Do you actually use your Microwave??

Miss_Piggy_2

Hello all

Please bear with me if these questions have been asked before...did do a search but nothing came up.

Now, my microwave died last night. Immediate reaction in the house was shock horror...what will we do!?:eek: But then, when I think about it, I only use the microwave to:
* Defrost meat I've forgotten to take out the freezer
* Melt butter for cooking
* Ready meals (once a week, if that!)
* Part cooking Jacket spuds

In my mind I feel I could probably live without one. But was just wondering if anyone else on here does, and whether there are any real savings to be made by not having one?

Thanks!

Miss P
xx

Justamum

Well I don't have one, and I know I'm not the only one on here.

DKLS

Havent had a microwave for over 10 years now, I dont have the need for one.

ubamother

I do use mine, in a similar way to yours. I also do quite a bit of defrosting and reheating from the freezer - soups, mashed potatoes etc. etc. I find mine very useful for peas, chocolate melting and heating milk. If mine died I would replace it, but with a most basic model - never used any of the pre-set program mes or anything.

Chinkle

Re-heating/defrosting things, make my porridge in it in the mornings, warm up soup, jacket potatoes (ok not so nice as oven baked but cheaper). I would probably replace mine PDQ when it dies.

wyebird

Yes, I did replace mine when it died a few months ago. I have adult children, one who works odd shifts and the other who does lots of sport, so being able to re-heat meals is very useful, as is defrosting when you have forgotten to take something out of the freezer!
I only bought a £25 one though, I can't see that I would use, or understand , one with lots of additional bells and whistles.

Bronnie

I have a very cheap basic one. Due to working patterns, DD and I find it handy for reheating ( home-cooked!) meals and soup, making porridge, gravy, white sauces and custard in a plastic jug, jacket spuds, occasional defrosting, melting stuff when cooking, heating milk.

It saves dirtying pans and dishes on the hob and oven and is quicker.

Also use it for warming through fresh tomatoes and cooking mushrooms for breakfast, saves lots of calories and DD makes herself loads of extra frozen peas and sweetcorn with her meals cos it's so easy to do, so that's to be encouraged too!!

Yes, I could manage without it but it cost me less than £30 and have had it for a couple of years now and I would replace mine at that price purely for the convenience factor.

anguk

I didn't think I used mine much until it broke and I really missed it, mainly for defrosting and reheating things from the freezer.

I bought a replacement off Ebay for the princely sum of £2, it's a combi oven/microwave but no-one had bid on it because the digital display is broken, it works perfectly well and you don't even need the display so it was a bargain! I never use any of the preset buttons or auto defrost/cook, I just defrost & reheat but it's been brilliant to use it as an oven when I just want to bake or roast one thing.

When this one breaks I'll definately replace it, if I can find a cheapish combi I'll get that, if not it'll just be a cheap basic microwave.

Puddleglum

Mine went pop instead of ping six years or so ago. I couldn't afford to buy a new one and decided not to save up for one as I really only cooked veggies in it. You adapt to being without and when we had a self catering holiday last year I didn't feel the need to use the microwave once.

rinabean

My microwave broke recently. I don't buy ready meals so I also thought about not replacing it. I only lasted a few days - I didn't realise just how much I used it! Maybe you'll be ok without it if your list is really all you use it for, but if you have jacket potatoes often you might save money replacing it. I use mine for:

• reheating meals - I cook for 4-6 when there's 2 of us. Like ready meals but cheaper?
• part-cooking potatoes, like you
• melting chocolate
• scrambling eggs
• heating up slices of cakes and pies
• reheating tea. I'm terrible for this
• cooking frozen veg

Doing these on the hob/in the oven is wasteful in terms of energy (for 1-2 portions), it takes at least twice as long and you have to wash extra pots and pans. But see how often you find yourself missing the microwave, and if it's not often, I'd save myself the counter space if I were you