Microwave ovens

[JamesAC]

I need one.
I don't know anything about them.

Just my wife and I, a "ready meal" thing a few times a week (we also do "proper" cooking a few times a week, too)

Any advice?

Cheers

 

[BrumJim]

Ones with buttons that you press last longer than ones with dials that you turn.

I'm also assuming that they all have the same gubbins on the inside, just a different look on the outside.

Hence you are better off with a cheaper own-store version than a trustworthy household name. Same parts, different price.

 

[4F]

Yes, don't bother with one. I would rather rustle an omlette up or somthing other equally as quick than attempt to eat a "ready meal"

We had a microwave years ago and I have to say would not have one again as it used to give very dissapointing results.

 

[I am Spartacus]

Have you been in 'stasis' for the past 30 years?

 

[tyred]

Buy the cheapest you can find. It will last just as long as the most expensive and will be simpler and esier to use.

 

[Fnaar]

Get a silver one. They look nicer

 

[User482]

Can't ready meals be heated up in a normal oven?

Anyway, I do have a microwave. It gets used for defrosting (when I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer) and heating up milk for Mrs R's hot chocolate. It also has a combi-oven built in, which is more energy efficient than the main oven.

 

[Fnaar]

If you are going to be using a microwave for proper cooking I recommend you beg, steal, or borrow a copy of "The Microwave Gourmet" by Barbara Kafka. It's an astonishingly good cookbook and very importantly it's not afraid of telling what you should definitely not try and cook in a microwave. It's out of print though I presume.

Kafka-esque cooking...

 

[User482]

It's much more energy efficient to use a microwave though. Once you've accounted for the manufacturing footprint of course.

True, but I wouldn't bother buying one just for the occasional ready meal.

 

[andyfromotley]

Buy the cheapest you can find. It will last just as long as the most expensive and will be simpler and esier to use.

+1

Also you can put live ants in the microwave for as long as you like. They come out alive. (they 'hide' in the gaps between the microwaves).

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Get a half price one, that's what we did - they're less money apparently!

Ours gets used for heating up baked beans and erm........

Never ever ever cook a potato in it and call it a baked potato or I'll come round and smash it with a sledgehammer!

 

[Speicher]

I have a combi one. With convection, grill etc.

The pre-programmed settings are useful. Jacket potatoes done on a combination of convection and microwave are quick, fifteen minutes for two large ones, and you get a crispy skin. Also do porridge in it, and small items like fish in breadcrumbs instead of putting on the big oven. I only have a single oven on the "main" cooker, so an extra oven is very useful.

Also does crumpets - lovely in convection mode, baked through and very crispy. I have had my Panasonic "nearly top of the range one" now for ten years. Not sure how many cheaper ones would last that long.

 

[User482]

I have a combi one. With convection, grill etc.

The pre-programmed settings are useful. Jacket potatoes done on a combination of convection and microwave are quick, fifteen minutes for two large ones, and you get a crispy skin. Also do porridge in it, and small items like fish in breadcrumbs instead of putting on the big oven. I only have a single oven on the "main" cooker, so an extra oven is very useful.

Also does crumpets - lovely in convection mode, baked through and very crispy. I have had my Panasonic "nearly top of the range one" now for ten years. Not sure how many cheaper ones would last that long.

I have a Panasonic too. I use it mainly for the convection oven - more efficient than my main oven.

I bought it 10 years ago secondhand and it must have been at least 10 years old then. When it eventually dies I'll get another Panasonic - one every 20 years seems pretty good going to me.

 

[Speicher]

I have a Panasonic too. I use it mainly for the convection oven - more efficient than my main oven.

I bought it 10 years ago secondhand and it must have been at least 10 years old then. When it eventually dies I'll get another Panasonic - one every 20 years seems pretty good going to me.

I think I can confidently say that my automatic washing machine is older that yours - twenty nine years!

 

[numbnuts]

combi one. With convection, grill etc +1
I have this one