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

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

SF VIP
Location
Mid-Missouri
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?

food-drink-household_chore-housework-chores-cooking_skills-stains-dren1421_low.jpg
 

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?

food-drink-household_chore-housework-chores-cooking_skills-stains-dren1421_low.jpg
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Yes I could live without the microwave.

I don't reheat coffee; in fact if it gets cold I might put ice in it because I like iced coffee anyway.

I don't like to defrost food in the microwave; it gets weird.

I use it for making popcorn and sometimes bacon but that's rare

When heating up things like soup I'd rather use a saucepan because the bowl that the soup is in gets too hot in the microwave.
 
I use my microwave a lot. But, I've started using my large toaster oven even more. It takes longer, but the food is crisper and isn't as soggy as the microwave can make it. Especially when reheating things, like pizza slices.
 

Paco Dennis said:
Could you make it without your microwave?
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No, I am very microwave-dependant. I keep a spare 700 wt little microwave as a backup. Though currently I am using the spare one because the bigger one a few months ago suddenly had trouble rolling the little rotator (I don't know what the correct word for it is), and when I took out the glass tray and rotator I found the metal under the rotator had rusted completely through! I was so shocked. I guess I need to be better drying out the inside of the microwave. Now I've got a little fan on the counter next to the microwave and I blow it into the microwave for several seconds after I take out my food.
I need to order a new microwave so I can put the spare back on my shelf. I also have a spare keurig but that was by accident because mine stopped working but then magically started working again before the replacement arrived.
 
I call BS on microwaves destroying nutrients. Cooking on its own destroys some nutrients and the longer you cook an item the less nutrients remain. Microwaves heat food over a shorter interval than when using infra-red radiation. If you aren't microwaving your broccoli for 10+ minutes it should have the most nutrients intact.
 
I haven't used a microwave in years. I do not like them. For keeping coffee warm, or any beverage really I have an electric mug warmer. I can put cold coffee in it and it will warm it up, but it is not instant.

For hot water I use an electric tea pot kind of thing. They can be cooked in. College kids use them in their dorms for cooking but I only use mine for water. If I want hot water all day, I pour it into a thermos and you can do that with coffee or whatever also. I was also looking at electric saucepans and very small burners that had surprisingly good reviews.

Whatever you choose though, you will still have to pour it from a dish or a cup into something else. I used to say my wood stove was my microwave and I would put a dish right into a Dutch oven with a trivet under it on the heating stove and it would heat it up as fast as a microwave. Had to watch it though.
 
Grampa Don said:
I feel your pain about the dead microwave. But, I think your concern about nutrition is unnecessary. Here is an article that addresses that.
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I agree and I think that's a good article.
I was going to post that I believe that each cooking method varies, regarding which nutrients get lowered, and which remain high,
and it also varies depending on the type of food, but overall, while some foods might lose some nutrients, other foods retain more, so I don't think it deems that the microwaves overall lower nutrients, or lowers them more than other cooking methods.

Myself, I could live without one, and I did for years longer than many people did; But now I prefer to have one, for some uses, and for some times, and especially as I am very limited in my abilities and stamina, so it is much healthier to have more foods available, that are nutritious to eat, than to do without some of them.
It also makes less food wasted, and more kept fresh,
because I can keep all the biscuits fresh longer, for example, in the freezer, knowing they can be defrosted quickly and easily.
 
In some instances/situations, the microwave is actually safer (believe it or not!:oops::LOL: ) because it automatically shuts off, which is important if someone gets otherwise occupied or forget, to attend to it promptly, which my stove does not do.
 
The most important thing that the microwave does for me, is to heat (and reheat, and reheat......endlessly and easily)
my heat pads for pain relief.
I gave up on the electric heating pads years ago, and don't miss those! Had hot water ones, for some years, but they became too difficult and dangerous for me to fill and empty, etc.
 
Paco Dennis said:
Thanks for the link. This has given us pause now...we will be researching this further. Apparently it destroys B12.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10554220/
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Gosh, their article is about cooking raw meats and dairy, by microwave. I do not use it for that! Is that a common use for them, by people here?:unsure:

In addition, I am not feeling up to trying to figure out, if what they say in that article, relates or applies to the B12 in other foods, and whether that would also be diminished.
At this moment, I can't even remember which foods other than meats, contain significant B12, or if those are ones that would typically be microwaved.
 
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