Our microwave oven just died...what to do?

I use my microwave every single day without fail.

About two years ago, my Sharpe 1200 went on the blink in the morning. By late afternoon, I got a new one from Lowes. Just can't do without it.

I don't cook meats/fish in the microwave. Dinners are cooked on the stove top.

It's mainly for reheating, popcorn and my breakfast oatmeal.. Plus, I use it for making tea. Boil my water in the cup (3 1/2 mins.), then drop my tea bag in. Beautiful cup of tea every time.
 

Paco Dennis said:
Could you make it without your microwave?

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We use our microwave frequently.....to warm up a cup of coffee during the day, or heat up a quick snack for lunch, etc. We bought a new one when we moved here, 19 years ago, and it lasted almost 15 years. When it failed, we just made a quick stop at the local Walmart, and bought a new one....a good basic MW can usually be found for 50 to 75 dollars. If this one lasts 15 years, that's good enough.
 
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I could live without a microwave but I use it for reheating almost everyday.

The only things that I cook in my microwave are sauces and puddings.
I wear the door off opening and closing to stir these items as they cook but it beats cleaning the scorched mess in the bottom of a sauce pan because I tried to rush, or forgot to stir the sauces.

In a pinch, fish is pretty good cooked in butter also.
 

I use mine every day and would buy another one when it dies. So easy to cook for one and not heat up that stove. So easy to heat up Jimmy Dean breakfast cups and my Lean Cuisine entrees. I heat my water for my one cup a day coffee and other things. I use the stove for cooking large amounts of food for Holidays, etc.
Sometimes I will cook a pan of homemade bisquits (sic) or cornbread.
 
Wouldn't go more than a couple of days without a MW. It's a very handy reheating tool and great for cooking/steaming fresh and frozen veggies. Mine is inside a cabinet so it doesn't eat up counter space.

To echo what others have said, I use my MW, stovetop, oven and convection-toaster oven for different types of heating and cooking.
 
Paco Dennis said:
Our microwave died about a week ago. Man, we didn't realize how dependent on it we were. Now we have to heat our food and coffee ( when room temp ) in sauce pans. It actually only takes a few minutes more that way. So, we are going back to the future, no...I meant past and keep going without one until we can't stand it no more. We also found out recently that microwaving food really takes the nutrition out of the foods...that's a big reason because we are eating as nutritionally as possible currently and for the foreseeable future.

Could you make it without your microwave?

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That cartoon is so funny. Thanks for posting it! :LOL::ROFLMAO:
I love both the captions, and the drawing. :)
 
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MickaC said:
Cook veggies in it
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Yes, besides defrosting and reheating, that is what I use it for.
It does very well with sweet potato or the long russet potato, or winter squashes....

and it actually saves a lot of power/energy/money, to microwave those, from not having the oven or stovetop cooking them, for the much longer time.

The microwave is also safer for preventing burns to hands or arms, while putting food items in and out of the oven, especially for some of us using the oven or stovetop, who have physical movement difficulties.

In short, while I avoided microwaves for many, many years, strongly preferring old-fashioned methods in the past,
now in the present, I would want a new one, if at all possible. It does have some advantages.
 
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I use my MW every morning to heat up my green tea. And to cook hard shelled squash. And eggplant.

But, funny thing, it died on me the other day after cooking my eggplant for about 6mins. MW is 3mos new.
It was very steamy inside, so I left the door open. Then, about 5mins later it came back to life! ??????
 
StarSong said:
Mine is inside a cabinet so it doesn't eat up counter space.
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That does sound great, that it doesn't take up valuable kitchen counter space, (y)
But if yours is in a cabinet, then it cannot provide for potted indoor plants to be set on top (like mine does);)
in order for them to get the needed full-spectrum light, for growing and thriving while they are cooped up indoors!:cool::LOL::giggle:
 
dobielvr said:
I use my MW every morning to heat up my green tea. And to cook hard shelled squash. And eggplant.

But, funny thing, it died on me the other day after cooking my eggplant for about 6mins. MW is 3mos new.
It was very steamy inside, so I left the door open. Then, about 5mins later it came back to life! ??????
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Do you have space around it to allow cooling air to escape? Your manual specifies how much space to allow, sides and back. There is a temperature sensor inside that cuts off power if the interior gets too hot. That's probably what happened to yours.
 
Pink Biz said:
What he said!
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We decided that we were a little paranoid about the vitamin thing so we went in to town and bought a used one for $40, in good shape. Craig's List is where we found it. The family is moving to New York city by car. It is really nice to be able to ask a question here, and have confidence that those who reply are in touch with these "senior" moments. :)

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I like to bake a yukon gold small potato in mine. I top with real butter, cheese and sour cream. Its really a meal for me. Sometimes I will put cottage cheese on top if I have it. Love a sweet potato also. I open it up and put butter and a little brown sugar on top. I prick the potatoes and wrap in a moist paper towel before putting in the microwave. I don't eat much meat so these are a meal for me.
 
Paco Dennis said:
We decided that we were a little paranoid about the vitamin thing so we went in to town and bought a used one for $40, in good shape. Craig's List is where we found it. The family is moving to New York city by car. It is really nice to be able to ask a question here, and have confidence that those who reply are in touch with these "senior" moments. :)

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To access your coffee do you move your toaster oven and the shelf holding it, or is the shelf affixed to the wall?
 
Grampa Don said:
Do you have space around it to allow cooling air to escape? Your manual specifies how much space to allow, sides and back. There is a temperature sensor inside that cuts off power if the interior gets too hot. That's probably what happened to yours.
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I do, thanks. It's a large, deep pantry cabinet. Been housing a MW there for 35+ years. This is our 4th in all that time - and we raised three kids so the MWs got a workout!

When completely remodeling the kitchen a few years ago I made sure the contractor created a similar space for the MW. He was so taken with our solution to the "where do we stick the microwave" problem that he moved some things in his own house to replicate our setup.

Our previous MW didn't actually die - the inside paint was starting to wear off which is why we replaced it. Luckily, our daughter had a MW that she gladly passed our way. She'd only used it for a couple of years before moving to a house with a built in MW over the stove.

Score!
 
I have always disliked microwaves; just didn't understand exactly what it was doing to my food. I have a lovely air fryer now and am not looking back. Hubby likes the microwave; I just use it to warm cat food and possibly leftovers. But certain things heat so much better in the air fryer, like chicken, pizza, and English muffins toast very nicely in there.

I have a nice electric kettle with a stainless steel lining for heating water, and a small hot plate on my desk to keep my hot beverage warm.
 
Grampa Don said:
Do you have space around it to allow cooling air to escape? Your manual specifies how much space to allow, sides and back. There is a temperature sensor inside that cuts off power if the interior gets too hot. That's probably what happened to yours.
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Thanks Grampa...ya I figured it was something like that.
I'll chk to make sure I have it pulled enough away from the wall.

I found my manual afterwards....
 
RadishRose said:
Yes I could live without the microwave. I don't like to defrost food in the microwave; it gets weird.
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We find that it's so much easier to cook for four, although there's only the two of us. The leftovers will provide another meal in a few days time without having to cook it. That's about all we use the microwave for. Never use it for defrosting, or cooking, just reheating and that's it. Before the microwave, reheated food, either in the oven or on top of a saucepan of boiling water, always looked gross and tasted gross too.

There's a conspiracy theory that microwaves make your food radioactive and release harmful radiation, which raises your risk of cancer. The scaremongering goes on to say that microwaves destroy the nutrients in your food, increasing your risk of nutrient deficiencies. Well so far, I haven't seen a mushroom growing on the back of my head.

There is a low risk of microwaves causing plastic containers to release chemicals into your food but if you want to play it safe, only microwave food in glass or ceramic containers.
 

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