If you have no microwave, how do you reheat food?

[melissel]

Our microwave has decided to stop heating things. We don't have money for a new one, and I really don't want another one. But DH works 10-7 (and comes home later most nights), so he usually needs to reheat his dinner.

 

We do have a toaster oven to use, though I'm not sure how practical that will be for dinner-type foods. I don't relish the idea of using fresh pots and pans to reheat food I already cooked once.

 

Is there some other solution I'm not seeing?

 

TIA!

[Ellie]

In a pan. On the stove. Rarely in the toaster oven.

 

It's not that big a deal. Yes, you're using a pan to cook food you already cooked, but you don't have the prep stuff to clean up, right? No big deal.

[MominIN]

We do not have a microwave, but we also rarely reheat just one plate at a time. I reheat by using either the stove top or the oven, but I do it in larger quantities. I don't have a toaster oven, so I'm not sure how that would work.

 

Hopefully someone else can be more helpful.

[eternalknot]

In a pan. On the stove. Rarely in the toaster oven.

 

It's not that big a deal. Yes, you're using a pan to cook food you already cooked, but you don't have the prep stuff to clean up, right? No big deal.

 

:iagree:

 

I also inherited (through marriage) those nifty corningware things. We use them to store any leftovers, then move them straight from the refrigerator to the stovetop - or even the oven. It was like sliced bread. I buy them up at garage sales when I see them; who knew it could be so easy LOL.

[meggie]

We went about two weeks without one, I had to reheat everything on the stove.

[Tammyla]

We used to reheat a meal for one or two in the oven. If cleanup was a fuss, we would line the baking dish with foil. Some plates can even go into the oven on a cookie sheet; just be real careful and alert the diner.

[tearose]

I do the pan on the stove method, too. If you're only heating 1-2 portions, just put that amount into the smallest skillet or saucepan you have, and dishwashing isn't a big deal. Honestly, I have a microwave, I often opt for reheating on the stove because I like how evenly things warm up that way.

[LarlaB]

We do not use a microwave for health concerns, and reheat everything in a skillet on the stove....many times adding water so it doesn't dry out. Really? The food tastes better than microwaved.

[TheAutumnOak]

We use the oven or top of the stove to reheat stuff...I haven't used a microwave in my house probably since I was in high school, when my mom had one...

 

Food taste better reheated from the oven to me, so I never bothered with a microwave...Plus I feel a oven is probably a safer way to reheat stuff...

[Hyzenthlay in Pa.]

I use a bamboo steamer.

[RahRah]

You could "plate" the meal into foil wrap.....heat in the oven at 350, wrapped, for about 15-20 minutes.....take out, put on plate, open foil and eat.

[Miss Peregrine]

We do not use a microwave for health concerns, and reheat everything in a skillet on the stove....many times adding water so it doesn't dry out. Really? The food tastes better than microwaved.

 

Same here. I have different sizes of cast iron pans that I use. Clean up is rinse and wipe. We haven't had a micro for years. It takes less time to clean the pans than clean the inside of a microwave.

[AnitaMcC]

We are in the same situation. We just reheat in oven. It is how I grew up reheating leftovers so no biggie.

[GoVanGogh]

I also don't use a microwave for health reasons. I reheat everything in the oven. I actually prefer it for noonday meals, as I can heat up our lunch while finishing up school. Leftovers get stored in glass, then heated in same container.

[abbeyej]

You could "plate" the meal into foil wrap.....heat in the oven at 350, wrapped, for about 15-20 minutes.....take out, put on plate, open foil and eat.

 

This is similar to what I do. Though it depends on the food. Some things reheated on the stove. Others left in their original pots/pans if I know someone will be eating in a short time... We haven't had a microwave in about 8-9 years.

[LAS in LA]

We don't have a microwave and usually reheat on the stove as others have mentioned. But I wonder . . . could you wrap dh's dinner in foil and keep it warm in the crockpot??? If it's just a few hours between your dinner and his, this might work.

[Garga]

I remember in the good old days when the idea of owning a microwave was so exotic to me. I didn't know anyone with a microwave--not for safety, but just because they were not commonly owned in people's houses.

 

My dh says he remembers coming home from school one day and his parents had a new microwave on the counter. His mom told him not to touch it because the radiation needed to settle. :confused:

 

We heated our food in a pan on the stove back then.

[Stacia]

Leftovers get stored in glass, then heated in same container.

 

Yep, this is how we do it too (usually in the oven, sometimes on the stovetop).

 

Or, dh piles all sorts of leftovers onto one of our good china plates & sticks it in the oven for a long time. :tongue_smilie: (Good thing that it turns out that our china is oven-safe. LOL.)

[Tarreymere]

I grew up without a microwave. We either used the toaster oven, or if someone was coming in late for dinner a filled dinner plate was just put in the oven with a tinfoil cover and the oven left on 'warm'.

We warmed up leftovers from the frig the same way, on 'warm' in pyrex dishes or pans. Of course we had no dishwasher either but it wasn't considered a big deal.

When we finally got a microwave when I was an adult I didn't like it because I didn't like the way it changed the taste of things or how it made things too hot too fast or in spots instead of evenly warming things. I still prefer the toaster oven over the microwave.

[bookfiend]

If it is just one plate for DH, why don't you want to use the toaster oven? Many of them have convection/bake settings. It would use less energy than the full oven. You could wrap the tray in foil and avoid the clean-up issue as well.

 

 

[angela in ohio]

We don't often reheat food, but we use a pan on the stove or a baking pan in the oven when we do.

[Dolphin]

How much later than you eat does he come home? If it is around than an hour, and your plates are microwave safe, plate up the food hot and cover it tightly in tin foil (so that it doesn't dry out). Put it in the oven and turn the oven on to 170, as soon as it reaches 170 turn off the oven and turn on the oven light. Don't open the door and the food should still be nice and warm for dh to eat.