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6 Reasons Your Home Needs a Microwave Oven

People who do not own a microwave oven are missing out! Contrary to what many people believe, a microwave oven isn’t just for reheating your leftover take-out food, bringing old pizza back to life, or making cup noodles as fast as possible. 

Here are 6 reasons that people who still have no microwave oven at home should know about:

  • Microwave ovens melt ingredients in a jiffy.

Not many people know this, but the microwave oven is super handy in melting food. For example:

    • Butter and cheese: Whether you’re going to use these for baking, or just want to spread them easier on a sandwich, butter and cheese melt in a flash on a microwave oven.
    • Chocolate blocks: If you don’t have a fondue or chocolate melter, the microwave oven is the next best thing to melting chocolate blocks. 
    • Hardened honey: If you need to use honey in your meals or baked goods but it has solidified, you can decrystallize honey by placing it in the oven for under a minute. Just make sure to remove the lid first. 
    • Citrus fruits: You’re not actually “melting” the fruits when you put them in the microwave oven, but you’re making these fruits a WHOLE lot juicier if you can’t squeeze out enough juices the first time.

You can even melt non-food items like crayons or candles if your kid needs them for a crafting project.

  • Microwave ovens can cook quick snacks or full meals from scratch.

The microwave oven is notorious for college students because it can easily cook a single-person pizza, mac & cheese, chocolate mug cake, cookies, and even all sorts of noodles. 

But although the ability to solve late-night cravings is my favorite thing about the microwave, it is also impressive that you can cook full meals from scratch on this kitchen appliance. Not a lot of people do so, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

You can cook many side dishes, broil chicken, bake meats, stew your favorite recipes, and a whole lot more. You can even bake bread and other desserts if you’re up for a challenge. 

The best thing about cooking with a microwave oven is that you get to retain the vitamins and nutrients of vegetables. Because microwave ovens heat the veggies fast enough to prevent nutrients from evaporating. 

  • Microwave ovens can do cool food hacks

If you always love food hacks, you’ll love how a microwave oven is able to:

    • Dehydrate herbs so you can have homemade spices
    • Remove garlic skin without any effort
    • Roast garlic in under 10 minutes (roasting on a stove takes 45 minutes to an hour)
    • Husk corn (yes, no more pulling at corn for days) 
  • Microwave ovens can be used for non-food items.

A microwave oven can do over 100 tasks, even on non-food items. For example, if you’re having trouble cleaning out the smell of your chopping board or sponges, the microwave oven can do its magic for under a minute and poof the stink away. Not only does the smell get reduced (or removed), running it on a microwave oven also disinfects these kitchen tools. 

If you have a lot of beauty products, from makeup to lotions, masks and gels, you can heat them in the microwave oven to melt or reheat for easier application.

  • Microwave ovens are awesome helpers in baking and breadmaking.

Aside from being able to melt ingredients for baking and breadmaking, a microwave oven can also reduce the time it takes to proof yeast. Instead of an hour or more, you can proof yeast in less than 15 minutes. 

Have you seen all the “baked in a mug” recipes? These recipes require a microwave oven, a microwave-safe mug, and your choice of originally-baked recipe. Chocolate cake mug recipe, chocolate chip mug recipe, and so on? Try searching for them. It’s a rabbit hole I enjoyed getting stuck into. 

  • Microwave ovens make cooking for kids safe and easy.

If you have kids who would love to learn to cook, the microwave oven can be a good start since there is no direct fire like a stove or conventional ovens. The danger of getting burns or catching fire is definitely less likely with a microwave oven. 

This means even young kids, around 4 to 7 years old, can experiment with meals and desserts without grownup supervision. Of course, you still have to teach them not to place their heads near the door while in use, or use their hands directly when holding in hot containers.

Of course, microwave ovens are still super handy when it comes to reheating food. They practically become famous for this specific task. But you shouldn’t let this misinformation keep you from enjoying what a microwave oven can actually bring to your kitchen table. 

If you have a big family and a residential microwave oven is too small for your needs, there’s an easy fix for your dilemma: go with a commercial microwave instead. These models are more expensive, but they also last longer, have better warranties and are more energy-efficient. 

 

Jeff Campbell