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Yes, it does, but you can get a lot more mileage out of it by preparing in large batches and freezing most of it.
by wnoise 16y ago
Yes, it does, but you can get a lot more mileage out of it by preparing in large batches and freezing most of it.
- ojbyrne 16y agoAgreed, except that you can't freeze (most) salads.
- dholowiski 16y agoSure, if you like eating microwaved mush
- tjpick 16y agoget some better recipes.
- jules 16y agoLike? I've never eaten a tasty microwaved meal.
- lukeschlather 16y agoThen use the range. Though the microwave is a misunderstood device. It's fantastic at defrosting frozen items, but it should usually be an intermediate step used to ensure that thawed items are at room temperature when they go into the pan. It's also fantastic at a variety of simple one-step things. Melting butter, baking potatoes, melting cheese, and other things like that. Used properly, it speeds up and even improves cooking. But if it's treated as a range/oven replacement, yes, it causes problems.
- Dylanlacey 16y agoYes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes. The best way to use the microwave is for meals that will benefit from being steamed, like vegetables. Failing that, regular stirring and occasionally protecting some thinner bits with foil are the way to go.
- pyre 16y agoFoil? In the microwave?
- krschultz 16y agoPlastic
- Dylanlacey 16y agoNo. Foil. Metal is not microwave kryptonite, it is the bouncer to the mighty power of NUCLEONIC ENERGY! ... But only where the foil is. Say you're cooking a piece of salmon, you've got a comma shaped profile with a VERY thin edge and a much thicker body. You can cook the entire thing until the thin edge is almost done, then fold foil only around that part of the salmon. Microwaves will not reflect off and be absorbed by the exposed food instead. As long as something in the microwave is exposed that can absorb the waves sufficently, no harm will come to you or the microwave.
- HeyLaughingBoy 16y agoI agree with what you said, but in a pinch the microwave can be quite versatile. I made excellent scrambled eggs with ham and goat cheese a week ago in the microwave because that's all that was available. Takes some care to not have it turn into a frittata, but otherwise easy to do.
- Dylanlacey 16y agoTry making soups and steamed dishes. You can even braise by using one of the low power cycles (The lowest, preferably), which will work best if your microwave uses duty cycles rather then actual power modification. You can make, in the microwave: * Almost Poached Eggs * Bechamel Sauce, and thus any other sauce in that family that doesn't require second cooking * Almost any grain with a decent microwave rice cooker, including lentils, polenta, oatmeal (Which can be savoury), rice, brown rice, bulgur, pearled barley, beans, cous cous and chickpeas. * Brownies * Poached Chicken Breasts You just need to be a little less 1-minute-button-pushy.
- tjpick 16y agothai green curry or any kind of curry really. Anything mince and tomatoes based, can be better reheated. Anything soupy. http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=freezable+recipes http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=freezable+recipes.
- jerf 16y agoFreezer foods purchased in the store are not representative of what is possible (see for instance the article and discussion at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2067764 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2067764 ). There are books dedicated to creating freezer meals. I'm not sure if I have enough experience with them to recommend one, I doubt there's all that much variance to them. There are some tricks to the process, but not all that many. I still recommend at least starting with their recipes though of course we branched out once we were comfortable with the idea in general. The primary effect of working for freezer foods is simply the loss of range; obviously you can not, for instance, freeze a lettuce-based salad. I say that's the primary effect precisely because losing flavor and quality is not the primary effect. Freezer food probably has the single largest quality gap between commercial food and home-prepared food there is. Some meals take a slight hit, many you can not tell, a small number actually have their texture slightly improved by freezing them. If this sounds interesting I strongly recommend trying it, a bit of Googling will probably scare up enough resources to try a couple recipes without even investing in a book.
- burgerbrain 16y agoChilli man. You can mess it up, it tastes great, and you can freeze it forever.
- alnayyir 16y agoYou'd find YC hospitable.
- phjohnst 16y agoTry stews, chilis, etc. Also, homemade chicken stock is one of my favourite things (boil a chicken carcass from the butcher with a halved onion, roughly chopped carrot, celery, some herbs, a little salt and pepper, bit of garlic, for a bit over an hour) and is super easy to do, freeze and then use as a base in a ton of recipes, or even just add some pasta and you've got a rough and ready chicken soup. Cooking need not be difficult. By focusing on good, fresh ingredients you only need a couple to put together a great meal. Also, great tip: Cook with spice (heat) and lots of flavour. You'll get full faster and feel satisfied longer.
- HeyLaughingBoy 16y agoGood idea is to package it in ziploc bags or small plastic containers. That way you don't have to defrost the entire pot if you just want to make a few cups of soup. protip: homemade chicken stock makes an excellent base for risotto milanese!
- robryan 16y agoWhat I do is make a pasta sauce from a jar based sauce and add mince and vegetables, one that's way bigger than what I'm going to eat in the one meal. Then I just chuck it in the fridge and depending on time the next day I'll microwave it, or put it back in the pan and add a bit more sauce to it. Since you cooking the pasta fresh it will be just as good the next day. I do basically the same thing with sauce for Indian and recook the rice. Much of the time I enjoy cooking for 1/2 rather than more, lets you prepare things for multiple days and save time/money.