Last night, I cooked a spontaneous lasagna for six friends after which I served them delicious Meyer lemon bars. One of these friends, who we’ll call “Mark,” hadn’t eaten all day and despite all the food I stuffed him with was still hungry. Luckily I had leftover cauliflower pasta from last week in the fridge (don’t worry, it still tasted good) and I was happy to hand it over when he casually asked, “Where’s your microwave?”
I don’t have a microwave. Diana (my old roommate, his girlfriend) had one and when she moved out she took it with her. I don’t miss it.
Why?
1. I like popping popcorn on the stove;
2. I think microwaving your food changes its structural integrity. The leftover cauliflower pasta, for example, was–in my humble opinion–perfectly cooked. If we’d nuked it, it would’ve gotten mushier and the cauliflower would’ve turned soggy. I much prefer it cold from the fridge.
Not so my guests. They all thought I was crazy when I espoused reason #2 as a reason to eat the pasta cold. They colluded against me and did something that Craig does that drives me nuts: they dumped the pasta in a pot, added a little water, and stirred it around on medium heat. Mark gobbled it up and said it was delicious.
Delicious if you like things WITHOUT STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY.
What’s your take on this, dear reader? Do you side with me and find microwaves unnecessary? Or do you love your microwave, do you cook potatoes in it, do you tan yourself in front of it on weekends? Inquiring microphobes want to know.
Living without a microwave? Noooooooo waaaaay, I need it too much.I want to make tea just for myself, so I need to heat water. Let’s say I need melted butter when I bake. Or maybe I just want to make a quick warm cheese sandwich.Well, of course, nothing can beat heating up frozen pizza in the microwave so that the whole kitchen is FULL of DARK GREY smoke afterwards. Those days are over, fortunately!:D
Depends on what it is that you’re cooking. If it’s 2:30 in the morning and you have a huge craving for mac&cheese by all means, nuke to your little hearts content… but if they’re well made leftovers (like… let’s say cauliflower pasta) then no.Anyone who can cook decently, will tell you that you don’t just cook for taste, you cook for texture, and overcooking food greatly upsets the required texture. Particularly in cauliflower’s case.I’m going to side with you on this one. Food cold from the fridge is better… but there are some occassions where a microwave is required.But, for the record… I never use mine.
i’ve been lobbying to get rid of the microwave in my apartment – like you i make popcorn over the stove, boil water for tea on the stove, and have discovered that soaking meat in water is a much better defrosting method than using the microwave. i dont often heat up leftovers at home but if i did, i would do it over the stove similar to your friends. i just don’t like having that scary hunking appliance taking up all the room on my teeny nyc kitchen counter!
I am a high school teacher and somehow the subject came up recently in my lecture that I didn’t own a micro-wave. The students thought I was kidding and when convinced they stated that life wasn’t possible without a micro-wave. I don’t like cooking pasta twice and would never warm it up and if I did have left-over I would eat it cold. My boyfriend also warms it up and everytime he does he says, we need to get a micro-wave- over my dead body!
In our house, if the microwave and/or crock pot go out – so do we!
I like my microwave….but I’m not excited by it. I really only use it to thaw out chicken and make popcorn for my daughter. While I enjoy popping corn on the stove, I don’t want to spend the time to do it every night (child is obsessed with popcorn).
I got rid of my microwave a few months ago, and haven’t really missed it at all! I have very little counter space, and having a great big box on the counter that I only used occasionally (to melt butter) was not a good use of space. I also eat food from the fridge cold, rather than reheated, and I like homemade popcorn better than commercial microwave popcorn (and it SMELLS so much better!)I love your blog! Your tiramisu recipe is fabulous!
I’ve lived for 14 years without a microwave and outside of reheating beverages, never missed it. I agree that reheating of any sort changes the structure of the food, but microwaves are the worst IMHO. Turns food soggy like you describe, plus I often find that the reheating is uneven depending on the items involved. I also think microwave reheating can change the taste of certain foods, but I’m willing to bet that’s just me. I reheat some items in the oven, but am more likely to just eat the previously cooked leftover cold. It’s interesting to try foods cold – especially new recipes – as I’m able to taste certain elements in different degrees than when the food was served hot. If I’m trying to duplicate a hot recipe by just trying the dish, tasting it cold always helps. Your mileage may vary.
The microwave is used to reheat leftovers. Structural integrity is not the biggest factor in feeding a pre-teen boy. It’s quantity. How many different dishes can you reheat quickly so the never ending stomach gets full. I have a hot water pot, so I’ve always got water for tea on the go, and make popcorn on the stove.
I like my food hot… unless its meant to be eaten cold.So its eithera) with the water in the stoveb) the microwave.Can’t imagine a life without hot food :)therefore, Microwave stays in my house, for its absolute simplicity
My microwave is essential to me, mostly because I cook food Chinese family style so there are always some leftovers.Reheating anything in any method changes its structural integrity. Food gets soggy because of the steaming action created inside the microwave. Reheating anything that’s already “perfectly cooked” will mess with it, microwave or not. This is like the food snob version of those people who are proud of not owning a television.
My microwave is essential to me, mostly because I cook food Chinese family style so there are always some leftovers.Reheating anything in any method changes its structural integrity. Food gets soggy because of the steaming action created inside the microwave. Reheating anything that’s already “perfectly cooked” will mess with it, microwave or not. This is like the food snob version of those people who are proud of not owning a television.
We have a microwave. It comes in handy when our three-year old is clamoring for chicken nuggets and can’t wait the 13-18 minutes for the oven to cook them. Otherwise, I don’t use it much.When we bought our boat, it came with a microwave on it. We threw it out and put a toaster oven onboard instead. I’d rather have fresh bread and cookies than microwaved stuff.
I could live without it, but it comes in handy for reheating lunches at work, especially since I freeze stuff just for lunch. Most of the time it turns out just fine. If I didn’t have it, I’d just use the stove or toaster oven. I don’t cook food with it though. Though right now I don’t have a kettle, so I use it to boil water for tea. I figure it probably uses less energy than the stove.
I have a microwave. 95% of the time it is used as a breadbox or to store sweets. I used to have an ant problem and no matter where I put the sweets, the ants found them…ick! The rest of the time the microwave is used for reheating food that should be served hot…quickly for lunch. If a meal was originally served hot, the leftovers need to be hot.
I lived without one for two years in Australia, and didn’t miss it at all. Not like I had the counter space for it anyway at the time.Now I have one again, and while it does get used occasionally, I definitely could manage without it.
Adam, I wonder if you never learned how to use a microwave properly? If you use it correctly, it shouldn’t do the things you accuse it of, like affect structural integrity. Like any oven, it does take a little bit more thought than just turning it on–you need to become familiar with different power levels, etc.I could care less about popcorn and heating water–things I never do in a microwave. Try making a reduction in the microwave, especially of something that scorches easily, like fruit purees–the microwave is the superior tool. I also do a lot of baking, and I love that I can bring butter to room temperature in a minute instead of an hour. The are just a couple of examples of the correct use of an available tool.The microwave, like any tool, is excellent for some tasks and poor for others. I wonder if there isn’t some snobbery underlying some people’s loudly-proclaimed rejection of the microwave. You never hear a diatribe on the toaster, an even less useful tool (but still excellent for the jobs it was designed to do). In summary, I agree with your friends and family, you protest too much!
I went microwave-less for years and I mostly concur with you. However, it is good for reheating things like chili, curry or stew. It also steams vegetables very well. With pasta – I usually put it in for like thirty seconds on high and toss it, then put it in for like another 20 seconds and it doesn’t change the structure that much. But I always make my pasta al dente to start with.In terms of stove top reheating – have you tried taking a pot with a steamer and a little bit of water with a lid on and steaming for a couple of minutes? That is an alternate plan to the adding water directly into the pasta when reheating on the stove top.
I’ve been without a microwave for 4 years and the only time I have ever thought that I would like one is when my coffee gets cold, there’s no more in the pot, and I’d like to heat it up. Otherwise, everything really does taste better heated in the oven or on the stove. I do use the microwave in my office– it is the only heat source here– but I’m generally a soup-for-lunch girl and that heats up fine in the microwave.
“…they dumped the pasta in a pot, added a little water, and stirred it around on medium heat.”I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.
Microwaves are evil! I’ve been without one for six years. I haven’t missed it for a second. Need to melt butter? Put it in a tiny pot on the burner for a minute. I’m with you, AG, cold leftovers are delicious, however, I know many people hate that. So when we reheat, we use the oven. Cover any leftovers with some foil and put them in a 350 oven (don’t even wait for the oven to heat up). I would never add water to leftover pasta. Anything can be reheated in the oven, even rice, steamed vegetables. It’s not the same as fresh-cooked food, of course. But is it supposed to be? And nothing changes the “structural integrity,” taste and texture of food like the microwave.
Adam, you are not alone out there. I too am microwave-less. I actually grew up sans microwave (as the daughter of a paranoid, radation-phobe) and though I had one during college and various roommates had them subsequent to that, once I moved into my own place I had no urge to buy one of my own. Frankly, storage is at such a premium that I was much more excited to use the space for a standing mixer…
My microwave caught on fire last year, and, at the time, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to live without a new one. But time passed, and I was lazy and never replaced it. Now I don’t miss it. In fact, I feel like I’ve become a better cook because of my lack of a microwave. I’ve had to really learn how my stove works, so that now I’m better able to predict and adjust the heat.I reheat my leftover pasta, but I tend to do it with the “boil in a bag” method. It’s so gentle that it doesn’t effect the food too much. I also melt butter with the exhaust heat at the back of the cooktop.
Structural integrity? Maybe I’m lost… but do you mean on a cellular level? If so, then there is no way to apply heat/energy to anything without affecting structural integrity?Alton Brown had one show where he talked about microwaves. I remember him saying basically the microwave sends out energy, and those waves of energy basically cause the molecules to move around and heat up. When you do that, if the water molecules gain too much energy, they evaporate, and maybe that’s what you mean by structural integrity since some foods dry out easily.One thing I do is to just use a wet paper towel and cover whatever is going into the microwave or add a few drops of water into the bowl and stir it around before nuking it. Once you create a steaming type of environment, it shouldn’t change the structural integrity as much (hopefully).
I agree, any thing in the Microwave is different from when you first cook it, no doubt. However, I, personally, would rather have structurally different (not always bad) food than cold food. If the dish was meant to be served hot.Some things that stay out of the microwave for me? Fish and pizza. If I have left over fish (I usually don’t, though, making only enough for just this reason), I’ll reheat in the oven or in a skillet. Pizza, I just eat cold.I will say, the secret to microwave reheating is cooking low and slow. Cooking at full heat for a minute or two will yield bad results because the food does dry out. Reheat at 50% and test every minute or so. This is especially true for dairy based sauces… IMHO, at least.
I am sorta anti-microwaves for the same reasons (and I am a little suspicious about the radiation). I have one now, because I have roomates, and I do use if for heating up leftovers, but I spent many years without one and never missed it. I would heat up leftovers on the stove or in a toaster oven (great for heating a single serving of leftover casseroles, etc). I learned a great way to reheat leftovers such as rice or other grains — by steaming. I ate lots of brown rice and would always make a big batch and then reheat it this way, which actually refreshes the food. I am also a huge fan of popcorn popped on the stove (in a little peanut oil) and really don’t like the microwaved stuff.
I could live without it, but it comes in handy for reheating lunches at work, especially since I freeze stuff just for lunch. Most of the time it turns out just fine. If I didn’t have it, I’d just use the stove or toaster oven. I don’t cook food with it though. Though right now I don’t have a kettle, so I use it to boil water for tea. I figure it probably uses less energy than the stove.
We primarily use our microwave for reheating coffee…once you’re on the 3rd cup, the liquid in the coffeemaker is pretty cold (leaving it on the “warming” function results in burnt coffee, sadly).
I absolutely hate cold leftovers. I usually prefer heating things on the stove though – it seems to be easier to control – but if I’m only heating a small portion, I usually use the microwave. Yes indeedy.
I am with you there mate – we don’t have a microwave either. When we moved into this house there wasn’t one, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to buy one.You are right, it changes the structural integrity of food. A lot of research also shows that it certainly isn’t the healthiest way to heat food – a lot of nutrients are lost, not to mention radiation issues.I don’t miss it. I don’t miss a microwave at all. Friends and family think we are daft not having one, but we never used the microwave we had in our old place anyhow. You can reheat food perfectly well in the oven or stove top, if you add a little moisture, and things don’t get that “microwave mush” either.
We primarily use our microwave for reheating coffee…once you’re on the 3rd cup, the liquid in the coffeemaker is pretty cold (leaving it on the “warming” function results in burnt coffee, sadly).
I didn’t have a microwave for years. My friends thought I was nuts and can’t understand how I survived. When the one I had (which was really only good for warming things like tomato sauce up) conked out, I was a poor grad student so I couldn’t replace it. I never missed it. It forced me to be a better cook by not having one.Now that I have one again (a friend had one they were getting rid of, so it was free), I find I use it very very rarely. More for defrosting or heating up a can of soup when I’m sick than anything else. I have an electric kettle, a toaster, and am used to using my stove top or oven to reheat. I specifically chose the dishes I did because they’re able to withstand heat up to 375 degrees so I could put them directly into the oven when reheating meals (gotta love Denby)!
Good point Adam, now that I think about it, I really only use my microwave to defrost frozen spinach or things like that. I could definitely see myself living without it. Cold pasta is always better than reheating it!
The #1 thing I use my micro for is melting butter. I also use it for heating stock when I’m making something that has to be thickened with cornstarch. And, heating apple cider. I also like to pre-cook potatoes/sweet potatoes in the micro before i bake or roast them–that way I can have dinner in 1/2 hour instead of an hour when I get home from work!
The #1 thing I use my micro for is melting butter. I also use it for heating stock when I’m making something that has to be thickened with cornstarch. And, heating apple cider. I also like to pre-cook potatoes/sweet potatoes in the micro before i bake or roast them–that way I can have dinner in 1/2 hour instead of an hour when I get home from work!
It’s not really a matter of learning how to use one properly. It’s true that most of the nutrients are lost when you zap food, since microwave heat isn’t just like regular heat from an oven, toaster, or toaster oven. Since it uses radiation to heat (instead of just plain HEAT to heat), it can and does change the value of the vitamins and nutrients. Sure, you can use it to “cook,” but it nearly destroys much of your food’s nutritional integrity.
I only use my microwave to defrost.However, I would totally have warmed the pasta on the stove. Yes, it messes with the texture but that is balanced by not eating dishes that are best served hot cold. Maybe, room temperature, but not cold.
I have a microwave but use it only as a last resort. I always prefer heating my leftovers in/on a stove, although it obviously takes longer.
Wow. Scrolling down the comments I felt weirder and weirder. Do that many people have microwaves? I guess I’m in the same camp as Adam. Microwaves are completely useless. Well, I do have to admit I agree with Laura that they are good for melting butter. I did work in a kitchen where there was a microwave and melting butter is all we used it for.I do dissent from Adam, however, when it comes to reheating things. Yes, I eat a lot of my leftovers cold, but mostly because I don’t want to dirty another dish or because I’m too hungry. But even though the original dish is changed, there are many ways to reheat leftovers. One way is similar to what Adam’s friends did, but I never just add water. When I make stock I pour some into ice cube trays and then use these stock-cubes to create the liquid buffer sometimes needed to warm something up. Mushiness might entail, but flavor is not compormised. (By the way, warming something up on the stove top takes as long as it does in a microwave.)
Do I have one? Yes… it was a recent Christmas gift… how many times has it been used since then? Once. Late night, drunken, Thai food reheating. I’m not a huge fan… but I’m not a snob against it either. I’m sure one day I’ll thank my lucky stars I’ve got it. Dunno why… but there will come a day…EB
I despise microwaves, but like cars, they seem to be a necessary evil in my life. I have four small children, hence microwaved…everything. At work I can either choose to eat my leftovers stone cold, or heat them up in the microwave. I have a mental ring around the day that my children will be old enough to wait more than 45 seconds for food, and when I will no longer be employed (these dates probably coincide, actually), and will never ever ever use a microwave again.As for the argument that I don’t know the correct way to microwave things (which I have heard before from friends who are enthusiastically pro-microwave), I say there IS no way to use it that it wouldn’t compromise the food quality. It either dries it out and makes it tough (bread-type products), makes it rubbery and chewy (meat products), or makes it soggy and limp (pretty much everything else).I don’t go around preaching to people who have microwaves about why they shouldn’t use themm, so why do the people that I know who have them feel they have a life-fulfilling mission to convert me to a lover? It’s very weird. I think those little waves do something to their brains.
MMMMMM cold leftovers. It is so much better than heating it up again. The flavors all seem to pop even better than when the dish was hot. It is my favorite way to eat dressing(stuffing) on the day after Thanksgiving!
I have never been without a microwave. If I’m working long hours (and since my bf doesn’t cook) its frozen dinner or leftovers time. And I am not sure what microwaves you’ve owned over the years but I have never had the issue of leftover food turning to ‘mush’ in the microwave. And furthermore I can’t stand cold leftovers.@Matt WrightMicrowaves keep more of the nutrients than cooking over a stovestop. And all studies on ‘microwaves being bad’ that I have seen have been produced by those that are against science and advances in technology (the anti-GE crowd for instance). Therefor they are not to be taken seriously.
I haven’t owned one. When I moved away for university I never thought of buying one, and I never really miss it. Leftovers are perfectly fine cold, or if need-be reheated at a low temperature in the oven.
I use my microwave occasionally, but we don’t have too many leftovers in my kitchen. I like reheating my food up in the oven if it needs to be warm.
I have a microwave but the most it ever gets used for is heating up water. and then only to add to a roux, tea must have water from the kettle.I have cleaned sponges in the microwave before, heating them to kill bacteria.maybe I’m a food snob, but if I have something that must be reheated, I’ll warm it in the oven or on the stovetop.
I have to agree with you, Adam. My husband and I used to have a microwave, but found we didn’t have room for it when we moved to our new house. I don’t miss it at all. I only used it for either melting butter (which I now do on the stove) or thawing food (which I now put in a bowl of water). I either eat leftovers cold, or reheat them on the stove, or in the oven. I don’t necessarily agree with you about reheating pasta though. Pasta reheated in a pan can be very good.
I was watching America’s Test Kitchen the other day and they said that the one time they found the microwave to be far superior than any other means of cooking was when they were making squash. They admitted it, and said that it was a first. So if you one day become a desperate squash fiend, you might want to look into a microwave.
Try Julie Sahni’s book “The Moghul Microwave” for a startling discourse on Indian slow cooking results you can get in the microwave. She essentially views this appliance as a substitute for a servant who stirs the pot all day. The results are amazing.Also good for melting chocolate as an ingredient.
I went without a microwave for a couple of years, and it wasn’t too inconvenient. I only use it for reheating food and thawing out food in a meat emergency. I use a kettle for tea, and I hate microwave popcorn. Have you heard of popcorn packers’ lung?