Before I moved I tentatively decided I didn’t want a microwave. I used to own one, but for most of my college years I didn’t need one because someone else had one. I gave it to my parents when their microwave died at one point. When they moved last year they didn’t need it because they had one built in so I just told my mom to donate or sell the one I donated to them. So now if I want one I have to purchase a new one, as my new apartment does not come with one.
Before I get any comments about how easy it would be to find a cheap or free microwave somewhere, I need to make sure that everyone know this isn’t about cost, it’s about trying to live without one and see if I miss it. I don’t think I will, I’ve been here for a week and haven’t noticed the lack of it, other than not having a clock in the kitchen, which I will be remedying sometime soon.
I’ve been trying to think of any situation where not having a microwave would be a terrible inconvience. Yeah, it’s takes a little longer to reheat things on the stove or in the oven, but things usually are a lot better when you don’t use the microwave so the inconvience is outweighed by the taste factor. Baked potatoes are no longer a quick five minutes, but I don’t eat them that often, and you can always prebake them and then throw them in the oven for 5 minutes or so.
One of the best things about not having a microwave is that I can’t just pop something in for 5 minutes and get instant gratification. Making processed foods requires the oven, which at 11:00 at night or 2:30 in the morning after the bars generally isn’t going to happen.
So what do you think, is there any situation where not having a microwave would be a horrible thing?
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I’m in the same boat… moved into this apartment at the beginning of February and was mostly against getting one because of a space issue in the kitchen. The only thing I miss is microwave popcorn, but, not exactly something I eat often so not a big loss.
I love that it encourages me to cook more instead of just popping something in there; requires more dedication anyway– exactly along the lines you described above about after bars etc.
Only thing I make in the microwave is popcorn and “nachoes”. Otherwise I generally only make enough for one meal. If I do have leftovers I will heat em up in the microwave at work but only because there is no other option.
We have a microwave and have debated getting rid of it because it takes up a lot of space. But, I like microwave popcorn. I also cook potatoes before I put them on the grill and we freeze a lot of rice for quick heating in the microwave. Oh, and I throw squash in the microwave for 5 minutes before I peel it, it makes it much easier. But that’s about it. But that popcorn is the killer.
Get a toaster oven. Between that and a rice cooker, you have the greatest mini-appliances in the world.
I’m a stove top popcorn guy, and I got a hand cranked popper for Christmas so I can whip up a bunch of popcorn pretty quickly. It’s not quite the same as microwaved popcorn but it is close.
I’m in the market for a rice cooker, my roommate at my last place had one and it was wonderful. I never used to eat rice because I suck at cooking it on the stove.
When I first moved to Minneapolis I was going to have a go at not having a microwave, but my mother was so horrified that she bought me one.
I’ve been trying to get away from using the microwave so much. In some ways, it feels like it’s a ’safe’ thing with kids, but kids pushing random buttons or putting in random things can be just as dangerous as stove top. We usually make stove top popcorn too. Although there have been some interesting experiences with that.
I think that, if you have a toaster oven, you’ll be just fine without a microwave. Toaster ovens pre-heat a lot faster than regular sized ovens, so using them to warm stuff can be slightly faster. :)
I use it all the time but I can see how someone can live w/o one, probably b/c I worked in the kitchen in so long and know the limits of an oven pretty well. I’ll have to say preheating the oven is a PITA when you want something and want it NOW.
I wish I had the counter space for a toaster oven, I don’t at the moment, though I have a plan to remedy this problem. As far as preheating the oven when you want something now, that just goes with my force myself into a pre-planning mentality I’m trying to develop. Instant gratification is not the best way to promote a healthy lifestyle.