To Nuke Or Not To Nuke

Twenty-five years ago, microwave ovens were the “in” thing to have in your kitchen; it showed you were in the know with technology and really “with it.”  Today, microwaves are as common as dishwashers – we couldn’t do without them.  But as dishwashers shouldn’t be used to clean everything, microwaves aren’t for cooking everything – or are they?

Our friend, Fenton, was a biochemist; probably one of the smartest men on the planet.  He was single and rarely made anything at home other than his coffee and perhaps some hot chocolate.  When microwaves first came out, he decided to get one.  He even took a class on how to use a microwave.  The first class was how to boil water – I know, laugh if you must, but back in the day, it wasn’t that easy to figure out.  The toaster oven was usually the most technology in the kitchen at the time.

Fenton, being the biochemist he was, decided he knew enough about using a microwave after the first class that he didn’t need the others, so he bailed on the rest of the classes.  The first thing he attempted in his brand new microwave was hot chocolate.  Knowing the molecular structure of milk versus water, he figured milk is more dense, so it needed more time to cook than water.  Milk goes into the microwave.  Timer is set for 4 minutes.  You can guess the rest – milk overheats.  Glass cup shatters.  Microwave becomes a large, expensive plant holder.

So, how do you know what to cook in the microwave and what not to?  Here are some don’ts:

• Never, ever use metal.  Metal will snap, crackle and pop your microwave and potentially cause a fire.  Keep all metal out of the microwave.  Try to use glass or ceramic/porcelain containers to microwave as much as possible.  Make sure they’re microwave-safe, but non-plastic containers don’t leach chemicals into your food and heat more evenly.
• If you must use plastic containers, make sure they have low BPA levels, under 5; plastic leaches chemicals into your food when heated.  Any container with BPA over 5 will leach more.
• Definitely don’t reheat plastic take-out containers in the microwave.  If you need to reheat take-out food, transfer it to a different container.  Take-out containers aren’t made for reheating.
• Don’t just reheat in the microwave – there are tons of great reasons to use the microwave to actually cook, foods that do better in the microwave than on the stovetop. 
• Don’t cook raw meat in the microwave.  It’s ok to reheat meat or defrost it but cooking meat or chicken from raw in the microwave looks unappetizing (everything comes out gray) and cooks from the inside out, rather than from the outside in as with baking or roasting.
• Baking bread, cakes, etc are disastrous in the microwave.  They come out really thick and gummy or just nasty.

There are lots of things NOT to do with a microwave, but what should you use the microwave for?  What is it best for?  It’s definitely more than a plant stand. 

Coming up next:  Microwave Do’s!