Microwave or hob - which is more economical?

cazj80

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a query.

I am about to buy a microwave rice steamer, and I am wondering if it is more economical to use a microwave or an electric hob for 10 minutes, bearing in mind I boil the kettle to save time on the hob.

I just wondered if anyone would have an answer!

Thanks in advance

zippychick

as this has dropped down the OS board ive moved it to the Electricity board to see if anyone has any input over here

Zip

andyrpsmith

My vote would go to the microwave especially if you boil water first and then heat up the hob.

HappyMJ

I'll go for the microwave as well. Much quicker to cook rice than the electric hob. Now if you said gas hob then I'd have to work it out. And what is a microwave rice steamer anyway? I use a glass bowl picked for a few quid put rinsed rice in bowl cover with water put in microwave. Stir it around after a few minutes then zap again for a few more minutes.

grahamc2003

I'd say it's pretty hard to guess - you'd need to do some measurements directly to find out. Microwaves are quite inefficient - generating the microwaves isn't an efficient process, although they heat foiod efficiently once generated. A hob probably gets a higher percentage of the electricity used as heat into the food than does a microwave imv. Add in both the hob and the microwave will cycle on and off during cooking making the comparison very difficult.

The cheapest method of cooking rice is to only use enough water which can be absorbed, and not do what my wife does which is to cook rice in half a gallon of water, then pour most of it away, then rinse with more boiling water. It needs very low heat to cook rice if just the right amount of boiling water is added.