Microwave Tips

[Smithy]

On 1/10/2017 at 6:23 PM, dcarch said:

Tip #8 - Broken MW is worthless. However, you can remove the transformer, it can be sold on eBay for $40 to $60. Hobbyists like to use it for many projects, such as a spot welder.

 

Tip #9 - If you are throwing away your MW, save the glass platter. Most of the time it's interchangeable with other MWs, in case you break the new one.

 

dcarch

 

Oddly enough, the supports for the glass platter that allow it to rotate freely seem rarely to be interchangeable.  Some are spindles, some are rings with plastic wheels; even the ring-and-wheel setups seem to be of a different diameter. If your microwave dies and you have room for those odds and ends, save the support as well as the glass platter in case you, er, overcook the support in your next oven. (It's possible in a combination convection/microwave oven *ahem*. I don't know whether it can happen in a microwave-only oven.)

[Toliver]

On 1/11/2017 at 8:24 AM, chromedome said:

 

In my house, the microwave is jokingly referred to as the "tea storage unit" because I'm prone to forgetting my mug in there. 

My mom had a microwave (that she eventually gave to me) that would beep once every minute after the "nuking" time was over until you opened the door to remove the item you were heating. She loved that reminder beep and now regrets giving the microwave to me as her new microwave doesn't have the reminder beep and she's always forgetting that she had reheated her coffee in the thing.

[chromedome]

My current one has that, too. Often I'll pop the door to shut it up but, due to one or another distraction (shout out to all the  ADD sufferers*) then walk away and forget about it. 

 

 

*By which I mean not those of us with ADD but our family members, significant others and coworkers who put up with us.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Toliver said:

My mom had a microwave (that she eventually gave to me) that would beep once every minute after the "nuking" time was over until you opened the door to remove the item you were heating. She loved that reminder beep and now regrets giving the microwave to me as her new microwave doesn't have the reminder beep and she's always forgetting that she had reheated her coffee in the thing.

Mine does that. Sometimes it's a blessing and sometimes a curse.  

[Kerry Beal]

10 hours ago, chromedome said:

In my case, the beautiful moment is watching the penny drop after I've been searching for my mug for five minutes or longer...

I always wonder where my damn mug has disappeared to - and I'm surprised everytime when I find it in the nuke.

[andiesenji]

Mine beeps 5 times then goes silent.

 

I candy small amounts of citrus peel in the MW. 

I have posted the process on eG in the past, not sure where it is now,  but it is on my blog.   How to peel an orange and etc...

 

Once you get the hang of this process, you will be surprised how quickly you can bare that orange (or other citrus).

When I make large batches I can do a couple of dozen oranges in twenty minutes or less.

The instructions for the candying follow the photos.  I didn't add those photos to the post, although I have them somewhere.

 

[liuzhou]

Re microwave power settings.

 

Scroll down to last section

 

Quote

 

How to Make Microwaves Even Better

(An open call to manufacturers)

 

 

 

[Alex]

Another tip: When I roast a very thick piece of fish -- e.g., Patagonian toothfish or whatever it's called nowadays -- when the outside is ready, inevitably the interior is underdone. Thirty seconds or so in a relatively low-power microwave finishes the middle perfectly. (MWs cook from the inside out.)

[gfweb]

Not sure that 's true that microwaves cook inside out. I thought they cooked the outer cm or so.

[Alex]

40 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Not sure that 's true that microwaves cook inside out. I thought they cooked the outer cm or so.

 

Yes, you're correct. Sorry about that. However, I wonder if my technique works because the undercooked middle has a higher water content than the cooked outer layer.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Alex's technique probably works fine for finishing a thick piece of fish after starting it in the oven, but please don't try it with baked potatoes.

 

I prefer the dryness and flavor of oven baked over nuked potatoes in winter when I'm not running the oven against the A/C. Not too long ago, I was baking a potato to served with charcoal grilled rib eye steak, and everything was humming along on schedule. When I checked the baked potatoes, they were still slightly hard. I had already started the charcoal, and short winter daylight was fading. I've started potatoes in the microwave and finished in the oven many times, but never baked and then nuked. I wish I hadn't tried it this time. I took my slightly underdone tater, popped it in the microwave and turned away to assemble the ingredients for twice baked. About 15 seconds in, I heard a muffled boom, raced over and hit pause. It was too late. I spent fifteen minutes cleaning exploded potato mush off every surface of the interior of the microwave, started over nuking a fresh potato, assembling the twice baked, popped it in the oven and raced out to the grill as the fire burned down and the light waned. That is the second potato I've managed to explode, and the first one was forty years ago, but not started in the oven. The old-timey nukes didn't have turntables, and I didn't know to puncture the potato then.

 

So ... baking and then trying to finish in the microwave for potatoes, at least, is not recommended. 

[jmacnaughtan]

On 20/12/2016 at 8:56 AM, jmacnaughtan said:

If you have an old, tired and dry vanilla bean, you can zap it for a couple of seconds and it plumps back up, making it easier to split and scrape.

 

I did this yesterday, but left it for five seconds or so.

 

Who knew that vanilla beans could explode?

[Kerry Beal]

I also use it to 'get the red out' of meat that I have cooked sous vide for hubby who doesn't care for rare. A few seconds at a time under a silicone lid. No longer red but still moist.

[Okanagancook]

I like the Modernist Cuisine method for preparing eggplants.  Once nuked it can be brushed with butter/oil and grilled.  This reduces the fat absorbed.  Or you can use in recipes as needed.

 

slice eggplants about 1/2 inch after ribbon peeling them because the peel can be tough.  Place on paper towels on a plate then cover with paper towels.  Nuke on full power for between 2 and 3 minutes depending on how cooked you want them.

[andiesenji]

9 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

I did this yesterday, but left it for five seconds or so.

 

Who knew that vanilla beans could explode?

I roll them in plastic wrap and nuke for 6 seconds on half power.  They come out perfect. 

[heidih]

To save yourself from a knife battle with a kabocha squash or other really hard one - just set it on the MW plate (no poking) and cook for 3 minutes, rest at least 15, and repeat until a poke is to your liking. Sometimes I just want it a bit soft so I can cut and roast, and other times for puree I let it go until it almost collapses. The rest period is essential

Edited January 15, 2017 by heidih (log)

[andiesenji]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

To save yourself from a knife battle with a kabocha squash or other really hard one - just set it on the MW plate (no poking) and cook for 3 minutes, rest at least 15, and repeat until a poke is to your liking. Sometimes I just want it a bit soft so I can cut and roast, and other times for puree I let it go until it almost collapses. The rest period is essential

 

I do the same with butternut squash but I stab them with my larding needle, inserting it next to the stem and up through the cavity.

I set the MW for 8 min on 40% power and then let it rest as you do. I use that larding needle for many tasks for which it was never intended.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I love spaghetti squash. So much that mine was bought out of season.

 

It came from Honduras and it was the toughest squash I ever tried to split! It was relatively small, but so tough, I had to attack it with multiple knives, and really risk my safety to split the danged thing. I finally split off a piece of it; not a half as I had intended. This was the most effort I had ever put into splitting a squash in my life and by far the most dangerous, and I have dealt with mammoth Hubbard squash in VT.

 

I came out of it without a wound, but your know what? 

 

It wasn't worth it. I did save the other piece of the squash raw for another day. It was not worth the high risk, and if I had it to do over, I'd puncture it, nuke it, cut it easily and safely just like has been recommended here.

 

American spaghetti squash can be split raw safely, and I've done that many times. I'm convinced the Honduran one is crossed with a tougher squash, and also tastes different. I am done with spaghetti squash til fall.

 

If you make a different choice, for the love of God, nuke that Honduran squash first. You might not be so lucky.