We have one but I almost never use it because heating on the stove or in the oven is frequently faster and almost always better than the MW. (Ordinary stove, no steam oven or warming drawer). Certainly no health concerns either way (where do people come up with that stuff?) I'd get rid of it but my wife likes to reheat drinks. I hit the button on the espresso machine and make a fresh coffee rather than reheat. Taking an extra 10 min to reheat pizza in the oven produces an infinitely better product than the limp mess that comes out of the MW. Heating almost anything on a 23K BTU burner is faster than a 1200 Watt microwave, especially for heating water or cooking frozen vegetables.

So, I'd rather have the countertop than the MW primarily because I don't like the quality of the food that comes out. Plus, I just don't think it's all that convenient. Since it's there I will use it for quick defrosting of meat, about the only use I make of it. We went for a year without one between houses and I never missed it.

I never had a microwave until I was in my 40s. I never realized how much I use it until that first one broke. I don't cook food in it, but I defrost, soften, reheat, just tons of things that don't even occur to me anymore. It's just an essential part of my kitchen. Yes, frozen dinners from Trader Joe's. I don't reheat coffee in it because I think old, reheated coffee tastes terrible however you reheat it.

Growing up my mom was always reheating things on top of the stove (tiny bit of water in the bottom of the pan) and it would burn, meaning the food had to be thrown out and leaving an acrid smell everywhere.

If you can live without a MW, more power to you. I embrace mine and don't begrudge the space it takes up on my counter.

Breville toaster oven for reheats, electric kettle to boil water for tea, coffee, and oatmeal, electric steamer/rice cooker for veggies.

We have always had one and until we started this kitchen renovation, I would have said we use it frequently for different things. When moving it to start the remodel it ended up in the basement so it makes me much more aware of how often we use it. It has been in the basement for about 3 months and I have went down there exactly 3 times to use it...all 3 times it was a steamer bag of broccoli. If my coffee gets cold it goes down the drain and I'll make another cup. I really want to leave it in the basement when this renovation is complete. Something I use once a month does not warrant taking up so much counter space.

I went with a speed oven. I like having options.
I use the speed function a lot- reheated pizza is great and fast!
I do use the MW function for general leftovers.
Otherwise, I use my delonghi oven if I don't want to use a full oven.
Giving away my age but saw my first MW at the NYC worlds fair - we nuked tube steaks - aka hot dogs.

We do not have a mw. Our old kitchen had one, and it was great to warm up milk for our babies. However, the door latch broke, and it would cost $$$ to fix it.

The new kitchen, we splurged on appliances, including an expresso built in coffee maker, beverage center, blue star stove, etc. but....no mw. I figure if I really need one, I will buy one at target, and then store it away. No more built in microwaves.... They are simply not worth it.

I don't have a microwave and I've never had one. I heat anything liquid in a pot on the stove. Anything solid I heat in the oven in a casserole or in a stainless pot with all-stainless lid.

I sometimes use the microwave in our housing complex kitchen, and I actually don't find it that fast. But it does create fewer dirty dishes - you just use the cup/plate that you'll be drinking/eating from rather than additional pots.

I'm not anti microwave, I just have never wanted to make space for one in my tiny kitchen. I'm doing a reno though, and I'll be making space for one on an undercounter shelf...for resale.

It takes 3 minutes to reheat home-blanched and frozen green beans and they taste like fresh - takes longer to boil the water on the stove than that. But I am really thinking of getting rid of the MW b/c it takes up an awful lot of room, maybe just buy a smaller one for those steam veggies and the measuring cup of water for tea/oatmeal. I don't need to put the meatballs (once a week) in the MW, can do on stovetop.

BTW, you shouldn't put baby bottles or bags of breastmilk in the MW - it causes hot spots, and even if you shake (and don't get hot milk sprayed all over) or swirl it, it may not even out, also chance of overheating. Just heat a cup of water (leave room for bottle) and then stick the bottle in it. Takes a few minutes longer but safer.

Mr. Peanut has been waging an anti-MW campaign and has almost got me convinced. We tracked our use for a few weeks and he never once used it, while I use it exclusively for reheating coffee. Wait! I did use it once for melting butter, but that's only because our vintage gas stove isn't hooked back up yet and I can't use its convenient pilot light for melting.

We eat dinner at the same time in the dining room, so no haphazard schedules. If something needs reheating later it gets put back in the oven/stove/wherever it was originally cooked. Frozen food and leftovers, same process.

What kinds of foods would baffle you to reheat other than in the MW? Now you have ME curious! :)

I've never been able to adequately thaw frozen meats in the MW -- they singe or thaw in bizarre patterns -- so I just pull it out in the morning before leaving, to defrost during the day in the fridge.

Pizza is far far better reheated in an oven than in the MW, no doubt about that.

Except for leftover smorgasbord night when the microwave comes in handy, I reheat in the oven or on the stovetop, as described above. Other than that, I use the MW for melting chocolate and butter and reheating tea (tho it doesn't taste so good), all of which can easily be done stovetop. Oh, and a few recipes I like require par cooking with the MW. Honestly, I don't know why I gave it space in the kitchen. I'll soon move it to the pantry and get doors to cover the hole in the cabinet where the MW was - more kitchen storage!

I appreciate all the replys.

Our coffee drinks are not picky. They drink reheated day old coffee. I don't even boil water for tea, as we have an instant hot water dispenser.

Items reheated in the mw don't taste any different to us. I completely agree that pizza is better NOT heated in a mw. Frying in a pan with butter is my favorite.

I see that some have warming drawers,steam ovens, and toaster ovens. I would certainly use those if I had them.

I suspect that many have high btu gas stoves and heat much faster than my electric range. It takes 20 min or so to preheat my oven.

We are like linelle that the mw is an essential part of our kitchen. Since we don't notice a difference is taste or quality (except pizza) it makes sense to us to use the mw as much as possible. I certainly don't want more pots to clean. I'm up to running the dw sometimes 3 times a day, and that is with no guests!

We do have a lot of planned leftovers. My kids request that I always have cooked meat and other foods in the fridge ready to be reheated for a quick meal. DS got home at 9 pm last night from college. He reheated leftovers from our dinner. There was no way he would wait 20 min for the oven to warm up and then another 20 for the food to heat. He would just go to mcdonalds instead.

Thanks again for the responses. I'm going to save this thread for future needs if the mw ever breaks!

Let me just add that I could not live without the microwave. We have two and they are both often going at the same time.

I've done test kitchen comparison between conventional and microwaved foods. The taste is slightly different -- even steamed veggies -- because the cooking medium is different but some can't distinguish or don't care.

For me, a microwave -- or alternately a speed oven with microwave capability -- is just a basic now. And nothing I've found is better or quicker at reheating. Plus it turns itself off.

We have the largest of the Breville Smartovens. I just did a test-run and it took 4 minutes to preheat. It cooks most things as well as a regular oven. We make toast every day, so it replaces the MW and toaster.

The water at my kitchen sink takes forever to heat. I must have a heated plate for hot food (thanks, Mom!), however humble my meal. Running all that water to get it hot to heat my plate for my bacon and eggs is just wasteful. Instead, I get my plate surface damp, stick in the MW for 20 seconds, dry it off, and I have a preheated plate.

A MW isn't right for everything (e.g., pizza), but it has such a gift for reheating. I love leftovers! Dinner without the hassle and usually tastes better. When I want to reheat some lasagna, do I want a 2-minute, low-energy consumption solution, or go through heating my oven for this little bird-sized portion?

We wanted to buy a new MW when we moved into new house, our old white one had crayon melted on the top of it ;-) plus it was old. But my mom had just bought new (black) one, didn't like it, so I took it and bought her a new one. So I didn't pick this one, it's too big. Plus builder messed up all outlets in my kitchen (modular so all drywalled, cabinets and counters in place) and outlet wasn't under corner cabinet like planned, plus MW too big so can't add appliance garage I was going to do later.

Mom's handmedown is 7 years old now, waiting for it to die, I think for us (and many people from sounds of it) one just big enough for a plate is good. I don't know about putting it in pantry since we do use it for oatmeal, tea, prefer to have it over by dishes/cereal cabinets - even for reheating leftovers for DS during track/XC season, he needs to get a plate out.

Debra, you wrote: "I suspect that many have high btu gas stoves and heat much faster than my electric range. It takes 20 min or so to preheat my oven."

Yes, that definitely would make a difference! I have a high btu gas range and I guess that's why it's so quick to heat things using my stovetop/oven. When I use a microwave it seem slow by comparison.

For the space challenged who are looking for a small microwave, I'll probably be getting this as my first microwave:

Whirlpoolî 0.5 cu. ft. Countertop Microwave

Planning to place it on a shelf on a 24" wide island cabinet.

I've been reading this thread and trying to think how I ever did survive without a MW...We got one when I was in high school, 30+ years ago. I don't think I've ever been without one since then. In fact, when we designed/built this house last year, I was thinking about installing *two* microwaves (forget dual ovens - I was thinking of dual MWs!). We didn't - just one 1200 watt unit, which is the most power I've ever had. It heats things really quickly; I wonder if that is the problem some of you have, when you mention that MWs don't cook that quickly. Maybe your unit is lower powered, so of course it heats slowly? Sorry if that's an obvious idea, but the extra power has made a huge difference to us!

gladys, I picked up a nice Sharp MW at Costco two years ago for $99. I think it's 1200 watts, and it heats up WAY faster than my previous one did. Any frozen meals I get at Trader Joe's I cut the nuke time in half and usually it's more than enough.

There are just 2 of us, so I don't use the MW a lot. I'm not a tea drinker and would rather drink cold coffee than re-heat it. I use the MW to cook oatmeal. My MW does a good job of defrosting, so will use it when I've forgotten to take something out of the freezer earlier. Some leftovers get reheated in the microwave, others in the oven. Rather than waiting for my oven to heat up before reheating foods (eg pizza) I put the leftovers into the cold oven and generally by the time the oven is heated, the food is as well.

"I put the leftovers into the cold oven and generally by the time the oven is heated, the food is as well."
We do this too. It's much faster than waiting for the oven to preheat first.

When our microwave was working, we used ours primarily for heating leftovers.

I love that tiny little microwave!

I do think each tool has an appropriate place, if you have the space for it. Our ancestors did just fine in the pre-MW days.

The MW is my go-to appliance for defrosting and reheating, and very select cooking. Like others, I don't like zapping pizza or anything with a crust in it. As a tool, it is much more energy and water efficient for me than firing up the range for certain purposes. Oatmeal in the morning is the quick cook oats, some dried fruit and water in the same fiestaware bowl it will be eating in. 60 seconds and it is ready. Something like leftover Chinese or Thai food comes out better in the MW, as it gets too quickly overcooked or scorched in other methods -- and steaming, even with an electric steamer, leaves a lot of cleanup and can leave things like rice soggy. Since we're in a severe drought, I like to avoid dirtying extra plates, pans, and specialty appliances. That said, I prefer my other equipment for plenty of other purposes, like oven-roasted vegetables vs. mw steaming.

The magnatron on our mw went out a few months ago and because we are in the process of remodeling we tried to do without it until the new one is installed. Well, that didn't work at all. We love the MW for thawing things like breads, my dh has the settings down to a science so it is evenly thawed. I like reheating soups for a quick lunch right in the same bowl so I don't have to wash a pot. We missed ours so much we went out and bought an inexpensive one from Sears to use until the new one is up and running. It is unbelievably slow compared to our previous ones and it does not warm food evenly, one half will be dried and the other still cold. If this was my first experience with a mw, I would not want another.

We lived without one for several years. It was doable, but I appreciate having a MW again. We often use ours for softening butter, re-heating drinks and leftovers, or defrosting meat quickly. It also has taken the pressure off of my stove top by heating up veggies, leaving my 4 stove burners open for other parts of the meal.

One thing I learned to re-heat "innovatively" when we were microwaveless was left over oatmeal. I usually make a huge pot of it for our family and will sometimes have left overs to deal with. It was hard to reheat it without the MW until I stumbled on the idea of frying the leftover oatmeal in plenty of butter until golden in spots and drizzling it with honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar just before removing it from the heat. My kids prefer the day old oatmeal prepared this way to the fresh version!

Feisty, I have that little Whirlpool unit, and I love it in the corner of my kitchen! Yep, it takes longer to heat things than a bigger, more powerful MW, but it gets the job done and doesn't take up much room.

We use it for heating leftovers, melting butter, heating water for cocoa, and cooking veggies.

MW popcorn? Eeew! We always make our popcorn on the stove, and it is so much yummier. We like to mix it up with flavorings - pepper, chili powder, and garlic salt are all good on fresh popcorn.

We have a lot of leftovers, too, and I even played that up with this sign, which is hanging above the MW:

Hi!
Going MW free has been painless for us, even with a little one at home. I do all of my reheating on the stove top. If my tea gets cold, I put it back in the teapot. We do have a small convection style toaster oven, but it has been unplugged and sitting in a cabinet for a year now, so we haven't used it for any reheating.

I love my microwave and use it for making myself a cup of perked coffee in a cup each morning using Folger's coffee bags. I also warm up my little dog's food which she enjoys better. I steam vegetables in my microwave. I use it daily. Sometimes I cook up batches of meals and freeze them for when I am busy and then use the reheat feature. Before I had a microwave years ago, I just did not make a lot of food at one time so I did not have too many leftovers. I then used a coffee pot to make coffee and steamed vegetables over the stove. It just took me longer to cook.

We've never had one [as adults--had them as kids] except once in a rental that had an OTR microwave. I think a lot of it is just what you're used to. We reheat things either in the toaster oven (we are a mostly glass v. plastic household anyway, so most leftover containers just go straight into the toaster oven--we have the middle-sized Breville) or in smaller pans on the stove (we do have an all-gas range, so maybe that helps). We have an electric kettle and use that for most anything involving heated water; usually coffee is gone while still hot (we brew into an insulated carafe so it's hot for up to a couple hours) but when it's not, I either add hot water or sometimes will heat and froth milk and mix it in. We do plenty of TJ's convenience food, but most works fine in the conventional or toaster oven. The one thing I've encountered that doesn't is the precooked rice, but once I learned about boiling rice and how quick that is, I just do that if I've forgotten to start the rice in advance.

We are also vegetarian at home for the most part, and I bet that does make a difference--not defrosting big cuts of meat, for instance, which I imagine might be much more convenient to do in a microwave. A lot of our leftovers also go to work/school for lunch and there are microwaves there, so we do certainly use them--just not at home. Debated getting one when we remodeled, but in the end just didn't think it would get enough use to be worth the counter real estate in a small kitchen.

We have two microwaves, and they both get a workout. My stove is a gas GE Profile--that means it only has one good burner, one ok burner, and two not worth squat.There are four adults, and often everyone wants different leftovers, plus different sides. I admit, if a main meal requires three hours to make, I cook larger batches to have a leftover day every few. The only thawing it is used for is frozen spaghetti sauce, in a pinch.

My favorite microwave is the Whirlpool because it has a silence setting--NO BEEPS! I love that! The Panasonic beeps, and continues beeping even if I have opened the door. Annoying and unnecessary.

I did not want a microwave in the kitchen, but it was a negotiation point with DH so we got one. I rarely use it for food. So many items I dislike microwaved. There is just one thing that I've gotten used to using a microwave for and that is heating up hot socks. [g] I don't think there is another way to heat them and I couldn't do without them, so the microwave earns it's keep.

Defrosting food? Why would you need a microwave for that? I remember in high school I had a friend who lived with an aunt who worked and it was his job every day after school to take out the meat for dinner. It's just thinking ahead about what's for dinner and taking it out at the right time. If everyone works during the day, you take it out and put it in the refrigerator the day before about dinner time. I don't work so we put it on the counter at breakfast and I put it in the refrigerator before lunchtime.

Great thread, how clever of you to initiate the dialogue. I moved my mw out of the kitchen and into the mudroom/ butler pantry, if I want to use fancy talk. I had them give me a base cab with a shelf. It is not wedded to a form factor. Just sits there below the counter waiting to heat milk for coffee. Makes morning joe taste so much better with steamy milk. It is a slight pain to have to walk the ten steps out of kitchen for it but it also eliminates traffic congestion. And I gave up no counter space nor upper cab. Win win.

I'm glad those with two MWs or considered it posted. I also considered two!

I have a sign in my kitchen: Todays Menu Take it or Leave it

Even though I am out of work right now and do usually meal plan I still sometimes have to defrost meat in the MW. Some items will defrost over night in the fridge others seem to stay rock solid. Even on my heated counter things do not defrost evenly. The other night I realized I didn't have a side dish to my "loaded sweet potato skins". I quickly grabbed a container of frozen soup and in the mw it went.

Heated socks? tell me more....

On another note.... my elderly mother who has problems with her hands uses her MW and crockpot (with a disposable liner) exclusively. The cooktop and oven is just too much for her to use safely.

I think the MW placement is important if you are going to have one. I can see why you would want to eliminate it if you can't find a good spot.

Defrosting food? Why would you need a microwave for that?

Oh prairiemoon, let me count the ways. Actually I won't because it would be too tedious to read. :)

I'm retired and have plenty of time to plan things, but alas I forget. Like Gyr_Falcon, when I really cook from scratch I make plenty and parcel them up as single meals to freeze. Often it's 5 or 6 pm and I wonder what's for dinner. When I see a little package of goodness in the freezer and it's still rock hard, I thank my MW for solving that problem in 2-3 minutes.

Besides reheating coffee and some leftovers, I use it to heat what I call the "bag of rice". These are cotton tubes sold at the drugstore for painful joints, muscles or what not. It can be a great foot warmer on a cold night.

Hot socksâ¦.are hand made. I use raw winter wheat kernels from the WFoods bins instead of rice. You fill a new, sock (that I've washed a few times first) with the wheat berries, sew it closed and when you want to warm your bed up on a cold night, you put each sock in the microwave for 3 minutes and voila! Or if you have a sore muscle, sore low back, sore neck. It's nice moist heat.

I do realize it is faster and easier to defrost frozen food in the microwave, I just feel it's healthier not to put it through the microwave. Nothing I've read has convinced me it is or it isn't a healthy way of cooking, so I would rather err on the side of caution, so I use the microwave sparingly.

So you can take take a regular sock and fill it with rice (no wheat berries in the cupboard) and heat in the mw? Will it warm up cold feet in the winter?

Yes, you can use white rice, which will give you a moist heat.

My personal favorite, if you can find it, is to use field corn in a sack heated in the MW. It's a dryer heat, and lasts a very long time. They're Marvelous for heating up cold feet in the winter! I used one in my bed almost every night when we had that cold stretch. It felt sooo good to crawl into bed and have that cozy sack at my feet.

I use my magic bag (hot sock) religiously for neck aches. Although I use mw to reheat leftovers and make popcorn (plain, in a paper bag or bowl) the magic bag is the only thing I truly NEED the mw for. I suppose I could make do with a hot water bottle but the magic bag is hotter and conforms better to my neck. On vacation this week and had to make do with a sealed glass container of hot water for a killer neck ache...not nearly as nice!

I'm curious - why don't any of you ever use heating pads? You know, the electric things? You can use them with a damp cloth if you want damp heat...as addicted as I am to my MW, it still seems easier to use a heating pad...

Okay, maybe this thread is getting off topic...at any rate, someone mentioned earlier that with just two people in their home, a MW didn't make sense. Actually, MWs excel at cooking smaller amounts of food. When you start cooking larger amounts, that's where traditional cooking might be just as efficient...I'm home all day - I *do* work, just not outside the home! - but the MW is still a wonderful time saver!

gladys - I use the stuffed sock method often because it conforms to an area better (neck pain). Also, it's easier to move around not being tethered to a heating pad cord. If using it as a foot heater in bed, you don't have to worry about getting your legs tangled up in the cord it if you happen to fall asleep. It seems like a more uniform heat as well...it always seemed like when I used heating pads, the heat wasn't uniform.

I can't wait to try some hot socks tonight!

I would love to get rid of my MW. I never needed or wanted one. 10+ years ago, the BF showed up at my door with one - as a "gift for me," and a dozen roses on top. Now, as a DH, he and the MW have moved through three states and twice that in dwellings. We just bought a house with very little counter space - and that behemoth needs to go but it just will not die.

One last post on the socksâ¦if you're in a hurry you can close the sock with a wide elastic and not bother sewing it. Doesn't get much easier than that.

One last last...it is possible to burn yourself if you fall asleep with a scorching hot sock. I've never done it, though I've given it a good try a few times. Oh and if you put glass full of water in the microwave at the same time it will be easier on your microwave, I hear. And rice is the easiest but flaxseeds work surprisingly well and last longer.. Use 100% cotton socks to prevent melting or burning. And you can put it in the freezer for a cold pack!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 8:38

Why don't you just use flannel sheets?

We keep our house pretty warm (down to 67 degrees at night) AND have flannel sheets but when we take off our socks at night our feet are usually like ice. I forgot to try it last night.

may_flowers - like debra, we also use flannel sheets. But, my feet are almost always cold. In the winter, when I'm in the house, I keep a thick pair of fuzzy socks on plus a set of bootie-style sheepskin slippers on and my feet still get cold. In the summer, I can sometimes switch to something a bit lighter, but I always have slippers on when I'm in the house. Sometimes I use my DH as my bed foot warmer, although I'm not certain he appreciates it much. The stuffed sock warmer works wonders to help warm up my cold tootsies.

Sorry, I just saw there were more posts here about the socks. To robotropolis, the socks can get pretty hot. In the beginning of using them, it takes a few tries to get the right amount of time to leave them in the microwave to get the socks to the temperature that is most comfortable. If you put them in for too long, you can burn the kernels inside and you will smell them cooking. You want to put them in for less time if thatâÂÂs the case.

Believe me if the socks are too hot, you will keep your feet away from them. And can push them to another part of the bed until they cool down a little. And I would think you would make that adjustment before you fell asleep. They stay warm when under the covers for a surprisingly long time. IâÂÂve never burned myself on the socks.

We keep our thermostat down to 62 degrees at night with warm down comforters on the bed with flannel sheets. My feet are always cold and I usually have a sore muscle or two that appreciate the heat as well.

never had one.....nor a dishwasher or a clothes-dryer, food-processor, TV, air-con, or a host of other gadgets and appliances. We do have a washing machine, cooker and really push the boat out with a toaster. Guess we might do things a bit differently in Europe....but when the oil runs out, some of us will be struggling less than others (but yes, we are probably going to be a bit filthier too).

A handy warming device.