So, today Miss Frugal decided to make some chocolate cupcakes for her Dad seeing as he’s working until 4pm on what looks to be the hottest day we’ve had so far this year.
She made them herself with no help from me and she couldn’t wait to get them iced so they’d be ready for him when he came in from work. She broke the chocolate into pieces in a bowl and popped it into the microwave as we normally do to melt it.
It was going well until the microwave made a few crackly noises, sparked a bit and then made a rather loud bang! We’re now left with an unpleasant smell, what’s left of the smoke the bang produced and a dead microwave!
We’ve had the microwave for a good few years so it’s not a huge surprise that it’s heated it’s last bowl of baked beans but didn’t want to buy a new one until I absolutely had to. Partly because a new one isn’t cheap, )well they can be but the ones I like aren’t) and partly because the one we have now is very small and fits perfectly in the corner of my kitchen.
And now I’m thinking about it, I can’t decide if I’m even going to bother replacing it at all. If I think about it, what can I cook in microwave that I can’t cook in the oven or on the hob?
I know that a microwave makes things easier but thinking about it, most things that I use the microwave for, like heating up baked beans or soup, I can easily use a pan for can’t I?
I think we can manage without one and that the extra time it would take to heat things up would be worth the extra space in the kitchen (it’s not tiny but more space would be good) and the obvious moneysaving of not having to buy one. Mr Frugal on the other hand is all set to nip out tomorrow and buy a new one and can’t believe that I would even consider being without one.
So settle an argument and tell me, does a kitchen really need a microwave?
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We don't have a microwave and manage fine, as you said everything can be done on the hob or in the oven 🙂
A kitchen is better off without a microwave – food tastes much better cooked in other ways and microwaves basically ruin the food. This lady gives some good reasons to ditch the microwave: http://ashleysgreenlife.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/ho…
No, you don’t need one. They are fab for that quick defrost or soup, but you can get by without it, can’t you?
I know what you mean. Once you don’t have to worry about warming up baby food anymore, they become a bit obsolete. We however decided to get a new one when our old microwave broke – for microwave popcorn 😉
No, it's really for convenience more than anything else. I often think about ditching mine. I cook most stuff on the stove (hob) and only use the microwave to reheat, but that can be done on the stove as well. There are a few microwave meals I would miss, but I bet I can find oven alternatives. I would try going without the microwave for a month and see how it goes. If you don't miss it, don't replace. If you do then go out and get one.
To be its essential. Cold cup of tea, children woken just as you started eating dinner, forgot to defrost meat for dinner. You can do most things in a pan but so much quicker in a micro.
I can remember the days when nobody owned a microwave, and then a few people started getting them, and before long everyone had one.
Ours came in very handy when our twins were born, for steam sterilising their bottles etc. But we hardly ever use ours now and as long as time isn't an issue, you can do anything in a pan rather than a microwave.