Wot I do with My Microwave.

[pcolbeck]

Never having tried it, I'm slightly impressed that microwaves can effectively warm plates...

Mrs pcolbeck does this. I have never figured out how it works there being no water in glazed ceramics.

[Basil]

Never having tried it, I'm slightly impressed that microwaves can effectively warm plates...

Yes, I was surprised too.  It never occurred to me until I saw #2 son doing it in his flat in Carmarthen.
Now I do it all the time.

[Sergeant Pluck]

How long do you need to put plates on for to warm up? Never use the microwave aside from occasionally reheating things. The turntable isn't working.

[Basil]

Prolly depends on the weight of your plates.
I put two large heavy plates into a very old low powered machine (600w) for one minute.

Very good in the winter as our kitchen is very cold and plates straight out of the cupboard are cold enough to ruin a nice hot dinner.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I use the microwave only for heating up leftovers - these usually involve rice or pasta, neither of which can very well be warmed up conventionally without them going either terribly soggy or brittle/catching fire! Mini uses it for heating up a cup of milk which he then pours over his cornflakes or whatever his cereal of the day is.

[Vince]

Reheating drinks, and pizza. Cooking bacon and jacket potatos.

I'm not sure the heating plates is a good idea. We damaged the seal on our first one melting chocolate and were told by the repairer that you should put a small container (egg cup?) of water in the oven in the case that the item to be cooked doesn't have a high water content.

Does anyone else use the verb 'ding'? As in 'Can you ding my coffee please?'

[urban_biker]

The method I heard about heating plates was to wet them first.

Also agree 100%, you can make pretty good scrambled eggs in the m'wave. It just requires heating and stirring at 30-40 second intervals and stopping in time.

Not sure about the bacon idea though - pan fried is always my favourite.

[tiermat]

Also agree 100%, you can make pretty good scrambled eggs in the m'wave. It just requires heating and stirring at 30-40 second intervals and stopping in time.

yebbut, if you timed how long it takes to make scrambled eggs that way, and compare it to how long it takes on the hob, I would like to bet the times wouldn't be much different, and the hob might even win out.

Scrambled eggs in a microwave, pointless, tasteless and rubbery(far too easy to go from liquid to rubber in the time it takes to turn around, quicker than it took to type this, in fact!)

[Basil]

The method I heard about heating plates was to wet them first.

You'd have thought so, but not at all necessary in my experience.

Not sure about the bacon idea though - pan fried is always my favourite.

Yes, I'm a recent convert back from grilling. 

[Greenbank]

Never having tried it, I'm slightly impressed that microwaves can effectively warm plates...

Mrs pcolbeck does this. I have never figured out how it works there being no water in glazed ceramics.

Dielectric heating works with any polarised molecules; it's just water molecules are generally the best dipoles in stuff shoved in microwave ovens. Ceramics will contain other polarised molecules so it will still work (but not as efficiently).

[Hello, I am Bruce]

A microwave is better than a rice-cooker.

Weight the rice (maybe 100g per person), rinse the rice well, tip into a pyrex bowl with a lid then add twice the weight of water.  Zap it for about 10 mins, then leave for another 10 to absorb the water.  Stir and leave until the rest of dinner is ready.

You can warm your plates on top of the rice dish while it sits absorbing the water.

[hellymedic]

Does anyone else use the verb 'ding'? As in 'Can you ding my coffee please?'

I understand the colloquial Welsh for a microwave oven is 'poptyping'...

[clarion]

Our microwave seems to have repaired itself.

[urban_biker]

Also agree 100%, you can make pretty good scrambled eggs in the m'wave. It just requires heating and stirring at 30-40 second intervals and stopping in time.

yebbut, if you timed how long it takes to make scrambled eggs that way, and compare it to how long it takes on the hob, I would like to bet the times wouldn't be much different, and the hob might even win out.

I agree - there's probably not much in it.

Scrambled eggs in a microwave, pointless, tasteless and rubbery(far too easy to go from liquid to rubber in the time it takes to turn around, quicker than it took to type this, in fact!)

Disagree - once you know the method its just as easy to get this right as you would on the hob. In fact its fairly easy to screw up on the hob if you are not careful.

[tiermat]

Having tried both, u_b, I'll have to disagree with you.

So maybe we should just agree to disagree on that point? If you are happy doing it that way, carry on, and I'll carry on making them my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy </Sinatra>

[Arch]

Does anyone else use the verb 'ding'? As in 'Can you ding my coffee please?'

I understand the colloquial Welsh for a microwave oven is 'poptyping'...

Literally "Oven that goes ping".

I use the one at work for cooking my habitual instant noodles.

[Exit Stage Left]

Never having tried it, I'm slightly impressed that microwaves can effectively warm plates...

Obviously you need to wet the plates. You get a feel for how much.

[Mrs Pingu]

My quick Google today suggested that plates warm up if they're not especially microwave safe. If they are microwave safe they don't heat up much and you just knacker the machine with all those unabsorbed waves pinging back and forth.

I feel the same way about microwaved porridge as tiermat does about scrambled eggs.

[hellymedic]

I like the way I don't need to clean endless pots and pans when I cook in the microwave.

[Valiant]

I use the microwave for veg, bacon, eggs, potatos, pasta and rice. How do you cook steak in the microwave?

[Gattopardo]

Having tried both, u_b, I'll have to disagree with you.

So maybe we should just agree to disagree on that point? If you are happy doing it that way, carry on, and I'll carry on making them my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy </Sinatra>

I'll agree with you, butter fried scrambled eggs are lush. 

[Gattopardo]

I use the microwave for veg, bacon, eggs, potatos, pasta and rice. How do you cook steak in the microwave?

No to the bacon, potatoes are not crispy as they are in an oven.

God you lot have really poor ideas of what makes things taste yummy.

[Valiant]

I meant as jacket style. Bacon does with a bit of kitchen towel underneath is lovely and quick and mess free.

[Kim]

Trick with jacket potatoes is to microwave them for the time it takes for the oven to heat up to gas mark 11 (spinal tap scale), then bung them in there for a few minutes to finish them off.

[tiermat]

Trick with jacket potatoes is to microwave them for the time it takes for the oven to heat up to gas mark 11 (spinal tap scale), then bung them in there for a few minutes to finish them off.

I forgot this one, yes, if there is only the 3 of us at home, I do spuds like this.  Quicker than just in the oven, and taste better than just in the microwave.  If we are having a BBQ/party we just do them all in the oven (one time I counted 52 spuds baking in the oven!)