Life without a microwave?

[RootAnn]

I think my sister has a toaster oven that her DH uses all the time but no microwave. I wouldn't know what do to with a toaster oven but love my microwave. 

This is not the only difference between us or the most significant, but it is the most relevant for this thread. We grew up in the same household.

[Pawz4me]

9 hours ago, WendyAndMilo said:

How on earth would you make baked potatoes?!?!

I'm wondering how you'd warm up refrigerated canned cat food. We don't have any cats in residence right now, but historically that's what we used the microwave for the most. I guess maybe people just give their cats cold food, but .  .  . well, I guess ours were very spoiled. Or had me well trained. ? 

[Acorn]

16 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm wondering how you'd warm up refrigerated canned cat food. We don't have any cats in residence right now, but historically that's what we used the microwave for the most. I guess maybe people just give their cats cold food, but .  .  . well, I guess ours were very spoiled. Or had me well trained. ? 

Scoop into a square of foil and fold foil edges together, then heat in oven or a pan 

Ive never done cat food, but that is how I heated leftover food for myself.

[Pawz4me]

2 minutes ago, Acorn said:

Scoop into a square of foil and fold foil edges together, then heat in oven or a pan 

Ive never done cat food, but that is how I heated leftover food for myself.

Our cats have always been fed at least three times a day, and many more times when elderly or dealing with illness (as often as just a teaspoon of food every hour or two). I would feel awful from an energy usage standpoint heating an oven or burner that often. Plus I think it would be much harder to regulate the temperature of the food. With the microwave it was very easy to learn how long to heat x amount of food to get it just right.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We haven't had a microwave for 8 years. We reheat in the oven or on the stove top. I have an air popper for popcorn. I bake potatoes in the oven (usually sweet potatoes). I use the stove and a pot to boil water for tea, coffee, hot chocolate.

I use my cast iron pots and pans a lot and those can't be used in the microwave. 

 

--

I learned something new today. I have never known anyone who heated their cat food. It never occurred to me to do so. If I ever get a cat, now I know that it is an option. Interesting.

[jewellsmommy]

2 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm wondering how you'd warm up refrigerated canned cat food. We don't have any cats in residence right now, but historically that's what we used the microwave for the most. I guess maybe people just give their cats cold food, but .  .  . well, I guess ours were very spoiled. Or had me well trained. ? 

 

You get more cats! That way you use a whole can split between them at each feeding and don't have any leftover to store.  That's how we do it. Now dog food is a whole other story...I'm not getting any more dogs. 

[jewellsmommy]

11 hours ago, WendyAndMilo said:

I have never made a baked potato without one ?  I have no idea how you would actually bake a potato...

 

The best baked potato method I have ever used:

clean potatoes, rub potatoes with olive oil, roll in salt (or pat with salt), bake directly on rack for about an hour at 350. So delicious!. We always eat the skin, and this makes the best potato.

[Pawz4me]

1 hour ago, The Accidental Coach said:

 

I learned something new today. I have never known anyone who heated their cat food. It never occurred to me to do so. If I ever get a cat, now I know that it is an option. Interesting.

Some cats will eat anything, but many of them don't find cold food appetizing at all. I've found warming to be especially essential for older and/or ill cats. Smell has a lot to do with triggering their appetite, and warm(ish) food is more odorous.

[Spy Car]

5 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Our cats have always been fed at least three times a day, and many more times when elderly or dealing with illness (as often as just a teaspoon of food every hour or two). I would feel awful from an energy usage standpoint heating an oven or burner that often. Plus I think it would be much harder to regulate the temperature of the food. With the microwave it was very easy to learn how long to heat x amount of food to get it just right.

Sous Vide (regulated water bath) and you'd be exactly on point temperature wise. Much more precise than a microwave.

Bill

[katilac]

39 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Sous Vide (regulated water bath) and you'd be exactly on point temperature wise. Much more precise than a microwave.

Bill

 

I don't know about Pawz4me but I'm not worried about getting the cat food exactly on point, so I wouldn't go to the trouble of putting cat food into a bag, moving it to a dish, and cleaning the bag. 

[Slache]

1 hour ago, Spy Car said:

Sous Vide (regulated water bath) and you'd be exactly on point temperature wise. Much more precise than a microwave.

Bill

I could buy three cats for that much money.

[LMD]

Warming cat food. Every day is a school day at the hive!

(If my cat wants warmed food, she catches it herself...)

[Spy Car]

8 hours ago, Slache said:

I could buy three cats for that much money.

No more than a microwave. And must smell better (for the humans in the house).

Microwaved cat food can't be pleasant.

Bill

Edited October 4, 2018 by Spy Car

[Pawz4me]

7 hours ago, Spy Car said:

No more than a microwave. And must smell better (for the humans in the house).

Microwaved cat food can't be pleasant.

Bill

Done right (heated a few seconds on medium(ish) power until it's slightly warm but nowhere near hot) I can barely smell it. But cat noses are, of course, MUCH more powerful than my pitiful one. ;) 

Again, beyond the cost of the device--I couldn't in good conscious use the electricity it would take for a sous vide to warm cat food multiple times a day. Not to mention all those plastic bags (or foil if warming on the stove/in the oven). So much waste! When using the microwave I have a stack of cat bowls--all washable and reusable and picked up at thrift stores for a quarter or so each. 

[shawthorne44]

12 hours ago, WendyAndMilo said:

I eat the skin too.  I rub it with butter, salt it, and then zap it for about 6 minutes (low watt microwave).  Seriously - an hour?!  I wouldn't be eating till like 8pm if I did that...

The best method I've found is to microwave the potatoes while the oven is preheating.  Then popping them into the oven for a bit when the oven is preheated.  That is the best of both world's.  

[Spy Car]

6 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Done right (heated a few seconds on medium(ish) power until it's slightly warm but nowhere near hot) I can barely smell it. But cat noses are, of course, MUCH more powerful than my pitiful one. ?

Again, beyond the cost of the device--I couldn't in good conscious use the electricity it would take for a sous vide to warm cat food multiple times a day. Not to mention all those plastic bags (or foil if warming on the stove/in the oven). So much waste! When using the microwave I have a stack of cat bowls--all washable and reusable and picked up at thrift stores for a quarter or so each. 

I'd bet big money that the electricity needed to heat a small container of water is far less than what's needed to run a microwave oven multiple times a day, and by a wide measure. Especially if one used an easily available insulated container. No contest.

Cat food could be easily be heated (and kept warm) in a reusable glass jar with a secured lid. No waste. Repurposed jars are free.

I, personally, would not wish to smell cat food that's been warmed up in a microwave. You say you barely smell it, I wonder if your guests have the same experience?

Anytime I've been around a microwave--which is as little time as humanly possible--what is being "cooked" is really apparent, as the fans blow the scent everywhere. And nothing is more gag-inducing to this person that the smell of commercial cat food. Yuck!

Bill

 

 

[sweet2ndchance]

Yeah, I've never heated animal food. Ever. In any way. The smell of opening the can is enough to make me gag, I can't imagine magnifying it by heating it. The only time our dogs get heated food is if they kill it themselves (we live rurally so they catch their own snacks often) or if I have a pan of food that isn't completely ruined but is not appetizing for human consumption (little too burnt or dried out for us, new recipe that no one liked at all ...the dogs will usually eat it all and ask for more).

I know our microwave has to be plugged in to the larger circuit in the kitchen (don't have the money to rewire the house yet but one line in the kitchen is 15amp and the other is 20amp... no idea what they were thinking) and not on the same circuit as the fridge or chest freezer (fridge has a dedicated outlet and the freezer does fine on the 15amp line). If we put it on the same line as the fridge or on the 15amp line, it will pop the circuit breaker any time something else on the line draws power. You can't tell me microwaves are not power hogs. We've had this experience with multiple microwaves and the wiring and breaker have been inspected and were fine. It's just the large power draw from large appliances that don't normally have dedicated lines like microwaves.

I found this article from Scientific America about the energy efficiency of microwaves vs other cooking appliances. And this one from Australia about how much it costs to run a microwave. The amounts are in Australian currency but it's still gives a good idea of the actual cost of running a microwave.

[regentrude]

5 hours ago, Spy Car said:

I'd bet big money that the electricity needed to heat a small container of water is far less than what's needed to run a microwave oven multiple times a day, and by a wide measure. Especially if one used an easily available insulated container. No contest.

No, I think the bolded is incorrect. Heating water by converting electrical energy into heat and then transferring the heat through conduction/convection is an extremely inefficient process, much less efficient than rotating the water dipoles with microwave radiation. The wattage, i.e. energy consumption per time, of a typical microwave  is comparable to the wattage of your sous vide cooker or kettle (all around 1,000W), but the time in the microwave is shorter.

Edited October 4, 2018 by regentrude

[Spy Car]

18 minutes ago, regentrude said:

No, I think the bolded is incorrect. Heating water by converting electrical energy into heat and then transferring the heat through conduction/convection is an extremely inefficient process, much less efficient than rotating the water dipoles with microwave radiation. The wattage, i.e. energy consumption per time, of a typical microwave  is comparable to the wattage of your sous vide cooker or kettle (all around 1,000W), but the time in the microwave is shorter.

 

I'm looking at claims made online that a 12-hour sous vide session in an insulated container used about 0.94 kWh of electricity. About a dimes worth of power, depending on rates. I imagine one doesn't need to go 12 hours with cat food. The heating element only goes on as necessary to maintain temp (which isn't often in an insulated container).

I'd be surprised if running a microwave 3 times a day was more efficient. I'd be doubly surprised if the smell of microwaved cat food didn't come close to inducing vomiting. 

Bill

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Spy Car

[regentrude]

12 hours ago, Spy Car said:

I'm looking at claims made online that a 12-hour sous vide session in an insulated container used about 3.77 kW at 140°F.

??? That statement makes no sense since Watt is Joule per time and the length of the session would be irrelevant. And the sous vide does not have a power rating of 3.7kW.

ETA: (corrected - made a dumb math mistake) A 1000W microwave used three times daily for 2 minutes each (the time it takes me to thaw and warm a frozen bread) consumes 1/10th of 1 kWh which, at the price of 15 ct per kWh comes to less than two cents.

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by regentrude

[Spy Car]

12 minutes ago, regentrude said:

??? That statement makes no sense since Watt is Joule per time and the length of the session would be irrelevant. And the sous vide does not have a power rating of 3.7kW.

ETA: A 1000W microwave used three times daily for 2 minutes each (the time it takes me to thaw and warm a frozen bread) consumes 1/20th of 1 kWh which, at the price of 15 ct per kWh comes to less than one cent.

 

0.94 kWh of electricity over 12 hours. Doubt it would be needed for 12 hours.

And we still have the smell factor. Microwaved cat food cannot be pleasant (the understatement of the decade).

Bill

[Pawz4me]

Sigh. This is really getting into silly land. I'm going to make one more comment and then bow out, because my ego is healthy and I do not have an incessant, bordering on bullying need to be "right."

When I'm talking about warming cat food I'm talking an ounce or two of refrigerated food warmed for 10 seconds on power 3 (with a little variability of time depending on wattage of microwave, of course). Hardly enough for even the most special snowflake nose to smell.

[Spy Car]

38 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Sigh. This is really getting into silly land. I'm going to make one more comment and then bow out, because my ego is healthy and I do not have an incessant, bordering on bullying need to be "right."

When I'm talking about warming cat food I'm talking an ounce or two of refrigerated food warmed for 10 seconds on power 3 (with a little variability of time depending on wattage of microwave, of course). Hardly enough for even the most special snowflake nose to smell.

3

You call others special snowflakes and suggest they are bullies? A bit rich.

I recently took care of the animals for a neighbor who was going out of town. Feeding the dogs was easy, but scooping cat food out of a tin was positively nauseating. That was cold, out of the fridge. I can't imagine the smell of microwaved cat food. Can't be pleasant.

Bill

 

 

[Miss Tick]

Don't you need a microwave if you are going to make plasma with a grape? I've never tried it, though, don't want to risk doing something bad to my microwave. ?

[TechWife]

On 10/2/2018 at 9:21 PM, WendyAndMilo said:

How on earth would you make baked potatoes?!?!

Easy peasy! They are wonderful in the oven, too.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, place potatoes directly on the oven rack, walk away for 45 min - 1 hr (depending on the size of the potato and whether or not you want to crisp the peel. Take potatoes out of the oven and enjoy! Yummy!

[Wheres Toto]

I never would have thought about heating cat food.   We can't use the microwave to thaw or heat up our snake's mice because it can create hotspots (and of course, we can't stir a mouse).  We have to let them thaw a while, then run them under hot water, if needed.

I like that baked potato recipe with the oil and salt.  Sounds yummy.  I'll have to suggest it to dh.  But I actually prefer sliced potatoes sauteed with onions and garlic.  yummmm.

 

[ktgrok]

On 10/2/2018 at 12:57 PM, Spy Car said:

I've never owned one and have zero desire to own one.

There is nothing that microwave ovens do well in terms of "cooking" and reheating food from the inside-out makes foods taste unnatural and messes up the texture, IMO.

Microwaves have a huge downside in promoting the use of unhealthful "convenience foods."  

I do like having a convection toaster oven but will pass on a microwave.

Bill

 

It’s an old wives tale that they cook from the outside. And America’s test kitchen found they do cook certain things better. But mostly they are just faster. Often something that cooks in 3 minutes in the microwave would take 30 minutes or more in the oven and the oven would heat up the house on top of it.

On 10/2/2018 at 1:11 PM, katilac said:

I'm of no help - it's a rare day that doesn't see our microwave in use. 

We're fine with heating leftovers in it. There are only a few items where we notice a difference and we'll use the stovetop for those. If we had room for a decent-sized toaster oven, I think we'd reheat in that a lot, but we have very little counter space. The microwave is mounted over the stove, which wouldn't work for a toaster oven bc 3 out of 4 of us would be too short to see in it ?

dh makes quick oats in it about five times a week.

We steam vegetables about three times a week. 

We have sugar gliders that eat tons of frozen veggies and we use the microwave to thaw them (they eat such small amounts it's impossible to always serve fresh). 

We zap our sponges and clean our toothbrushes in it. 

 

FYI microwaving doesn’t work well to kill germs. Use the dishwasher.

[lulalu]

Haven't had a microwave in 20ish years. Really easy to heat up in the oven and stove. Also, everything heats evenly too. 

[ktgrok]

Am I the only one who thinks the best part of microwaving is not heating up the kitchen? I loathe turning on the oven lately because the air conditioner can’t keep up as it is. Add the oven and ugh! Microwave, crock pot or instant pot for me here in Florida! 

[Slache]

52 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Am I the only one who thinks the best part of microwaving is not heating up the kitchen? I loathe turning on the oven lately because the air conditioner can’t keep up as it is. Add the oven and ugh! Microwave, crock pot or instant pot for me here in Florida! 

Yes, this! We are in Oregon and it's fall. We're moving to Texas in the spring and I don't want more things to move but I think it might change my POV when it's August in Texas.

[ktgrok]

11 hours ago, Slache said:

Yes, this! We are in Oregon and it's fall. We're moving to Texas in the spring and I don't want more things to move but I think it might change my POV when it's August in Texas.

If you don't have an instant pot yet, get one. Seriously. It saves me on days when the AC can't get it below 80 in the house. We get a lot of westerly sun, so although it's fine in the house most of the day it is brutal in the late afternoon and evening, right when I want to cook dinner. If I have the oven going for 30 minutes to an hour, plus the time to preheat, it's going to be 85 in my kitchen, and over 80 in the rest of the house. I either grill (which leaves ME miserably hot but the house is cool) or use the instant pot or crock pot. Or cook earlier in the day and heat up leftovers in the microwave. No way would I turn on the oven for 30 minutes to heat up some left overs!! 

[katilac]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm starting to get the idea that Spy Car doesn't like the smell of wet cat food. 

13 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

 FYI microwaving doesn’t work well to kill germs. Use the dishwasher.

 

 

WebMD says the microwave is better and I've decided to throw all my faith in them, lol. Seriously, I did check a lot of sources, and the most-quoted 'microwaving doesn't work' study was very limited and flawed. I'm confident that two minutes in the microwave kills the majority of germs that cause illness and that's all I'm worried about. Sufficient heat kills food-borne pathogens, the source doesn't matter.

12 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

Am I the only one who thinks the best part of microwaving is not heating up the kitchen? 

 

 

No, I'm with you! Even the stovetop is too much in the dead of summer. Last year we put an outside stove/oven on the patio, it's awesome for baking when it's hot and cooking messy things. 

[regentrude]

14 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

Am I the only one who thinks the best part of microwaving is not heating up the kitchen? I loathe turning on the oven lately because the air conditioner can’t keep up as it is. Add the oven and ugh! Microwave, crock pot or instant pot for me here in Florida! 

Hate to use the oven in summer, too, but microwaved food does not really taste as good. You can only steam or boil stuff in a microwave. You can't get a Maillard reaction and those delicious browning flavors. It's not real cooking ?

In summer, we just eat radically different, with lots of cold salads.

Edited October 5, 2018 by regentrude

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Hate to use the oven in summer, too, but microwaved food does not really taste as good. You can only steam or boil stuff in a microwave. You can't get a Maillard reaction and those delicious browning flavors. It's not real cooking ?

In summer, we just eat radically different, with lots of cold salads.

True, but I mostly just reheat in it. Or I cook in the instant pot and then put whatever it was on the grill or under the broiler for just a few minutes to get the browning I want. Best of both worlds.