Posted on 08/29/2022 7:24:26 AM PDT by dennisw
Could ditching the oven this winter help bring your energy bill down? How the much-maligned microwave cooks food at a fraction of the price - with a jacket potato costing 24p less to bake
Research has suggested it is far cheaper to cook essential food in microwaves
Microwaving a jacket potato costs 24p less than baking it in a traditional oven
Cooking your food in a microwave could be a way to save on energy bills as the cost of living crisis soars in Britain's colder months.
UK energy customers are set for a tight few months, if not longer, as price caps rise.
Ofgem confirmed on Friday that there will be an 80 per cent rise in the price cap - sending the average household's yearly bill from £1,971 to £3,549 from October 1st, with further adjustments on December 31st.
Research has suggested that it is far cheaper to cook essential food in microwaves than traditionally in an oven.
Research by energy supplier Utilita found that using a microwave only costs £30 a year, while an electric cooker costs £316 for the same time period.
Meanwhile, uSwitch said it would cost you roughly 27p to cook a baked potato in the oven but just 3p in the microwave.
Microwaving broccoli costs 1p as opposed to 6p on a hob and poaching an egg is a third of the price.
Even Michelin-starred celebrity chef Tom Brown has revealed he sometimes opts to use the microwave to cook certain dishes.
'There's a lot of food that is great when done in the microwave,' Brown told The Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
We never cook food - particularly protein - in the micro
If you want a single serving of mashed potatoes, microwaves are great. Scrub a potato. Peel if you want, although if the skin is thin enough it works to leave it on. Microwave in 2-3 minute increments, turning each time, until the potato is tender all the way through. Then add butter, salt, and milk, and smoosh it with a fork. For an “instant” gravy, top it with cream-of-something soup, and pop it back in the microwave for 2 minutes.
But, I do agree that the majority of foods taste better cooked in the oven or on the stove.
Easier to monitor. Easier to throttle. Easier to shut off if you use too much.
Easier to control. They have been working at this for years. Leftists changing building codes to allow remote monitoring of energy usage, ostensibly for increased efficiency due to not requiring manual electric meter reads on the sides of physical structures by human eyes.
If that were the extent of it, I would be fully onboard. But that is not the end goal, IMO. It is another window into your life and something to be controlled.
Same with water meters.
The downside from an energy perspective is that electricity loses energy in transmission, 2-6% depending on whether it is high voltage or stepped down near your home. Bottom line, they don’t give a damn if it is less efficient.
They want to throttle users. High usage during peak times? You get rationed this much electricity. You can use it for Air Conditioning or to run your washing machine.
You get to choose.
I have a better idea: How about giving us enough electricity to do what we want with and let us make economic decisions based on the cost of using that energy?
I always found that made it taste stale.
That works too. I usually keep my bread in the fridge, which makes it less palatable, so when I make a sandwich or something not broiled or toasted, I microwave it for a few seconds to get it closer to room temp.
Granted, it does change the texture slightly, but...I have always been a fan of slightly chewy crust...:)
Other people...apparently not so much! And I get it.
If I have nice fresh bread, I don’t generally do it...but if you have bread that is long in the tooth, any alteration in taste, to my palate, is worth the improvement in texture.
I can’t stand bread that is on the cusp of being stale, never mind stale.
Like milk. If it is sour, you toss, it no question. If it is good, you drink it, no question.
But if it is on the border...you sniff it, you look at it, you hem and haw...and your mind plays tricks on you.
I have long concluded that if you think milk is sour, even just thinking it might be it will make it smell sour!
Agree, nothing cooks well in my microwave. Only bought the thing to heat up a microwave=only eye mask needed for my eye condition. I can heat water for instant coffee too, which I sometimes drink. Very nice brand at Trader Joe with a red jar top is OK.
Europeans are being told to brace for a 10X increase in their electric bills this coming winter as European nations adopt "carbon neutral" or "net zero" energy policies coupled with Russia cutting off the gas spigot.
If this doesn't have people rioting in the streets, I don't know what it's going to take.
Turns out letting a petulant teenage girl dictate energy policies wasn't such a great idea.
Bacon cooks wonderful in the MW.
Yick, no.
Oh yes, try it sometime, cover bacon with a paper towel about one minute per slice or so depending how crisp you want it.I never fry bacon anymore, the MW is much quicker and does the job.
“You hide the microwave while some of us hide the TV. So, what are your favorite foods at a strong 92 vs when you were half that age?”
Seafood, same as always. Just harder to find it now, used to live in Marseilles but now I have to have grandchildren bring fresh stuff from Columbus, I can’t drive that far now. Mediterranean diet I guess. Definitely low carbs and fresh vegetables, still have a garden but I need some help with it, not too much.
Bacon cooks awesome in a microwave.
They make plastic bacon microwave cookers:
https://www.chefsresource.com/best-microwave-bacon-cookers/
Or ceramic mug ones:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/535567427/bacon-cooker-blue-glazed-pottery-bacon?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=bacon+mug&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&bes=1
https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Sun-Pottery-Ceramic-Microwave/dp/B00TAUXC1K/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1RAAWAML6RAX2&keywords=microwave+bacon+cooker+ceramic&qid=1661790934&sprefix=microwave+bacon+cooker+ceramic%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-7
I never put plastic in the microwave for any consumable. I don’t care how “BPA free” they say they are. They off-gas some dangerous crap.
I'm not a fan of the plastic either but the ceramic bacon cooker mugs avoid that. The grease from the bacon strips falls into a saucer to pour out when done.
I detest microwave ovens and won’t even use them to heat things up.
This is more apt to describe what the UK’s situation: lmao
https://twitter.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1562550911087439873
My mother started using the microwave to roast the Thanksgiving turkey back in the 80’s. She was skeptical at first, but they always came out as good or better than in the oven.
Crispy skin and very moist.
I have some thin Corning Ware plates (from the local thrift store) I use in the microwave, which I have used two times in the last month. They are basically Pyrex made by Corning in upstate NY. Same people who came up with Gorilla Glass for phones. I never use plastic in the microwave.
Remember how takeout hot coffee came in Styrofoam cups? How disgusting. I never drank a drop of that.
Thin Corelle plates aka Corning Ware. Great for microwave. Time Period Manufactured:
1970-1979
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.