Cooking... In a microwave? As in whole meals start to finish? I don't think my cast iron skillet, which I use for every thing besides boiling pasta, will fit.

For a looooong time the wife and I didn't even own one. She grew up without one and the only thing we ever used it for was thawing out meat that didn't get pulled out of the freezer early enough. Now I rarely even heat leftovers, and I dont drink tea, virtually the only thing ours gets used for is popping popcorn.

I have seen no benefit in microwave cooking of green vegetables.

Success in making sauces looks to me as though it would just be a matter of developing skills. Making a mess would be the price to pay until one has gained those skills. Of course, sauces are generally high-calorie affairs ... I'm not sure that it is wise for me to even head off in that direction. Veggies and other things ..?

Mastrad

Lékué

Steve

Micro are incredibly versatile with a little skill. This depends on managing the power level and covering appropriately. I use either a glass bowl or inverted plate to cover most items below.

I use mine to toast nuts, par cook potatoes, cook other vegetables, melt butter and chocolate gently, "fry" herbs, lots of defrosting, and of course leftovers and beverages.

Some microwaves including mine by panasonic claim "inverter" tech that allows the low power mode you've selected to be constant at a lower voltage rather than timed on-off cycles.

Somehow the manufacturers instructions also indicate it is safe to use aluminum foil to protect smaller parts of your food like chicken leg bones against overheating.

I prefer popcorn cooked in oil.

It's possible, Marj. Did I say in the "ye olde" thread that I predate plastic? A bakelite plug on wires was the only plastic I knew of, as a kid. Here's what sparked an interest in microwave cooking with plastic -- learning that there are Teflon bags to put in pop-up toasters ..! Whoa!

There probably are few cooking techniques simpler than making a grilled cheese sandwich. Plastic in a toaster? It got me looking at these mesh bags that can be used in pots of boiling water or the microwave. They are silicone.

Oven bags in conventional ovens are definitely not favored for either the roast or its companion veggies. I know there are frozen veggies in bags for the microwave. I guess even bagged veggies with their own sauce, for popping in the microwave. I hate pleading ignorance but DW has an aversion to frozen veggies which I support. We are gardeners spending a lot of winter time in the produce section of the supermarket ... (insert rolling eyes smiley)

Steve

I use the microwave for popcorn and mostly to reheat items or cook frozen entrees for the kid. The one thing I do cook in there is squash, like carnival or butternut. I make slits in the sides, then microwave the whole thing until tender. Takes far less time than in the oven. Remove carefully with OveGloves, wait a bit, then cut in half and remove the seeds and gunk.

I'm with Zach mostly use an iron skillet and stainless steel. I have a microwave but it sees little use. Leftovers sometimes make it in though when I cook most things I prefer not to have leftovers. I don't even keep the microwave in the kitchen it resides in the basement.

I'm thinking it was back when I was a grad student, perhaps in the late 60s, microwaves were costly but I acquired on at a auction. It came with a pressure cooker, a hard plastic thing, perhaps bigger than a quart. I cooked many meals for the single student in that microwave pressure cooker. I have never seen one before or sense.

I bought one ... for myself ... pre-Christmas.

But, I still haven't used it.

Pressure
cooker for a microwave, Albert?! I have trouble even thinking of how to
use my pressure cooker! It's a combo, with slow cooker capabilities. We
use it a little for that but, unfortunately (fortunately?), the other
slow cooker is a better size for 2 people.

Shoot, I'm kind of a "casserole guy," myself.

Steve