My microwave is essential to me, mostly because I cook food Chinese family style so there are always some leftovers.

Reheating anything in any method changes its structural integrity. Food gets soggy because of the steaming action created inside the microwave. Reheating anything that's already "perfectly cooked" will mess with it, microwave or not. This is like the food snob version of those people who are proud of not owning a television.

My microwave is essential to me, mostly because I cook food Chinese family style so there are always some leftovers.

Reheating anything in any method changes its structural integrity. Food gets soggy because of the steaming action created inside the microwave. Reheating anything that's already "perfectly cooked" will mess with it, microwave or not. This is like the food snob version of those people who are proud of not owning a television.

i've been lobbying to get rid of the microwave in my apartment - like you i make popcorn over the stove, boil water for tea on the stove, and have discovered that soaking meat in water is a much better defrosting method than using the microwave. i dont often heat up leftovers at home but if i did, i would do it over the stove similar to your friends. i just don't like having that scary hunking appliance taking up all the room on my teeny nyc kitchen counter!

I like my microwave....but I'm not excited by it. I really only use it to thaw out chicken and make popcorn for my daughter. While I enjoy popping corn on the stove, I don't want to spend the time to do it every night (child is obsessed with popcorn).

I've lived for 14 years without a microwave and outside of reheating beverages, never missed it. I agree that reheating of any sort changes the structure of the food, but microwaves are the worst IMHO. Turns food soggy like you describe, plus I often find that the reheating is uneven depending on the items involved. I also think microwave reheating can change the taste of certain foods, but I'm willing to bet that's just me. I reheat some items in the oven, but am more likely to just eat the previously cooked leftover cold. It's interesting to try foods cold - especially new recipes - as I'm able to taste certain elements in different degrees than when the food was served hot. If I'm trying to duplicate a hot recipe by just trying the dish, tasting it cold always helps. Your mileage may vary.

I like my food hot... unless its meant to be eaten cold.
So its either
a) with the water in the stove
b) the microwave.
Can't imagine a life without hot food :)
therefore, Microwave stays in my house, for its absolute simplicity

Good point Adam, now that I think about it, I really only use my microwave to defrost frozen spinach or things like that. I could definitely see myself living without it. Cold pasta is always better than reheating it!

We have a microwave. It comes in handy when our three-year old is clamoring for chicken nuggets and can't wait the 13-18 minutes for the oven to cook them. Otherwise, I don't use it much.

When we bought our boat, it came with a microwave on it. We threw it out and put a toaster oven onboard instead. I'd rather have fresh bread and cookies than microwaved stuff.

Adam, I wonder if you never learned how to use a microwave properly? If you use it correctly, it shouldn't do the things you accuse it of, like affect structural integrity. Like any oven, it does take a little bit more thought than just turning it on--you need to become familiar with different power levels, etc.

I could care less about popcorn and heating water--things I never do in a microwave. Try making a reduction in the microwave, especially of something that scorches easily, like fruit purees--the microwave is the superior tool. I also do a lot of baking, and I love that I can bring butter to room temperature in a minute instead of an hour. The are just a couple of examples of the correct use of an available tool.

The microwave, like any tool, is excellent for some tasks and poor for others. I wonder if there isn't some snobbery underlying some people's loudly-proclaimed rejection of the microwave. You never hear a diatribe on the toaster, an even less useful tool (but still excellent for the jobs it was designed to do). In summary, I agree with your friends and family, you protest too much!

"...they dumped the pasta in a pot, added a little water, and stirred it around on medium heat."

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

I lived without one for two years in Australia, and didn't miss it at all. Not like I had the counter space for it anyway at the time.

Now I have one again, and while it does get used occasionally, I definitely could manage without it.

I went microwave-less for years and I mostly concur with you. However, it is good for reheating things like chili, curry or stew. It also steams vegetables very well. With pasta - I usually put it in for like thirty seconds on high and toss it, then put it in for like another 20 seconds and it doesn't change the structure that much. But I always make my pasta al dente to start with.

In terms of stove top reheating - have you tried taking a pot with a steamer and a little bit of water with a lid on and steaming for a couple of minutes? That is an alternate plan to the adding water directly into the pasta when reheating on the stove top.

The #1 thing I use my micro for is melting butter. I also use it for heating stock when I'm making something that has to be thickened with cornstarch. And, heating apple cider. I also like to pre-cook potatoes/sweet potatoes in the micro before i bake or roast them--that way I can have dinner in 1/2 hour instead of an hour when I get home from work!

We primarily use our microwave for reheating coffee...once you're on the 3rd cup, the liquid in the coffeemaker is pretty cold (leaving it on the "warming" function results in burnt coffee, sadly).

Structural integrity? Maybe I'm lost... but do you mean on a cellular level? If so, then there is no way to apply heat/energy to anything without affecting structural integrity?

Alton Brown had one show where he talked about microwaves. I remember him saying basically the microwave sends out energy, and those waves of energy basically cause the molecules to move around and heat up. When you do that, if the water molecules gain too much energy, they evaporate, and maybe that's what you mean by structural integrity since some foods dry out easily.

One thing I do is to just use a wet paper towel and cover whatever is going into the microwave or add a few drops of water into the bowl and stir it around before nuking it. Once you create a steaming type of environment, it shouldn't change the structural integrity as much (hopefully).

I have a microwave. 95% of the time it is used as a breadbox or to store sweets. I used to have an ant problem and no matter where I put the sweets, the ants found them...ick! The rest of the time the microwave is used for reheating food that should be served hot...quickly for lunch. If a meal was originally served hot, the leftovers need to be hot.

I didn't have a microwave for years. My friends thought I was nuts and can't understand how I survived. When the one I had (which was really only good for warming things like tomato sauce up) conked out, I was a poor grad student so I couldn't replace it. I never missed it. It forced me to be a better cook by not having one.

Now that I have one again (a friend had one they were getting rid of, so it was free), I find I use it very very rarely. More for defrosting or heating up a can of soup when I'm sick than anything else. I have an electric kettle, a toaster, and am used to using my stove top or oven to reheat. I specifically chose the dishes I did because they're able to withstand heat up to 375 degrees so I could put them directly into the oven when reheating meals (gotta love Denby)!

I've been without a microwave for 4 years and the only time I have ever thought that I would like one is when my coffee gets cold, there's no more in the pot, and I'd like to heat it up. Otherwise, everything really does taste better heated in the oven or on the stove. I do use the microwave in my office-- it is the only heat source here-- but I'm generally a soup-for-lunch girl and that heats up fine in the microwave.

I only use my microwave to defrost.

However, I would totally have warmed the pasta on the stove. Yes, it messes with the texture but that is balanced by not eating dishes that are best served hot cold. Maybe, room temperature, but not cold.

I despise microwaves, but like cars, they seem to be a necessary evil in my life. I have four small children, hence microwaved...everything. At work I can either choose to eat my leftovers stone cold, or heat them up in the microwave. I have a mental ring around the day that my children will be old enough to wait more than 45 seconds for food, and when I will no longer be employed (these dates probably coincide, actually), and will never ever ever use a microwave again.

As for the argument that I don't know the correct way to microwave things (which I have heard before from friends who are enthusiastically pro-microwave), I say there IS no way to use it that it wouldn't compromise the food quality. It either dries it out and makes it tough (bread-type products), makes it rubbery and chewy (meat products), or makes it soggy and limp (pretty much everything else).

I don't go around preaching to people who have microwaves about why they shouldn't use themm, so why do the people that I know who have them feel they have a life-fulfilling mission to convert me to a lover? It's very weird. I think those little waves do something to their brains.

I have a microwave but use it only as a last resort. I always prefer heating my leftovers in/on a stove, although it obviously takes longer.

I haven't owned one. When I moved away for university I never thought of buying one, and I never really miss it. Leftovers are perfectly fine cold, or if need-be reheated at a low temperature in the oven.

Try Julie Sahni's book "The Moghul Microwave" for a startling discourse on Indian slow cooking results you can get in the microwave. She essentially views this appliance as a substitute for a servant who stirs the pot all day. The results are amazing.

Also good for melting chocolate as an ingredient.

Microwave technology has improved drastically over the past number of years, and though I'm not much of a microwave cook myself you can do quite a bit with a convection microwave these days. I concur with melting butter being its top use in my kitchen, but I do hear that steaming vegetables in the mwo is a really good way to retain the nutrients by cooking 'em quickly.
At work I reheat my lunch often, and the only way to do so is the mwo - I am not a fan of cold leftovers unless it was meant to be that way. Which it wasn't!
P.S. Cauliflower pasta? Recipe please, or point me in right direction. Sounds yummy.

The microwave is a kitchen tool like any other (though unlike a toaster, more uses). Learn to use it correctly to do the things it does well. Don't use it for things it doesn't do well.

Don't fetishize your food. "Structural integrity"? C'mon! I nearly fainted from the altitudinal pretension levels.

And for the radiation-phobes: please pick up and read a basic text on physics, or wikipedia. You're embarrassing yourselves. (For example, all heat is radiation.)

Another Microwave-Free Household here. I occasionally miss it when I want a quick reheat of something like split pea soup, but we've become quite accustomed to cold leftovers. Viva Structural Integrity!!

I am a pastry enthusiast, so I boil milk and cream, melt butter and chocolate in the microwave. Filipinos eat a lot of stews and such, and they're almost better after a reheat in the microwave. Sometimes I use a double boiler, if I want a gentle heat to dissolve gelatin with. I use an oven toaster for pizza. Leftover gratin goes in the oven. Leftover pasta gets a new crunch in a dry skillet.

There's a good use for everything, which is good especially if you do everything :)

Do I have one? Yes... it was a recent Christmas gift... how many times has it been used since then? Once. Late night, drunken, Thai food reheating. I'm not a huge fan... but I'm not a snob against it either. I'm sure one day I'll thank my lucky stars I've got it. Dunno why... but there will come a day...

EB

I use my microwave occasionally, but we don't have too many leftovers in my kitchen. I like reheating my food up in the oven if it needs to be warm.

I've been known to soften butter in mine...
And occasionally, if I'm desperate, I'll thaw frozen spinach (I like to add it to burgers, meat loaf, etc. - integrity not an issue)
So, If it was gone it would probably take me months to notice it.
Come to think of it.....

Just today I used my microwave for just about the only reason it ever gets fired up: melting my leg hair wax!

Because I'm from South Louisiana, I generally cook for about ten people, even if there are only two of us around. So there are always leftovers that need to be reheated.

I would never actually cook with a microwave though. It seems wrong to me in the way that crock pots do, because I like to sit with a dish and stir it and season it and mess with it. I can't take the put the top on it and let it be ethos of the Crock Pot. Just can't.

Hi Adam,

I had a mwo for a few years until it finally died. I was nervous about using it at first, because I'm not fond of high-tech stuff, but gradually figued out its mysterious ways to quick-cook veggies and leftovers, and MAYBE reheat my coffee. I hated the way the big black door looked (like some black menacing hole (Darth Vader's breadbox)) and taped a beautiful art print over it.

After it died and we removed it from my pantry, where space is at a premium, I couldn't believe how much precious space I'd been sacrificing for a tool I really could live without.And yes, this was while raising a husband and 4 growing sons.I decided that since I WAS home during the day, there was no point in adding more pressure to cooking by dashing between my pantry and my kitchen simultaneously paying attention to the rotating disc in the mwo and the pot(s) on the stove. I realized that I in fact liked bucking the speed trend in the kitchen, that cooking slow food was better for my heart and soul, and that I was happier not being rushed by tools that really didn't expand my culinary skills by too awfully much. When taken in balance against the space and aesthetic concerns, I decided I was done with mwo's.

So....no, Adam, be not afraid of the slings and arrows foisted upon you. COoking is all about pleasure, is it not? And how you get there is not up for scrutiny.

BTW, these same people seem to enjoy what you're feeding them. Their criticisms seem rather, well, rude to me.

I use my microwave exclusively to heat up my magic bag, and c'est tout! It's worth it only for that reason. Food doesn't belong in there.

Microwaves are a useful tool. Not essential, but useful.

Microwaving food in some instances has less impact on the food than other forms of cooking. For example, cooking green beans in the microwave, will retain a lot more nutrients than if you boiled them.

Some things reheat fine in the microwave (e.g.: rice, sauces) and don't lose structural integrity. In some situations you have to worry about things getting too dry, since the microwave essentially just heats the water in the food.

Lastly, you want good popcorn (no oil, no chemicals) put some kernels (1/3 cup), and only kernels, in a paper lunch bag and seal it up. pop it in the microwave just like you would with store bought microwave popcorn. Season it however you like.

I don't own a microwave either. I only miss it for one thing, thawing stock. And that's not much of a chore.

Microwaves certainly change the texture and taste of food, and not for the better. Rubbery chicken, serperated cheese, soggy vegetables.

And food that's specifically made for the microwave just plain scares me.

But I'm clearly in a minority. Most of my coworkers think I'm crazy.

Microwave-aphobes unite!

It just seems to me that using a stove or oven to do a lot of the small tasks that a microwave can do is just a horrible waste of energy.

Ok...I'm sort of shocked at how many people don't have microwaves. I can't ever remember not having one...and I'm not that young...pushing 30. I could understand if you don't have the counterspace...which is why I love that mine is mounted under my cabinets above the range. We have a bit more space in Florida.

no microwave here. Tell you what, I eat a lot less without it. My apartment is just too small for one and I like my tea kettle. It's le Creuset. If I make something that needs reheating, it's lunch at work. But I also eat most of my meals at work.

For starters, I have yet to discover the leftovers that didn't taste better reheated in a skillet or the toaster oven. So, for leftovers, in my book, the basic microwave is right out (though others in my house use it quite frequently for 'em). The convection function on the micro is different, though, to me it's more efficient than the toaster oven with similar results.

But, really, a normal microwave IS good for melting things like butter and chocolate, heating up a small amount of water, taking the chill off of stuff (cold milk into hot potatoes = mashed wallpaper paste) all without dirtying too many dishes or taking up precious burners. I also use it in a pinch to partially thaw frozen foods, never all the way, but at least halfway there, then use the cold-water method to take it the rest of the way. It speeds things along.

Speaking of burners, since my microwave is convection, nothing frees up the stove when I'm 'cooking big' like mister microwave. Keep foods warm for service (thick insulated box, like a cooler), bake small things, etc. I guess mine doesn't count since I use the convection part to do any heating-reheating, which is somewhat different.

I dunno, I don't think you're giving the appliance a fair shot. Think past leftovers and nasty microwave popcorn, and you'll probably wind up appreciating it more.

Oh, and teach your people how to saute pasta dishes in some butter to reheat it. This works for everything from a delicate pasta and cauliflower, to something hearty like baked ziti. Yeah, it changes the nature of it, it dries out all but the soupiest of sauces, but it intensifies the flavors, and keeps the pasta firm. Haven't you guys ever had fried spagetti for breakfast?

One more thing...

Dude...Structural integrity? Of leftovers? Taking ourselves a bit too seriously these days? I've been reading ya 3 of the 4 years, and I never thought I would smirk at one of your posts like I did while reading this.

I use a microwave oven for only 2 things:

1. Re-heating chili.

2. Nuking ice cream. Giving a bowl of ice cream 30 seconds on high melts it just enough to be perfect.

I got rid of my microwave almost three years ago and I've never missed it.

As for whether or not it changes the structural integrity of the food (and the nutritive value), I think it does. People seem to fall at either end of that argument though, and seldom in the middle.

What I really don't understand is why you need a microwave to melt butter. It takes about 2 minutes (if that) on the stovetop.

the only reason I have a microwave is because my sister gave me her old one - it is use solely to heat up heating pads for sore necks, etc and for heating milk for my coffee when I am feeling too lazy to use the steamer

c'est tout

Microwaves have always seemed instinctively wrong to me and so I've always avoided them. Good restaurants never use them. And all I had to do is look them up online to get all the info I needed to confirm my intuition. It is so easy to just use the stove!

At home, no way, no how. I mean, every once in a while I might use the microwave to melt butter for baking or defrost meat when I'm in a real hurry, but generally I heat up leftovers, water, etc. on the stove. (Hint: tea maded with microwaved water and a tea bag tastes terrible).

At work, it's the microwave all the way. Since there's no stove, I use the microwave daily heat up lunch, especially soup. I would seriously question a workplace without a microwave.

Completely with you on this. I never use the microwave and I hate what it does to food also. I also heard once that it kills the nutrients (I'm not sure about that, however), and even though it isn't as good as the original version, it's better than nutritionally-devoid mush.