Things microwaves do better than any other cooking method

[Jenise]

Was thinking about this a few hours ago as I chewed on a sausage, banana fashion, wrapped in a paper towel and hot from the microwave. The sausage was a previously-cooked model that merely requires reheating, a chicken-apple-gouda version from Niman Ranch brand. Bob was ooh aahing over his companion sausage asking why we don't have more like this. Well, I answered, it's because we usually buy fresh sausages that have never been cooked. These were the exception, I went on, because we bought them in Ketchum, Idaho, on our last camping trip and never got around to cooking them. In that situation, the fact that the precooking gives you a headstart and enables microwave cooking is actually a plus.

He said he might like this better than grilled. And frankly, I have to agree. Cooked past merely hot all the way through and therefore technically ready, the sausage cooks to the point where it bursts, leaking out a lot of fat which is good, and getting the entire outer skin quite wrinkly and snappy-chewy. The longer you cook, the more so, but about four minutes was just right for two 1" diameter sausages this morning. No other cooking method will get you that So, though this morning's breakfast was all about hurry-up because we needed to get our crap pots out before the fog bank made same impossible, it was in fact my favorite result. I just didn't expect Bob (Mr. Grill) to agree with me.

My other favorite microwave job, or at least most frequent use, now that I have an insta-hot water tap and don't need to heat water for tea this way (fie on tea kettles), is melting butter. After that it's a pretty open field.

Your favorites?

melt chocolate
make crisp pepperoni
make potato chips (if you can't handle the deep-fry mess)

I have not tried this but it sounds like a good idea. Put an unhusked ear of sweetcorn, as is, into micrwave and nuke for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove and use a chefs knife to cut off a small slice of the big end. The ear is supposed to slide out of the husk with no silk, ready to eat, as you squeeze the top. I have seen the vids on Youtube. Must give it a try.

We always cooking thick zucchini slices in the microwave. they cook in 12 minutes! and taste great.

But what about the health effects of the microwave radiation, Jenise?

Mark Lipton

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/microwaved-tilapia/

I don't know if I can say it was definitively better than classic Cantonese steamed, but cooked perfectly

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/microwaved-tilapia/

I don't know if I can say it was definitively better than classic Cantonese steamed, but cooked perfectly

I'm sure the fish was worse for you than the microwaving. 99% of the Tilapia sold in this country comes from China, and way it is raised makes our Atlantic farm raised salmon look healthy! We won't touch either ever!

The tilapia was from Ecuador (I highly recommend the Monterey Aquarium Seafood Watch app by the way).
I only buy seafood from places that list origin.
I've actually never seen whole tilapia from China, though I'm sure it's out there. About 70% of tilapia in US is imported from China

I've actually never seen whole tilapia from China, though I'm sure it's out there. About 70% of tilapia in US is imported from China

I saw figures around 80%. Chinese imports are usually sold as frozen filets; South American catch is sold fresh. I have no idea what is done with catch from the second-largest exporter of tilapia, Egypt... perhaps it does not come to the US. And there is a tilapia industry in the US, too, but it is not big yet.

I find tilapia boring to eat.

It is very well-suited for aqua-culture, hence the big push: it grows fast, it eats plants, it tolerates crowding, and you can apply hormones to change female sprats into male (which is good for stabilizing the size of the flock).

That last one is especially comforting, don't you think?

I have not tried this but it sounds like a good idea. Put an unhusked ear of sweetcorn, as is, into micrwave and nuke for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove and use a chefs knife to cut off a small slice of the big end. The ear is supposed to slide out of the husk with no silk, ready to eat, as you squeeze the top. I have seen the vids on Youtube. Must give it a try.

It works - SWMBO's standard method

Jeff, I was just basing on a report that said 95% imported and 73% of imports from China, yours might be more recent

In any case, I wasn't recommending tilapia so much as the Modernist Cuisine technique. Should work well with any similar sized white flesh fish- snapper, branzino, larger porgies, etc If you read the link you see they give recommendations of adjusting cooking for other fish. I also did it with halibut filet, worked just as well (shorter timing). That said, I thought the tilapia was fine. The only previous time I've cooked tilapia was domestic farmed, I started a thread here about bland fish, and ended up doing a Veracruz sauce with chipotle addition to gussy it up, not bad if not up to red snapper standards. I'm guessing (from texture ) all of my previous experiences (not us cooking) have been with frozen tilapia filets. I like to look my fish in the eye.

We do need plant-eating fast growing aquaculture if we're going to feed everyone. Salmon farms aren't just dirty, they require several times more fish (in pounds) as feed as they produce.

Popcorn

[Robin Garr]

Boat anchor?

Boiling water in a jiffy!
How real do you think are the loss of nutritional value of microwaved foods? I know people who won't use it for reheating food because it causes nutritional loss. I have no hard evidence of this.

Boiling water in a jiffy!
How real do you think are the loss of nutritional value of microwaved foods? I know people who won't use it for reheating food because it causes nutritional loss. I have no hard evidence of this.

Calling Mark! How about that?

[Jenise]

Boat anchor?

Obviously, you never reheat leftovers!

Boat anchor?

Obviously, you never reheat leftovers!

What is this concept - 'left over'......

Have to agree that a microwave is the best way to reheat leftovers, particularly in places like Sacto in the summer, where you don't want to heat your kitchen up any more than is absolutely necessary.

In addition to melting butter, I like using the microwave to soften refrigerated butter enough to spread it on toast and such. A couple of 8 second bursts, and it's just right.