Don’t freak out on me, this time for the Rookie tip of the week I’m not going to suggest you totally avoid the microwave…yet. I only want you to start thinking about it more. That’s how it started for me. For example, as you’re popping something in there, start saying to yourself something like, “I wonder how Kelly might warm up her…(fill in the blank)?” Then feel free to leave a comment and ASK ME! I’m ALL about convenience in my life, so if I can do this, so can you. It’s really not that big a deal. I’ll tell you about ways I’ve gotten around using the microwave, but first you probably wonder why we don’t use it anymore
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Well I’m not going to tell you that it’s been proven to be harmful to your health, because the jury is still out on that one. And I’m not going to tell you that “it changes the whole molecular make-up of the food”, because whenever a food is cooked it is changed and less nutritious, no matter how it is heated up. (Which is why everyone should incorporate some raw foods into their diets for better nutrition, and remember, the more gently food is heated, the better.)
Photo by SmartGoat
But what I will tell you is why we don’t use our microwave anymore:
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There are enough questions out there surrounding its safety to make me leery. Google it and you’ll have plenty of reading about the free radicals and possible cancer connections. There’s too much we still don’t know. (I try not to use my cell phone a lot for the same reasons.) This site from Dr. Mercola will make you re-think the whole microwave safety issue for sure.
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Just the sound of the word “microwave” sounds very unnatural to me and makes me want to avoid it! That may sound lame to you, but I’m just being honest, the word itself puts my radar up.
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How many of you Moms out there would step away from the microwave when you were pregnant to avoid any possible harm to your baby while it was on? Well, if it is a concern for babies in the womb, don’t you think it’s a concern for all of us?
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The microwave always heats things up unevenly anyway, with one part over-heated and hard, and another part still cold.
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Even though food is changed and less nutritious no matter how it is heated, according to Nina Planck, in her book, Real Food, “The microwave destroys antioxidants, enzymes, and vitamins dramatically more than conventional heat.”
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I hope by now everyone knows to never use plastic in the microwave…right? But did you know there are also some concerns about toxins from paper used in a microwave, too?
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Have you ever done a taste-test with microwave popcorn and oh, I don’t know…MY popcorn? No comparison! Microwave popcorn just tastes like all the fake butter and chemical preservatives that it’s chock full of.
Don’t worry, here are some ways that I still have plenty of convenience built into my life:
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I use our toaster oven a LOT, and I love it. It has 5 different ways to heat (toast, broil, defrost, convection bake & bake), and the “convection bake” feature works great for warming stuff up. You pop it in, go do one thing, come back and it’s done.
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Another gadget I love is my hot water faucet. This saves a lot of time. I use it in a variety of ways: to melt a few chocolate chips I put them into a glass bowl, set that bowl in some hot water, and in 5 minutes they’re melted. To thaw some blueberries for pancakes, I just run hot water over them and drain – done. Same thing for frozen peas, and then babies and toddlers will scoop them up, believe it or not. Works great for tea, obviously, or even to warm up my coffee.
- Here’s a very helpful post on how to heat up foods without a microwave.
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Turning the oven on or getting a saucepan out to warm up leftovers with a little water or milk in the bottom really doesn’t kill you, even though I used to think it surely would.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Michigan Mom2three 03.31.08 at 3:53 am
Thanks for these ideas Kelly! I have been wanting to replace my microwave oven with a toaster oven for a long time. My microwave is my “oven hood” though, so I haven’t yet figured out how to do this. I have been cutting WAY back for some time now. Also, I don’t have an insta-hot-water-tap, but I wanted to mention that I use my electric kettle for the things you mentioned. I have a regular stove top kettle too, but with the electric kettle, I have boiling water (or just hot, whatever I need) in seconds. I picked it up on clearance at Meijer for $9.99 a while back.
I heard recently of a story where someone heated, then cooled water from a microwave to water a plant, and also watered another control plant with tap water. The tap water plant thrived, the microwaved water plant died! Yikes!
Shauna
Anna 03.31.08 at 10:37 am
I do pretty much the same, Kelly. I haven’t banished the microwave from the kitchen yet, but it’s barely justifying it’s valuable kitchen real estate for the amount of use it’s getting. My husband is the stumbling block; he uses it for 11 seconds to prewarm the half & half for his coffee! I sometimes use it for steaming veggies if have too much going on at the range. I also use it for my son’s whole soaked groats, but I could just as easily use the stove if the microwave wasn’t there. The time to cook is the about the same 8-10 minutes, only the pot to wash is different.
I also use a large-ish toaster oven, electric water kettle, and stove top to reheat things. I can’t think of any instant foods I use anymore so no need for a hot water dispenser.
Stove cooked popcorn with coconut oil beats microwave popcorn hands down everytime! I can’t even stand the smell of packaged microwaved popcorn (like sweaty socks).
Another reason I have cut back drastically on the microwave use is to set a better example for my son of what real food prep requires. I realized that when I used the microwave, it fostered an “impatience” for food on his part. He began to expect food too fast and had a hard time waiting. By heating something with the range or the toaster oven, he has to wait and understand that food isn’t instant (at least he doesn’t have to gather wood and build a fire, eh?).
I think the microwaved water & plant experiment was debunked on Mythbusters or one of the urban legend sites, btw.
Jessica 03.31.08 at 1:41 pm
I got rid of our microwave (before I thought it might be unhealthy) because it just took up too much counter space. I realized I didn’t need a giant beast on my counter to heat up leftovers when it it just as easy to heat them up on the stove.
Jessica
http://www.practicalnourishment.com
cheeseslave 03.31.08 at 6:18 pm
I still have the microwave over the range. Since we only bought it last year and we plan to sell this house within the next couple of years (I figure it will help increase the resale value).
I just leave it unplugged. And I use it now for my ferments! I put my kefir and oatmeal in there at night. Or beans or whatever it is I’m soaking.
I am so much like you — I used to use it all the time and I couldn’t imagine living without it. It’s so easy now — I have no problem not using it. It’s totally just a mindset.
Now, like you, I use the toaster oven a lot, and we don’t have an insta-hot water tap but I did buy a Zojirushi hot water dispenser. It probably cost just over $100 and we use it all the time!
Oh, and one other thing — I read a study that said that they stopped heating breast milk in the microwave in NICU units in hospitals — because the premie babies DIED.
This was not because of imbalanced heating. It changed the molecular structure of the milk and the babies could not absorb/assimilate the nutrients. So yeah, it’s BAD!
Love your blog! Keep up the good work.
Ann Marie
Kelly 03.31.08 at 6:53 pm
Hello Shauna, Anna, Jessica & Ann Marie.
Shauna, I have the same problem with my microwave being above my stove. Right now my toaster oven is sitting in an awkward spot until we figure out a better place for it. We had thought we’d just pull out the micro and put a shelf there for the toaster oven, but like you, then we wouldn’t have a vent over the stove. I’d love to hear how others solved this problem! The obvious solution is putting the toaster oven someplace else, but we really don’t have another good spot…
The electric kettle sounds like a great alternative to the insta-hot – cheaper, too.
Kelly
Julie 04.24.08 at 6:38 am
I recently purchased an Aroma brand turbo oven. This is a counter top convection oven, one that Dr. Mercola recommends (only I found a cheaper site for purchase.) We are starting to use it daily for the cooking of meat (faster and more tender) faster, better baking of potatoes. Consider this appliance also if you are trying to cut back on microwave usage.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop 04.24.08 at 8:54 am
Julie,
Great tip! I hope you check back here because I have 3 questions for you: can I ask about the cost, where you found it, and how big it is?
Thanks,
Kelly
Julie 04.26.08 at 4:40 am
Hi Kelly,
I got my Aroma turbo oven at
http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com
The cost is 84.95
The size is posted in the description at the website. It is very easy to clean, very simple to use and it is about as simple looking an appliance as you have ever seen. It looks like something out of the 50’s to me. It’s about as big around as a large stock pot. Height is about 12 inches or so. Check it out.
Bamboo 08.25.08 at 4:41 am
I sold my M/W yesterday! Yeah! If someone would’ve told me a year ago that I would be giving it up I would’ve said, “Huh?” If they would’ve told me that my husband would agree the first time I brought it up I would’ve given a double, “Huh?”
We have NO counter space so it was on a M/W cart with the toaster oven on top. Now I have the toaster oven (turned sideways) and the breadmaker in its place. It looks kind of cluttered but otherwise I take the breadmaker in/out of our highest cupboard shelf about every other day. I’ll keep tweaking the kitchen arrangements but I’m so glad to have the M/W out.
Now to undo the damage of years of M/W popcorn!
Beth
Kelly the Kitchen Kop 08.25.08 at 4:53 am
Great news, Beth! Can’t wait for the day mine is outa here! It just takes up space right now. Good for hiding things from the kids, though.
The Lazy Organizer 12.01.08 at 9:40 pm
I would like to give up the microwave too. Maybe I will move it into the pantry so we all forget to use it. We will have a lot more dishes to wash and we have already given up the automatic dishwasher!!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop 12.01.08 at 9:54 pm
Lara,
Good idea! If it’s inconvenient, no one will use it.
Don’t worry about the extra dishes, that’s what we had kids for, they looooove doing dishes!
Kelly
Anonymous 12.20.08 at 7:29 pm
I too have a microwave/vent combo above my stove. It is the most expensive clock/kitchen timer in my house!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop 12.20.08 at 7:40 pm
Guess what happened just tonight? Our teen felt bad that he was leaning on the microwave or something and busted the handle. (Add it to the list of broken stuff around here.) I didn’t even care since you can’t see it and I don’t use it anyway! He was glad I wasn’t upset. One more excuse to yank the thing out of here!
Kelly
Bkbabe 03.17.09 at 2:26 am
Funny, I’m coming from the opposite end of the m/w use. Growing up with my frugal grandma, she reheated food without incidence by steaming it! She would take a saucepan, fill with water, heat it on the stove and place the food on top the pan in a metal collander – cover. Try it – you’ll see it’s one of the best ways to reheat any food, and not loose moisture or recook it. Not to mention it’s great way to steam fish and veggies.
On the flipside, I do own a m/w and basically only use it for one thing: POPCORN – but NOT m/w popcorn! I use a “Microwave Popcorn popper” (amazon.com) to get air popped corn.
Kelly 03.17.09 at 2:34 pm
Hey, what a great idea, to STEAM leftovers to warm them, LOVE IT!
Thanks, Kelly
Catherine 05.11.09 at 11:48 am
“Nuking” your food does not sound healthy to me either.
Catherine’s last blog post..[The Unhealthy Vegetarian Diet] Signs Your Veggie Baby is Not Thriving
Robin 02.04.10 at 2:05 pm
Sorry, I know this is an old post, but I was interested in how to go about reheating items without using the microwave, as I’m having a hard time giving it up for the “little things” (like heating up tea that has gone cold, etc.) and really do want to give it up entirely. So, thanks for all the ideas!
Just an idea, though, for anyone wondering what to do with the “over-the-range” space-we recently upgraded our old appliances and decided on a convection microwave. Since we’re planning on selling the house in a couple years (and also have an over-the-range microwave with the vent), we needed to put something there, and this seemed like a good compromise, as you can use it just like a convection oven without the microwave part at all. So for me, this replaces my toaster oven, freeing up that counter space, and essentially gives me a second oven which fits perfectly in that space.
KitchenKop 02.04.10 at 2:23 pm
Robin, YES!! Someone JUST told me about these last week and I’m SO excited because I couldn’t find a toaster oven that goes over the stove, and like you mentioned, we don’t want that on the counter for the rest of our lives.
Apparently these combo ovens basically do everything my toaster oven does, except toast (and we’ve got a toaster for that anyway), plus the micro. I rarely use my microwave anymore, as I said in the post, but for the 4 times a year I do use it, it will be nice to still have it there.
Now I want to get our counter replaced so we can get that new oven!