off the heat cover it for 5 mins and its ready. And with rice I manage to cook it perfectly in a pan anyway. So I'm happy with those things. I just need to suss out the microwave for the veggies.........

[dtw]

I read somewhere once that microwaving vegetables and fruit gets rid of most of the vitamins.

[Kea]

I read somewhere once that microwaving vegetables and fruit gets rid of most of the vitamins.

Yes i used to cook things like broccolli in it until I read there is a 75% loss of nutrients.

[tricia]

I've been googling articles on the pros and cons of steam microwaving vegetables and the consensus seems to be that using very little water in a steamer and not overcooking does not result in a greater loss of nutrients than boiling them. I like my veggies crisp so I shall continue to steam them in the microwave. Interesting to read the various points of view though.

As far as vegetables go, it’s cooking them in water that robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water. For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur-containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer-fighting properties as well as the taste that many find distinctive and some, disgusting. The nutrient-rich water from boiled vegetables can be salvaged and incorporated into sauces or soups.

Is steaming vegetables better? In some respects, yes. For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.

But this is nutrition, and nothing in nutrition is simple. Italian researchers published results in 2008 of an experiment comparing three cooking methods — boiling, steaming, and frying — and the effect they had on the nutritional content of broccoli, carrots, and zucchini. Boiling carrots actually increased their carotenoid content, while steaming and frying reduced it. Carotenoids are compounds like lutein, which may be good for the eyes, and beta carotene. One possible explanation is that it takes longer for vegetables to get tender when they’re steamed, so the extra cooking time results in more degradation of some nutrients and longer exposure to oxygen and light.

But let’s not get too lost in the details. Vegetables, pretty much any way you prepare them, are good for you, and most of us don’t eat enough of them. And the microwave oven? A marvel of engineering, a miracle of convenience — and sometimes nutritionally advantageous to boot.

June 2008 update

A lot of people also use cling foil to cover food in the microwave which is supposed to be dangerous according to some reports. I now use a designated microwave cover on anything that needs covering - to each his own I guess.

Tricia

[Mortality]

Perfect poached eggs in 50 seconds!

Ollie - Do you have to prick the yolk to stop it bursting?

No - just cover well with boiling water (it can rise & pop if you don't - even more fun!). Works best in a bowl that continues to be concave right to the bottom if you see what I mean, so it's nicely concentrated in the middle. The smallish pyrex bowls (about a pint and a half?) are perfect. Just to be clear:
Boil kettle, Pour into bowl, Break egg into boiled water, full power about 50 secs.
Start yer toast first!

I have got to try that, havent had poached eggs in years cos the egg poacher pan is a pain to clean..

I use it the same as most people here, scrambled egg, heating beans, soup or veg, heating milk, porridge, and the occasional ready meal.

[jennym]

Thinking about it, don't seem to cook a lot of meat in the microwave, but lots else. Almost always use full power, except when defrosting. Cook with it every day.
Porridge - in pyrex jux, 1/2 mug of oats, 1 mug milk, 1/2 mug water, bit sugar. Tend to do it on high in minute bursts. stirring when stops.
Custard (bird's powder) heat 7/8 pint milk in pint pyrex jug (approx 3-4 mins), mix powder with sugar & 1/8 pint milk in a small bowl, when milk hot, stir a bit into powder mix, tip that back into pyrex jug, good stir, back in microwave for 30 secs, perfect.
Scrambled eggs, butter the pyrex jug ( ;D) (what would I do with my pyrex jugs?) put eggs, milk salt pepper in jug, whisk by hand, in microwave for 30 sec bursts, stirring each time till done.
Veg, wash and don't let drain, place wet veg in pyrex bowl, cover bowl with a silicone vented cover (horribly dear for what it is but lasts forever, haven't used cling film for years) microwave for about a minute, stir, check consistency, micro again if necessary.
Jacket potatoes, scrub, make a cross slit, microwave 10 mins. Then have to admit, I will bung in the already hot oven which I'm using for something else (do so like proper crispy skins) but using micro speeds them up.
Dumplings - method given to me by, I think, Jim on here, saves saucepans and steam in kitchen and things going too gloopy if you're doing a small stew - do your dumplings as normal - for me it's flour plus half the weight in suet, salt pepper, water, place balls on pyrex dish, I cover with silicone vented thing, splash of water in dish, microwave full about a minute, shuffle them around, then about another 30 secs to a minute, depends on size.
I'd say heating milk for drinks is the major use of mine though.

[Mr Smith]

I'm glad to see such positive posts on microwave cooking, but am I the only one that suffers from an upset stomach if I touch anything that comes out of a microwave over a prolonged period, :)

[PurpleHeather]

I'm glad to see such positive posts on microwave cooking, but am I the only one that suffers from an upset stomach if I touch anything that comes out of a microwave over a prolonged period, :)

Assuming that if you are re-heating food that you have got it hot enough. Then are you leaving it long enough after? Food continues to cook for at least a minute after being microwaved. So if you eat it too soon, it is still microwaving, so to speak. Cooking inside you.

I recently found that my digestive problems (etc) stopped when I left wheat out of my diet. The doctors can not find anything wrong with me and I do want to eat pies cakes and pastry and so on. I try them and the 'symptoms' return so either I am a hypochondriac or I have something the tests don't detect. I just do, as the doctor said, eat what suits you.

Occasionally I get 'symptoms' and it is only when checking back, do I realise that I mistakenly ate wheat. I think it indicates that I may not be a hypochondriac. 

If you are getting a physical reaction from a process, then yes you may have an intollerance of some sort. It would certainly be interesting to see if some one's autie's cousin's friend's workmate has the same...

I think it is only fair that you should not be totally unique......... There must be some one else out there surely?

The problem is, eating out. Microwaves are used to re-heat all sorts.I even heat plates in mine.

Any one want to help Mr Smith from feeling he is alone?

[Mr Smith]

Obviously I know that microwaves are used in catering, eating out I'm OK with now and again, but there was a period when because of work commitments I was microwaving food say three times a week over a prolonged period and the reaction I suffered was not very pleasant, consequently adjusting the way my food was prepared by leaving out the Microwave  I was OK, :)

[Sparkly]

Ours is just mainly used for making porridge or heating milk for weetabix. I have used ours for steamed puddings and cookie some veggies (sweetcorn is good).

[Obelixx]

I make a pot of fresh coffee every morning then switch off the machine and heat mugsful as needed in the microwave.  Stops it stewing.   Same principle when I make big pots of soup in winter and heat a bowlful at a time for my lunches.

Other than that I use if for defrosting when I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer, and maybe 3 or 4 times a year I start off baked spuds in there to finish in the oven.   If I'm doing sticky chicken drumsticks on the BBQ they also get started in the microwave to make sure they're cooked through the middle.  I also do the Xmas pud in there.

Other than that I prefer to steam, boil, sauté, roast or bake using a proper cooker, including proper poached eggs in water and grilled bacon for breakfast.

[qahtan]

 I thought the micro WAVES were not good for you............
 but then what do I know........qahtan