our microwave has died

swampytiggaa

used it last night and it isn't producing any heat. Hubs is gonna look at it tomorrow [when he is off work] but i think it has gone for good.

so anyway - we were gonna have a look at how much one was - then i suggested we looked at how much we used it and what for - turns out the main thing we use it for is heating milk and baked beans

so we have decided not to replace it at the moment [cos we could do without spending if we can avoid it] and see how we do without it.

I felt quite proud of myself really - cos before i found this site i might have just automatically assumed we needed one - whereas we have thought about it and i don't think we do!

so i can count that as money saved towards my long term goal of swopping my electric cooker for a gas one

Queenie

Great attitude!!! Now that is what I call Moneysaving Old Style!!

We've been through a similar scenario when dh wanted to upgrade our microwave - why he wants to interfer when he doesn't use it is beyond me - my attitude was, if he could convince me it was used enough to justify spending out on another then sure, we'll get one! That stumped him

If all you are using it for is to heat milk and beans ... then you're very wise to forgo a new one and put the money towards that gas cooker

Well done! :beer:

swampytiggaa

thank you

altho i didn't think twice about replacing when our tumble drier packed up - i do line dry as much as i can but my trade off for using cloth nappies is to have a tumble drier accessable at all times

but i am sure i can live without a microwave.

I considered getting a breadmaker - then i started making bread by hand and realised how easy and satisfying it is - so saved myself the cash on that one too! Maybe i should put that money in my cooker fund too......

culpepper

We now have another microwave.Our first one was a wedding present and lasted about 10 years.We used it for baking potatoes and heating up cups of tea.
Then about 2 years ago I saw one at the market for £15(second hand) and thought that would exactly fit in the space above my cooker and is brown(same as cooker) so I bought it.
We use it for steamed puds,ommelettes,baked potatoes,making custard,popcorn,heating milk,cooking sausages,whole chickens(takes 40 mins for a 2.6kg) ,bacon,fried eggs,plate pizzas...etc and heating up OH dinner as he usually gets home way after we have all eaten.
However the dishwasher died last year having reached just over 5 years old(so even if we had taken out 5 year insurance it wouldnt have been covered!!)and now we just share out the washing up between us.

Magentasue

Our microwave died last year and I thought I'd go without because I hardly use it. Over a couple of weeks I realised I use it more than I thought.

• pre cooking baked potatoes couple times a week
• OH's porridge most mornings
• chicken's peelings every day
• frozen peas couple of times a week
• rice twice a week
• heating milk for hot chocolate in the winter
• softening a bitof hard butter

I was thinking I could do these things in a saucepan (apart from baked potatoes) but that just takes longer/makes more washing up or uses a hob ring when I've already got four things on.

So I got the cheapest model from Asda - hasn't got timer, keypad, clock etc but is fine for what I want.

Austin_Allegro

Try searching online for microwave repair - I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that there's a simple solution to this problem, some element or component that can be easily replaced, but I'm not sure.

I use my microwave for practically everything. I would definitely recommend it for saving time, energy, and cutting down on steam in the kitchen.

Lillibet_2

Magentasue wrote:

[/list] I was thinking I could do these things in a saucepan (apart from baked potatoes) but that just takes longer/makes more washing up or uses a hob ring when I've already got four things on.

My mother-in-law always pre-boils her jacket spuds in the saucepan for 5-10 mins before popping in the oven to finish, I have never met anyone else who does this but it seems to work fine.

My microwave is predominantly used for poached eggs, porridge in winter & occasionally defrosting garlic bread in a hurry. I could live without it if I had to but I'd prefer to retain one if I could afford to. Saying that, my parents have bought me my last 2 as Xmas presents.........I can only assume they think I can't cook!

The_Biff

Never owned one in 31 years of marriage. Waste of money & space. I was put off when I holidayed in Nova Scotia & all restaurants using them had to display a warning notice - apparantly to safeguard people with pacemakers.
They all leak a little bit & I've heard worse scare stories (unsubstantiated).
Another question you should ask yourself is if they are so good, how come they are not used in central heating systems, to heat the water?
I can seem to do everything with a fan oven - soften butter @ 50~, bake spuds in 30 mins (split them in 2, rub open side with olive oil & hey presto!)

MrsMW

I love my microwave, it's one of those combination ones with oven and grill and I use it all the time and almost never use the conventional oven. I was chatting to a friend the other day and she never uses her microwave because the instruction book makes it seem very complicated, but although I often have to refer to the book, I use mine as a normal oven for cooking joints etc. I grill bacon and sausages and the dual cooking setting is wonderful for doing jacket potatoes, they take 12 mins for 2 and are crispy just like from the normal oven. also great for chops and burgers. I have had my conventional oven for 18 months and it has never needed cleaning, shows how little I use it. I should add I also use my slow cooker a lot, but I wouldn't be without my microwave.

Queenie

MrsMW wrote:

I love my microwave, it's one of those combination ones with oven and grill and I use it all the time and almost never use the conventional oven. I was chatting to a friend the other day and she never uses her microwave because the instruction book makes it seem very complicated, but although I often have to refer to the book, I use mine as a normal oven for cooking joints etc. I grill bacon and sausages and the dual cooking setting is wonderful for doing jacket potatoes, they take 12 mins for 2 and are crispy just like from the normal oven. also great for chops and burgers. I have had my conventional oven for 18 months and it has never needed cleaning, shows how little I use it. I should add I also use my slow cooker a lot, but I wouldn't be without my microwave.

And that's what I love about this place
For me, the microwave is of little use - yet for others, it's their main "cooking" method. We all have different means/methods/priorities and it's soooo interesting to hear how others do things!

foreverskint

mine died 3 weeks ago, and although i used it a lot I have managed to live without it so far. The only thing I really miss it for is heating my wheat bags up.