In article ws.net>,
"Shaun aRe" > wrote:
>
>"aem" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
>> What else do people do with theirs? -aem
>
>I almost invariably use mine for microwaving things, although on occasion it
>has been known to be used to support a bowl of oranges.

Probably an urban legend, but there's a story one sees here and there
about some one trying to dry out a wet cat in one.

But more on topic, perhaps: I originally bought a microwave when I
went shopping for some sort of a readily cleanable "kettle" to heat
milk for "coffee made on milk" and the bloke at the store sold me a
microwave for the purpose. :-)

I liked the idea of just putting the cup of milk into the thing, so
there was only one dirty item to clean; plus the fact it could be used
for other things at a pinch. (Like boiling water in a cup for tea.

In fact, it has turned out quite useful. I originally erred in
thinking it would only be useful for "families", hence the delay of a
couple of decades in buying one. Turns out it's really of more
benefit to singles if the main objective is timeliness.

While I *have* used it for vegies, rice, and some of those packet meal
things, it's only regular use is for the beverages mentioned and for
defrosting frozen stuff before cooking, or for reheating leftovers of
things like curries and stews etc.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article . com>,
aem > wrote:
>I was surprised to see microwave ovens listed by several people in the
>'outlandish/useless...kitchen gadget' thread. In the past several
>days I used the microwave in the following beneficial ways:
>
> * partially cooked bacon slices -- makes the bacon lie flat in the
>pan
> * reheated coffee -- better to let it go cold and reheat than to
>keep it (insufficiently) warm for hours
> * defrosted frozen berries before blending them for a sauce for
>ice cream
> * cooked frozen peas, cooked fresh broccoli, pre-cooked potatoes
>before baking
> * reheated a variety of leftovers
> * poured chicken stock into a pot for heating, then briefly zapped
>the jar to liquefy the gelatinous stock still clinging to the insides -
>no wastage
> * zapped refrigerated tortillas soft/flexible for making burritos
> * zapped a large lime for 10 seconds to maximize squeezing juice
>from it
> * heated milk/butter mixture before mashing potatoes
> * zapped frozen peas to defrost/warm before adding to fried rice
> * defrosted various meats for supper -- didn't have to decide
>which hours in advance
>
>Could I have accomplished these things without the microwave?
>Absolutely. Would the alternatives have been as effective, as fast, as
>easy? No way. What else do people do with theirs? -aem

I have done most of what you have described above, except for defrosting
meat (which I rarely freeze). I also usually dry-heat my tortillas in my
cast iron pan.

I do a lot of leftover cooking, vegetable cooking (sometimes I
finish the vegies off in a saute pan), and coffee reheating in the microwave.

I also use it for melting chocolate and/or butter, a lot. Excellent when
I get in truffle or brownie production mode. Yes, I do have a double boiler,
but fewer transfers means fewer dishes and more brownies or truffles!

Mine does not occupy counter space; I had a box built for it on the lower
level of the above-counter cabinets.

Charlotte

--

To All:
I usually either nuke a bag of popcorn, or make Cup 'O Noodles or Top
Ramen.

Cheers,
Chuck Kopsho
Oceanside, California

On 2005-04-22, aem > wrote:

> easy? No way. What else do people do with theirs? -aem

Got another one! A cube of butter right out of the fridge can be made
spreadable, but not melted, by nuking for about 15-20 seconds.

nb

i used to make meatloaf in mine! 14 minutes & its ready & it's very good
(that was in my 700 watt oven.) i now have an 1100 watt oven & i am
having trouble getting the timing down for making rice. it was 20 in in
the old one




>"Life is a checkerboard,
>and the player opposite you is time.
>If you hesitate before moving,
>or neglect to move promptly,
>your men will be wiped off the board by time.

>You are playing against a partner
>who will not tolerate indecision!"
>Anonymous

Disinfect your kitchen sponge (if you use one).. 1 minute on high. Be
careful when you take it out, it's very hot.

--
Shaun aRe wrote:
> "aem" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>
>> What else do people do with theirs? -aem
>
> I almost invariably use mine for microwaving things, although on
> occasion it has been known to be used to support a bowl of oranges.
>
> ',;~}~
>
>
>
>
> Shaun aRe

"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article ws.net>,
> "Shaun aRe" > wrote:
> >
> >"aem" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >
> >> What else do people do with theirs? -aem
> >
> >I almost invariably use mine for microwaving things, although on occasion
it
> >has been known to be used to support a bowl of oranges.
>
> Probably an urban legend, but there's a story one sees here and there
> about some one trying to dry out a wet cat in one.

That's just STUPID! Everyone knows a pussy is best when wet. Ahem...

> But more on topic, perhaps: I originally bought a microwave when I
> went shopping for some sort of a readily cleanable "kettle" to heat
> milk for "coffee made on milk" and the bloke at the store sold me a
> microwave for the purpose. :-)
>
> I liked the idea of just putting the cup of milk into the thing, so
> there was only one dirty item to clean; plus the fact it could be used
> for other things at a pinch. (Like boiling water in a cup for tea.
>
> In fact, it has turned out quite useful. I originally erred in
> thinking it would only be useful for "families", hence the delay of a
> couple of decades in buying one. Turns out it's really of more
> benefit to singles if the main objective is timeliness.

Yup!

> While I *have* used it for vegies, rice, and some of those packet meal
> things, it's only regular use is for the beverages mentioned and for
> defrosting frozen stuff before cooking, or for reheating leftovers of
> things like curries and stews etc.
>
> Cheers, Phred.

They're also very good for blowing up eggs in, heheheh...


I recall when my mother made her first 'poached' eggs in one - she took the
little pots out, lifted the covers off, turned around to do something, BANG!
Red hot egg all over the place - she's lucky she wasn't nearer to and facing
it.

They're also EXCELLENT at removing delicate gold leaf patterning from fine
china...

',;~}~

Shaun aRe

In article ws.net>,
"Shaun aRe" > wrote:
[snip]
>
>They're also EXCELLENT at removing delicate gold leaf patterning from fine
>china...

Yep. I've got a coffee cup nicely cleaned up like that, and it must
be the genuine thing -- it says on the bottom "Made in China".


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article ws.net>,
> "Shaun aRe" > wrote:
> [snip]
> >
> >They're also EXCELLENT at removing delicate gold leaf patterning from
fine
> >china...
>
> Yep. I've got a coffee cup nicely cleaned up like that, and it must
> be the genuine thing -- it says on the bottom "Made in China".

LOL!

> Cheers, Phred.

A'ight!


Shaun aRe

Phred:
"I liked the idea of just putting the cup of milk into the thing, so
there was only one dirty item to clean; plus the fact it could be used
for other things at a pinch. (Like boiling water in a cup for tea.
"

You know about the risk of boil-over, right? Not a huge deal, but
basically the idea is that water can
super-heat in a microwave - heat to just above the boilling point
without coming to a boil. Then, when the cup is moved,
boiling initiates and the water surges out of the cup and over your
hands. Possibly.

Easiest ways to avoid this a
1.)Heat the water in a larger container (ie, a glass measuring cup not
filled to full)
2.)put in some sort of irregular surfaced piece of something made to
initiate boilling (it's the smooth surfaces
of cups that allow for superheating)

or

3.)Just keep zapping the darn thing until it boils in the nuker. It'll
happen - it just might take 5 seconds longer. Of course, then it boils
over the cup
and you lose 1 oz of water, but it's certainly the easiest way.

Now, I'm just waiting for someone (I can guess who) to tell us all how
impossible this is, since water always boils at 212 farenheit.

Greg Zywicki

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 14:57:55 -0400, (Day
Dreamer) wrote:

>My most common uses of the microwave:

My parents didn't want to get a microwave because it was a 'waste of
space'... eventually my brother got a second-hand one from his boss
and brought it home. It was only used for reheating. Funnily enough,
when it gave up the ghost it took her less than a week to go out and
buy a replacement

I don't cook from scratch in the microwave but it's invaluable for
some things:
- reheating leftovers for a convenient meal
- heating cups of water or milk for tea/coffee/hot chocolate
- thawing frozen meat
- melting chocolate (no messy double boiler and not so much waste
because you can melt it straight in the mixing bowl)
- melting butter for baking
- cooking rice (I haven't figured out the timing for our new oven
though. In the old one it was 10 minutes, but in this one it comes out
hard and dry!
- my husband's taught me that microwaved 'baked' potatoes are
virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, and they take ten
minutes to fix as opposed to over an hour in a hot oven!
- occasionally I 'steam' frozen vegetables in the microwave, but I
prefer a saucepan.
- nuking a whole cob of corn in the husk

Another benefit - the microwave oven doesn't heat up the kitchen
nearly as much as a stove, and especially not so much as an oven. It
might not seem like much, but in the middle of summer it's the
difference between eating salad 7 days a week, and having a cooked
meal at least sometimes!
~Karen aka Kajikit
Crafts, cats, and chocolate - the three essentials of life
http://www.kajikitscorner.com
*remove 'nospam' to reply

In article .com>,
"Zywicki" > wrote:
>Phred:
>"I liked the idea of just putting the cup of milk into the thing, so
>there was only one dirty item to clean; plus the fact it could be used
>for other things at a pinch. (Like boiling water in a cup for tea. "
>
>You know about the risk of boil-over, right? Not a huge deal, but
>basically the idea is that water can
>super-heat in a microwave - heat to just above the boilling point
>without coming to a boil. Then, when the cup is moved,
>boiling initiates and the water surges out of the cup and over your
>hands. Possibly.

Yeah. It can be quite impressive! When boiling water for tea my
"carefully controlled timing" just brings it nicely to that point.
It makes for an interesting "restlessness" of the water when you drop
the tea bag in. :-)

Incidentally, you can also super-heat water on the stove if you go
about it the right way -- as I discovered the other day when
dissolving some sugar in vinegar to make pickled grapes. It was
sitting there quite still and innocent looking, but damn near
exploded when I stuck a spoon in to give it a stir!

>Easiest ways to avoid this a
>1.)Heat the water in a larger container (ie, a glass measuring cup not
>filled to full)
>2.)put in some sort of irregular surfaced piece of something made to
>initiate boilling (it's the smooth surfaces
>of cups that allow for superheating) >or

Too much trouble. ;-)

>3.)Just keep zapping the darn thing until it boils in the nuker. It'll
>happen - it just might take 5 seconds longer. Of course, then it boils
>over the cup and you lose 1 oz of water, but it's certainly the easiest
>way.
>
>Now, I'm just waiting for someone (I can guess who) to tell us all how
>impossible this is, since water always boils at 212 farenheit.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Lena B Katz wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 22 Apr 2005, aem wrote:
>
>> I was surprised to see microwave ovens listed by several people in the
>> 'outlandish/useless...kitchen gadget' thread. In the past several
>> days I used the microwave in the following beneficial ways:
>>
>> * partially cooked bacon slices -- makes the bacon lie flat in the
>> pan
>> * reheated coffee -- better to let it go cold and reheat than to
>> keep it (insufficiently) warm for hours
>> * defrosted frozen berries before blending them for a sauce for
>> ice cream
>> * cooked frozen peas, cooked fresh broccoli, pre-cooked potatoes
>> before baking
>> * reheated a variety of leftovers
>> * poured chicken stock into a pot for heating, then briefly zapped
>> the jar to liquefy the gelatinous stock still clinging to the insides -
>> no wastage
>> * zapped refrigerated tortillas soft/flexible for making burritos
>> * zapped a large lime for 10 seconds to maximize squeezing juice
>> from it
>> * heated milk/butter mixture before mashing potatoes
>> * zapped frozen peas to defrost/warm before adding to fried rice
>> * defrosted various meats for supper -- didn't have to decide
>> which hours in advance
>>
>> Could I have accomplished these things without the microwave?
>> Absolutely. Would the alternatives have been as effective, as fast, as
>> easy? No way. What else do people do with theirs? -aem
>
>
> In the last few days, I've heated water for ramen (multiple times).
>
> Warmed/sterilized a bathtowel.
>
> Sterilized dishtowels (again, several times)
>
> Made a frozen dinner...
>
> and used it to warm choco-liquer for vienesse capuccino.
>
> lena

I have to say that I don't use the microwave on a regular basis. Since
being injured, heating the therapacks has been well worth it.

In article . com>,
"aem" > wrote:

> I was surprised to see microwave ovens listed by several people in the
> 'outlandish/useless...kitchen gadget' thread. In the past several
> days I used the microwave in the following beneficial ways:

My inlaws use it to partially cook the turkey they then smoke in a
webber. It turns out very well.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article >,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

> Why would you pre-cook potatoes that are to be baked?

Because you got home late from picking up your kids at school, then
one of them got hurt playing outside and needed your help to clean up,
not to mention some hugs. Dinner is supposed to be at 5:30, so you can
be on the road at 6:30 (which, with four children six and under means
away from the table at 6:10) to go somewhere, and it's now 4:45.
Scrubbing and washing and poking those little holes takes several
minutes, the microwave cooks them to almost finished, and you get the
nice skin from the oven.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article >,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

> Invariably I find the hot potatoes do a good job of heating the milk
> and butter. And the cool dairy prevents the potatoes from being
> scalding hot when you bring them to the table. If you *had* to heat
> it, though, I can't see how the microwave would offer any advantage
> to stovetop.

Again, time. And the fact that I pour better from a measuring cup
than a saucepan.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

Ranee Mueller wrote on 28 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking

> In article >,
> (Alex Rast) wrote:
>
> > Invariably I find the hot potatoes do a good job of heating the
> > milk and butter. And the cool dairy prevents the potatoes from
> > being scalding hot when you bring them to the table. If you
> > *had* to heat it, though, I can't see how the microwave would
> > offer any advantage to stovetop.
>
> Again, time. And the fact that I pour better from a measuring
> cup
> than a saucepan.
>
> Regards,
> Ranee
>

Multi-tasking too. You can start reading the paper to un-lax as the
frozen pre-made meal warms...safely unsupervised. A start to stress
management.

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic Since Aug 2004
1AC- 7.2, 7.3, 5.5, 5.6 mmol
Weight from 265 down to 219 lbs. and dropping.
Continuing to be Manitoban

Ophelia wrote:
> "Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>On Sat 23 Apr 2005 01:14:57a, Alex Rast wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>
>>I don't do any major cooking in my microwave, but I find it invaluable
>>for
>>speedily performing various interim steps in recipes, as well as
>>*gentle*
>>and thorough reheating of moist foods. I'd also rather be spontaneous
>>in
>>deciding what I want to cook or eat rather than planning hours or a
>>day
>>ahead. Spur of the moment thawing tasks are handled quickly and
>>accurately
>>in a good microwave. The best of today's microwave ovens are light
>>years
>>ahead of those that existed 5 years ago and have capabilities that you
>>are
>>probably unaware of.
>>
>>Far be it from me to try and convince you of anything. I only know
>>that
>>owning a good microwave is an invaluable asset to my lifestyle.
>
>
> Mine too! I have a combination microwave/convection oven/grill. I use
> it every day
>
> O
>
>
Me three!! I have one of those combo things too and I use it every day.
Not to cook in, but to sterilize baby bottles, re-heat leftovers, warm
up garlic bread, etc. etc. I don't know how we did without them (many
years ago). Its a bit like what did we do before mobile phones???

Cathy

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 16:08:02 -0500, Alan wrote:

>
>>> Coffee should never be made in quantities far above what's going to be
>>> drunk immediately.
>>
>>You must have nothing else to do. To my mind, using up one-half to
>>one-third of a pot of unburned leftover coffee is preferable to throwing
>>it away just to make more (it's the Scot in me, maybe, but there we
>>are).
>>
>>
>Why make more than you can drink?
>
>I make one cup at a time in my Melitta cone filter, and it is superb, and
>always fresh. Never burned out because I tried to be thrifty and kept
>half a pot on the "warmer" for half a day!
>
Right. When I want a cup of coffee, I fill th emug with cold water,
pour it into a saucepan and put it on the stove. I put the filter cone
onthe same mug, and measure out 1/4 cup of beans. I grind the beans
and put them in the filter. when the water boils I pour it into the
filter.

The saucepan stays clean, and the filter with grounds gets tossed. The
only specialized thing is the filter cone.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood