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Microwave burritos iterated on that tradition by ensuring that you could pick exactly one of: 1. contents erupt from the corner like a volcano in the microwave

Microwave burritos iterated on that tradition by ensuring that you could pick exactly one of: 1. contents erupt from the corner like a volcano in the microwave 2. burrito unrolls itself during heating 3. mostly ice cold inside (although some ice cold spots will still happen in #1 and #2)

manachar 4y ago
Or: 4. Learn how to use the power setting of the microwave to ensure even heating.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  It was life changing when I learned that if you set the stove correctly, it's almost impossible to make a bad pancake.
  - wincy 4y ago
    Ah yeah slow heat for longer trick. Like if I cook a steak in the oven for an hour at 250 then throw it on the grill people think I’ve become some master chef.
    - fsckboy 4y ago
      whhaaat? i cook a steak for 1/2 hour in the oven on 200, and sear it in a pan (don't have a grill, am jelly) and sometimes risk over-cooking it? with pancakes, while you don't want it tooo too hot, you do want a hot pan to sizzle fry some crispy edges on there. i like a little "crack" of the crust, not a steamy on the outside cake.
    - ethbr0 4y ago
      Once I figured out that cooking is mostly optimizing water while hitting the desired through-doneness and char points, my food markedly improved. Everything about low and slow makes a lot more sense then!
      - treeman79 4y ago
        Adding water to pan for Bacon is a new hack. One guy did a bunch of experiments to see what worked and scientific reasons why. https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g
        ethbr0 4y ago
        I'll have to try. I've had pretty good luck with the Spruce oven method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-to-995313 https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-... Tl;dr - Put cold bacon in cold oven. Turn on oven to 400°F. Cook 17-20 min.
  - fsckboy 4y ago
    what? whether it's a great or only a good pancake is decided in the batter phase. bad pancakes come from whatever that flavor of instant cake mix is called, cake-plasticine.
    - klyrs 4y ago
      No, you can definitely ruin perfectly good batter on a griddle that's too hot or too cold.
      - saalweachter 4y ago
        Yeah, if you've ever heard jokes about "the first pancake"[0] or burnt your pancakes when you get distracted by the rest of breakfast, do yourself a favor and set your griddle to 325F/160C. Your pancakes can sit at 325F for a long time before they burn, and that alleviates the fear of burning that leads you to flip that first pancake too fast. [0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%20Pancake https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%...
        klyrs 4y ago
        I always make "test pancakes" until my griddle is just right, as I don't have a fancy temperature control. A drop of batter will behave just like a full-size pancake if you know what to watch for, a teaspoon if you don't.
        fsckboy 4y ago
        I don't have a fancy temperature control, but I had just moved from gas stove to glass top electric* and and I got tired of waiting sooo long to hopefully get to a good cooking temp, only to ruin things by finding out the answer was no. So a bought a hand-held laser-pointer-temperature gun at the hardware, wow, it's fantastic. Now I know what temps are for what (it's remarkably similar to the oven, 325 to 450) and I know how to find them and how quickly on my stove. *what is with Miele appliances, they all suck, range, convection oven, microwave. the UIs are impossible.
- jrootabega 4y ago
  I think you misunderstand the mindset of microwave burrito eaters.
  - thrashh 4y ago
    I microwave a burrito ’cus I want a burrito now. Mouth be damned.
- wincy 4y ago
  Good point. Do you think I could get rid of my electric stove in my kitchen, then use that plug and buy a 4000W microwave to get it to heat up even faster instead?
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  I've found that a good happy medium is to put something in the microwave for half the recommended time, then move it to the oven for half the recommended oven time.
  - nemo44x 4y ago
    There are hybrid microwave/oven combos today that essentially do this. They run a low microwave function while also baking your food. They’re commonly called “speed ovens”. I have one and it’s a nice thing to use for various things.
rascul 4y ago
For two burritos in my microwave: 1. Position burritos on plate so the fold is on top and facing out 2. Microwave on high for 1 minute 3. Turn burritos over so fold is on bottom and facing in, so that if the fold busts it stays on the plate 4. Poke three sets of holes in top of each burrito with fork, evenly spaced 5. Microwave on high for 45 seconds I have fine tuned my microwave burrito skills over the decades to have a perfectly microwaved burrito that is both not cold and doesn't burst. Problem is, there's no 45 second button on the microwave, so I usually press 2 for two minutes (if I give it a few seconds it'll start on it's own) and I try to make it back in time. I don't always get it and the ends might bust just a little bit.
- robocat 4y ago
  > there's no 45 second button on the microwave Just turn down the power to 70% or 80% for one minute - it is equivalent. Varying power levels is microwaving 101 for heat control (especially for getting heat to the middle of cold things). Aside: buy a microwave with knobs for timer control and ideally power level too (or a slider would be an even better UI for power level but I haven’t seen that). Buttons deeply suck on every microwave I have ever used. Think like a software UI designer when buying appliances: most appliances have horrific UIs, but with a little effort you can often find at least one model out of 50 with a usable UI (and sometimes the cheapest too). There is a branding opportunity here for a startup: the Apple of appliances would sell even at a high premium.
  - rascul 4y ago
    Then there's more buttons to hit which is why I don't put 45 in. Also, the UI and buttons don't seem horrible on most microwaves I've used. Not sure the issue there.
    - shele 4y ago
      I would never put in 45s by pressing buttons, it seems we are alike there. But I would put 45 sec in with a (rotary) time control knob though, maybe you want to reevaluate.

manachar 4y ago

Or: 4. Learn how to use the power setting of the microwave to ensure even heating.

saalweachter 4y ago
It was life changing when I learned that if you set the stove correctly, it's almost impossible to make a bad pancake.
- wincy 4y ago
  Ah yeah slow heat for longer trick. Like if I cook a steak in the oven for an hour at 250 then throw it on the grill people think I’ve become some master chef.
  - fsckboy 4y ago
    whhaaat? i cook a steak for 1/2 hour in the oven on 200, and sear it in a pan (don't have a grill, am jelly) and sometimes risk over-cooking it? with pancakes, while you don't want it tooo too hot, you do want a hot pan to sizzle fry some crispy edges on there. i like a little "crack" of the crust, not a steamy on the outside cake.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    Once I figured out that cooking is mostly optimizing water while hitting the desired through-doneness and char points, my food markedly improved. Everything about low and slow makes a lot more sense then!
    - treeman79 4y ago
      Adding water to pan for Bacon is a new hack. One guy did a bunch of experiments to see what worked and scientific reasons why. https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g
      - ethbr0 4y ago
        I'll have to try. I've had pretty good luck with the Spruce oven method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-to-995313 https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-... Tl;dr - Put cold bacon in cold oven. Turn on oven to 400°F. Cook 17-20 min.
- fsckboy 4y ago
  what? whether it's a great or only a good pancake is decided in the batter phase. bad pancakes come from whatever that flavor of instant cake mix is called, cake-plasticine.
  - klyrs 4y ago
    No, you can definitely ruin perfectly good batter on a griddle that's too hot or too cold.
    - saalweachter 4y ago
      Yeah, if you've ever heard jokes about "the first pancake"[0] or burnt your pancakes when you get distracted by the rest of breakfast, do yourself a favor and set your griddle to 325F/160C. Your pancakes can sit at 325F for a long time before they burn, and that alleviates the fear of burning that leads you to flip that first pancake too fast. [0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%20Pancake https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%...
      - klyrs 4y ago
        I always make "test pancakes" until my griddle is just right, as I don't have a fancy temperature control. A drop of batter will behave just like a full-size pancake if you know what to watch for, a teaspoon if you don't.
        fsckboy 4y ago
        I don't have a fancy temperature control, but I had just moved from gas stove to glass top electric* and and I got tired of waiting sooo long to hopefully get to a good cooking temp, only to ruin things by finding out the answer was no. So a bought a hand-held laser-pointer-temperature gun at the hardware, wow, it's fantastic. Now I know what temps are for what (it's remarkably similar to the oven, 325 to 450) and I know how to find them and how quickly on my stove. *what is with Miele appliances, they all suck, range, convection oven, microwave. the UIs are impossible.
jrootabega 4y ago
I think you misunderstand the mindset of microwave burrito eaters.
- thrashh 4y ago
  I microwave a burrito ’cus I want a burrito now. Mouth be damned.
wincy 4y ago
Good point. Do you think I could get rid of my electric stove in my kitchen, then use that plug and buy a 4000W microwave to get it to heat up even faster instead?
Rebelgecko 4y ago
I've found that a good happy medium is to put something in the microwave for half the recommended time, then move it to the oven for half the recommended oven time.
- nemo44x 4y ago
  There are hybrid microwave/oven combos today that essentially do this. They run a low microwave function while also baking your food. They’re commonly called “speed ovens”. I have one and it’s a nice thing to use for various things.

rascul 4y ago

For two burritos in my microwave: 1. Position burritos on plate so the fold is on top and facing out 2. Microwave on high for 1 minute 3. Turn burritos over so fold is on bottom and facing in, so that if the fold busts it stays on the plate 4. Poke three sets of holes in top of each burrito with fork, evenly spaced 5. Microwave on high for 45 seconds I have fine tuned my microwave burrito skills over the decades to have a perfectly microwaved burrito that is both not cold and doesn't burst. Problem is, there's no 45 second button on the microwave, so I usually press 2 for two minutes (if I give it a few seconds it'll start on it's own) and I try to make it back in time. I don't always get it and the ends might bust just a little bit.

robocat 4y ago
> there's no 45 second button on the microwave Just turn down the power to 70% or 80% for one minute - it is equivalent. Varying power levels is microwaving 101 for heat control (especially for getting heat to the middle of cold things). Aside: buy a microwave with knobs for timer control and ideally power level too (or a slider would be an even better UI for power level but I haven’t seen that). Buttons deeply suck on every microwave I have ever used. Think like a software UI designer when buying appliances: most appliances have horrific UIs, but with a little effort you can often find at least one model out of 50 with a usable UI (and sometimes the cheapest too). There is a branding opportunity here for a startup: the Apple of appliances would sell even at a high premium.
- rascul 4y ago
  Then there's more buttons to hit which is why I don't put 45 in. Also, the UI and buttons don't seem horrible on most microwaves I've used. Not sure the issue there.
  - shele 4y ago
    I would never put in 45s by pressing buttons, it seems we are alike there. But I would put 45 sec in with a (rotary) time control knob though, maybe you want to reevaluate.