We all know what a microwave is for, right? It's for reheating leftovers and steaming broccoli. Well, if you're going to allot so much precious kitchen real estate to a microwave oven, you better make it work harder than that!
Here are 10 more things you can do with your microwave, from making potato chips to frothing milk foam for your latte.
The microwave is looked down upon by many home cooks, given its associations with TV dinners and frozen burritos. But it is actually a healthier way of cooking vegetables, says Harold McGee, food science guru. It leaves more nutrients intact, and you can use it to steam food without using as much fat.
Beyond these benefits, though, you can use the microwave for some unexpected and rather awesome purposes.
Your Microwave Can...
- Poach eggs - Great for the office. Take some leftover greens or pasta and poach a fresh, gooey egg to throw on top.
- Make potato chips - Easy, crispy potato chips — from the microwave? With no fat? Believe it.
- Froth milk for your latte - No, you don't need a special machine — just your microwave and a jar, and you can have
- Cook polenta - Polenta doesn't have to be a time-consuming stovetop affair. This makes a quick bowl for breakfast or supper.
- Make a quick bowl of mac and cheese - from scratch! - Yes, cook the pasta and the sauce in the microwave. It's ready in less than 10 minutes. This method wins over the box every time.
- Toast nuts - Yep, you can toast nuts in the microwave. It's quick, with less chance of scorching them.
- Dry herbs - A good way to preserve fresh herbs for the fall and winter.
- Proof bread dough - Hurry up your last bread rise a little bit with a couple zaps from the microwave.
- Sanitize kitchen equipment - You can use the microwave to sanitize sponges and disinfect cutting boards.
- Make popcorn, without a bag - Wait, you say — I know the microwave makes popcorn. You just buy those little packets... Well, yes. But did you know that you can skip those and just put regular popcorn kernels in a greased bowl and pop them in the microwave that way? Read through all the comments on that post for more details.
We could go on and on, actually — how about lemon curd or softening cheese for the cheese plate?
But it's your turn now ‐ do you have any smart, unexpected uses for your microwave?
Related: 6 Smart Alternate Locations for the Microwave
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I love using the microwave to make all sorts of pasta. It also has the advantage of steaming the microwave up, so I can give it a quick wipe down and clean it easily!
I like the potato chips idea, but wouldn't the oven set on low theoretically do a better job? Since you could just leave them in there instead of attending to them constantly?
Just a thought.
Also - you can make polenta like you make oatmeal - by pouring in boiling water and stirring. No need for stovetop cooking.
My best microwave recipe is for lemon / lime curd. So quick and easy and no curdling.
I use my microwave to cook potatoes for recipes where they will be mashed. It offers the same flavor at 1/2 the prep time! (i.e. - for mashed potatoes: http://www.foodiecitymom.com/quick-and-easy-mashed-potatoes-recipe/
or sweet potatoes (for pies): http://www.foodiecitymom.com/not-too-sweet-sweet-potato-pie-or-yam-pie-recipe/
Temper chocolate...chopped chocolate in glass bowl on high for 15-20 second increments stirring in between until melted.
rice - I put in a covered casserole on high until boiling, then on 30% power for next 35 minutes. Perfect brown rice everytime with no extra appliances.
When I lived in a college dorm, I cooked pasta and ramen all the time, but sometimes overflowed the pasta dish. You can easily do things like steam big winter squashes (cut side down in a dish of water), sautee onions, etc. (onions and butter in a bowl), steam any vegetable, bake potatoes (unless you want the skin really crispy)... I didn't really use the stove until I got out of the dorm and started cooking for two. My dad is still a microwave master. You can put whole unshucked ears of corn in the microwave and cook them perfectly, too!
You can sanitize many a thing in the microwave - that's why when you buy some of those non-BPA baby bottles, it comes with a microwaveable tray that you use when sanitizing them. Since I sanitize stuff in the microwave, I just use a bowl of water to clean it. No chemicals needed! Just let the water boil!
And who could forget the annual springtime sport of Peeps jousting.
What a lot of great ideas, Faith! And it reminds me that I need to try some of the ideas Mark Bittman wrote about cooking fresh vegetables and more in a microwave a few years ago.
Oh wow, I love the idea of toasting nuts. I heard an interview with McGee about how great microwaves are, and given who was talking, I took notice. Thanks for this!
I'm constantly melting chocolate in the microwave... but now I'll sanitize my sponges in there, too!
I think I'll stick to stovetop popcorn, but mostly because the process reminds me so much of good times spent with my mother. We used to make a big bowl of popcorn and sit down and watch movies together on saturday afternoons. Sometimes the process is more satisfying when done the old fashioned way.
Then again, I make my own lace. Your mileage may - and probably will! - vary.
Oh, and bodicegoddess? Peeps jousting is AWESOME! I would do it more often except that I'm then stuck with a bunch of nuclear Peeps, and I don't like Peeps. Ah well.
Every year at Christmas-time, I make peanut brittle in the microwave. My dad started this back in the late 80's when we discovered a recipe in the microwave cookbook that came with our gigantic 80's size micro. The brittle has now become a tradition! My in-laws beg me to make it every year. It's addictive :-)
I make oatmeal and cream of wheat (not instant) in my microwave.
My 20-22# turkey for Thanksgiving is cooked in my microwave. I've been doing it for over 30 yrs. It browns (basting with applesauce/maple syrup mixture) and nice and moist. I bought a conversion cookbook 30 yrs. ago and converts reg. recipe into prep in microwave. Best investment I've ever made. Cooking the turkey this way frees up my oven for all other items. Could not live without a microwave.
use a microwave to make delicious cheese crisps. take small thin pieces of Swiss type cheese, leave space between to spread and blast a minute or so until melted. they will crisp up but remove immediately. cheese slices make this foolproof but you need to make each piece smaller - tearing is sufficient.
If you want to make guacamole and one of the avocados is not quite ripe, zap it in the MW for a few seconds.
i made a microwave coffee coffee cake in a coffee mug:
http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/java-jive/
What about those chocolate cakes in a mug things? I have not tried them but mean to one of these days.
The best use of your microwave is to slowly kill yourself. That thing is deadly and should not be used at all.
marciann: Can I get your recipe for the peanut brittle?
hunky: Can I get your recipe for the turkey in the microwave?
Caramel Popcorn - ready in no time flat!
My main use for it is reheating food and melting chocolate. It's so much faster than a double boiler and works just as well.
Rinchen - that's a great idea. I always seem to get just-slightly-hard avocados.
Make papadums!
Zap lemons or limes for 15 seconds; you get more juice.
You all need to ditch your microwaves. Microwaves tear and deform the molecular structure of food. Eating microwaved food alters white blood cells and weakens the immune system . Mmm, yummy!!
- Try planting seeds in two pots, one with microwaved water and the other without. The one with microwaved water will never sprout.
Take the bitterness out of eggplant slices before adding to your recipe without having to go through the whole weighing and squeezing routine: place slices on paper towels, salt lightly, and microwave 2 - 3 minutes. You can even stack these, as long as each paper towel sheet holds a single layer of eggplant slices. Another great use for the microwave is cooking bacon without all the spattering and mess. I use paper plates, and paper towels with single layers of bacon. Cook to desired doneness.
To mrsblastfmr:
this recipe is pretty much identical to the one I make:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/microwave-peanut-brittle-2/detail.aspx
I will tell you - the syrup gets HOT so be careful. and the last step -- mixing in the baking soda -- the batter gets super frothy and you want to work quickly! you need to spread the batter quickly onto the cookie sheets. don't worry if they look messy, they will cool and be smooth. My last tip is that with each microwave I've used over the years, cook time has varied slightly. If your mix starts to smell like burnt peanuts, you need to cut back on the time. Likewise, if your mix doesn't look hot and syrupy, it's not cooked/hot enough and it won't taste right or be the right consistency. I used Planter's Lightly Salted Peanuts and good old light Karo. I hope this helps, and best brittle wishes to you!!! --Marci Ann
Heating sake!
I dye wool with Kool Aid.
Two minutes on, two minutes off. Continue until the water is clear.
This is a great find. Making potato chips using a microwave. I never knew you can crisp potatoes with it.
Great, informative article. Thanks
Kyle L, that's an urban myth. Do some more research--http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave/plants.asp
As other bloggers have noted, I've been microwaving scrambled eggs often at work. I've always wished I could poach. Can't wait to try this.
I've actually tried the seed in microwaved water thing, because I use semi-sterile water for seed starting. Seems they sprout just fine everytime. It might be your other techniques that's giving you sprouting problems. Like the fact that you're BS-ing. @Kyle L
I used to live in Army bachelor accommodation with very little space for cooking. The micro wave was and still is in my cooking an irreplaceable item. All I used was an Electric wok, the main item, slow cooker, small grill oven with a rotisserie and a blender. I'd create meals you'd pay $100 plus for.
Look at my blog, www.englishmans-travels.com and www.myworldandyourewelcome.blogspot.com
@marciann, I'm positive I have that same cookbook (and only finally gave up on that microwave a couple of years ago!). We always made the Three-Layer Brownies, which are still killer, and the English toffee. But the toffee doesn't translate to newer microwaves for some reason. It's never crunchy/crumbly anymore! Sad.
Very interesting few recipes there, to be honest I haven't had the best of times with Mr. Microwave but recently I've been dabbling in said practise and discovered one of the most successful bechamel sauces done in the microwave. You read that right. Did it all by eye and taste but basically a knob of butter, cheese (i had stilton & cheddar to hand) and a dash of rice milk - blasted that just under a minute, then sprinkled about 1tbsp flour (give or take) and another 30 sec, season to taste = NO LUMPS. Real useful when cooking for one and will definitely be doing that again!