To Microwave or Not to Microwave, That is the Question

Frivolous gadget, proper culinary tool, or simply a waste of counter top space, Khalil ponders: THE MICROWAVE.

By Khalil Hymore

One of the major moving dilemmas has been what to keep and what to toss. The most controversial item on the list has been the microwave.  Scott would like to get rid of it all together. He claims to not use it at all (although, he TOTALLY reheats leftovers in it!) and would prefer the counter top space. Honestly, back when I was in culinary school and working in a restaurant kitchen I would have detested the use of the microwave, but now? Well, it's kind of handy, especially as I have watched my kitchen disappear into a plethora of boxes, yet to emerge. I still feel like I need my microwave, even it if it is just for melting butter or warming Chinese food. I have been known in a pinch to steam vegetables, like broccoli or sweet potatoes in the microwave, too.

For some people, their microwave is like a member of the family. They use it as a shortcut when cooking all the time, although I would draw the line at cooking a full course meal in it. My mother-in-law, Tina, claims to use it for lots of things, but I mostly spy her heating water for tea quickly. Some of the newer, fancier microwaves now even have convection features, which claim to grill steaks, and bake pies. However, I'm a bit skeptical. I once tried baking a strawberry-rhubarb pie in a friend's convection microwave and...well, it ended up tasting more like gummi bear pie.  On the other side of the spectrum, I notice a lot of folks end up using their microwaves for storage. Scott's aunt in the Berkshires, for instance, has all of us trained to search her microwave for the good snacks, since she uses it as a cupboard (a sealed cupboard mice cannot infiltrate).

A lot of my friends and family speak about health concerns with a microwave. One friend said she will use it, but once she hits that start button she gets out of the way. Our little cousin Nathan's parents have completely gotten rid of their microwave now that they have him. There is an extremely thorough (and boring) Wikipedia entry devoted to the topic here--I tried reading it, but it kept going on and on about frequencies, gigahertz, and wavelengths. The gist is: microwaves use safe amounts of radiation in extremely small doses to heat your food. The FDA assures that it is safe--I say, if you are not comfortable with that, then use your own judgment.

So, after much debate, Scott and I have come to a decision: we're going to do a microwave-free test run. Since we moved with the microwave anyway, we're going to leave it in its box for a month. If we get by without missing it, then we may very well be headed for a microwave-free household. BUT - if we just can't live without it, out of its box it comes, where it will be placed on probation. I'll keep everyone updated on how we're doing. To honor our microwave (or lack thereof) I decided on a recipe this week that can be made two ways....with a microwave or without! Our good friend Karen in the Berkshires made a delicious microwave version of acorn squash with butter and brown sugar. Yet, if you're living without a microwave, you can easily roast the acorn squash too!

In the meantime, I'm VERY curious to know what everyone else thinks about our microwave experiment. Could you live without yours? Does yours have lots of bells and whistles that make it indispensable? Well, I'm off to unpack more boxes - I don't think it will ever end!