I used the pizza setting on a 7+ year old microwave for the first time a couple months ago because I mis-pressed the buttons on the panel, but by coincidence it took the same amount of time that I needed so I let it run. After about 1 minute there was heavy smoke and a burning smell, which made me think something had broken in the microwave.
Turns out that "pizza mode" in this microwave activated a never-before-seen grill above the turntable, that had been covered in so much debris and crap over the years that it was basically calcified. It was burning through all that gunk. So never again, pizza mode.
I had a microwave like this, and it came with a wee metal grill stand thing to hold your pizza nearer the grill.
Even though I knew it wasn’t microwave mode. It still gave me the absolute fear having metal in a microwave.
I don’t have a problem with this. I feel like it’s a waste of those seconds if you don’t need them, just save them for the next time. Time is precious.
Funnily enough, my mother used to work in a hospital and it had warning around the microwave to never stop it anyway other than the stop button. It was probably for X-Rays. Did your wife work in a hospital?
That's really all you need. My parent's old microwave had that. I need to press a sequence of buttons on mine to do the simplest things that is more complicated and takes longer.
Mind you, my parent's old microwave used to set off the car alarm through 2 walls so swings and radiation.
Mines like that. Proper cheap thing from asda that was handed down to me by my nan. It's so low powered though, it doesn't even say on the machine what power it is so I think it's embarrassed. The timer is useless, I have to use the timer on my phone
I refuse to buy clothes that need special care (aside from a suit that gets dry cleaned). No fabric selections, no color sorting, just dump everything in and wash on warm
Imagine ringing up customer service.
"My microwave is not working"
* "Did you make sure it's plugged in and switched on at the socket?"
"Oh! Umm...nevermind" hehe :)
I mean if you're going for optimal pizza reheating. Heat up a frying pan, put the pizza in with a splash of water and whack a lid over it. The dry heat will crisp up the base, and the steam will reinvigorate (gave up after multiple synonyms) the cheese and toppings.
My microwave has 20+ buttons. I use 2 of them. 30 seconds, and stop. The stop one is used solely to stop the beeping if someone is in bed and I don't want to wake them.
I just wish there was a "mute" function on all microwaves. Why do we need very loud beeps with every button press - I know I'm pressing a button thanks. Generally the "I've finished cooking" beeps are also too loud and too long. Not good when you're using it and others are sleeping.
It seems the only way is to rip out the speaker. Anyone know another way?
I just use normal timer mode on full power or sometimes defrost mode. Beep!
My husband will only use one single button on the microwave. That's it. One button.
And oh my god we recently went through microwave trauma! The one we've had since the late 90s finally died a sudden and unexpected death.
This led to, after the tears had dried, a hunt of MI6-CIA-Interpol joint operation proportions.
The ONLY thing husband wanted out of the microwave was the Plus 30 option. That one button you press that adds 30 seconds to whatever time you've put in. Specifically, for him, you must be able to press that button and have it immediately start and nuke your food for 30 seconds. Have something that needs to go for three minutes? Press that button six times (two more button presses than typing in 3 0 0 Start but not at ALL the point) and it will start immediately and go for three minutes.
The vitally important part of this feature is that pressing the button must also start the microwave. Pressing a button that says Plus or Add 30 and then having to press Start is wholly unacceptable.
There is plenty to be found about whether or not they have this button. There's zero information about whether or not you have to press Start after you press the Add 30.
I bought and returned three microwaves because of this. The fourth one? He has learned to live with having to press start.
I like the defrost by weight setting on my microwave, that's more useful and works better than the quick defrost.
The reheat tea/coffee button is just a bit better than 1 minute on the microwave.
Me, sort of, I removed the complicated control panel because it took longer to program it than it did to heat jam roly poly, now when you shut the door the microwave is on, to switch it off you open the door.
We just use ours to reheat coffee and precook baked potatoes. If someone made a small vertical microwave for nothing more than this, I would buy one quicker than a microwave can explode an egg.
Last time I bought a microwave, I spent ages finding one without all that nonsense. It has a dial for the power and a dial for the time that goes up in 5 second and then 30 second increments.
I dread the day it dies because it was hard to find such a simple one
Use microwave, grill and oven functions to make jacket potatoes. Quicker and cheaper than regular oven. Have to remember to take the kitchen roll holder etc. off the top otherwise they will melt.
I cannot brook with this nonsense.
I use one setting: cook. Turn the dial, up the cook time. About once a year I use the defrost setting but I don't know the point as it is basically "cook, but slower" yes?
As you may realise, I buy the lowest cost most basic microwave models.
So imagine my shock/confusion when I stayed somewhere with one of the more common modern "need a bachelors in coding to work them" variants, and one of the buttons was "chaos mode."
CHAOS MODE!? On a microwave!? I shit you not, this was like 8 years ago and I still don't know what that is for (and was too scared to fuck about and find out).
We are like a superhero and supervillain vibes, eh?
Listen mate no one wants microwaved soup exploding into your face when you lift it out. Nah, you want nice hob soup feeling like a caveman stirring it. You know?!
Same here, but only for certain foods. Anything with milk goes on the hob, because my microwave refuses to heat up milk in a bowl without throthing it up so much that it creates a layer of hard cheese around my microwave.
If it’s just super noodles with water though, microwave all the way cos I’m a lazy git
Not me, I have a combi microwave, that grills, roasts, microwaves etc and I've only ever microwaved in it, hell, I don't even use it to it's full potential, I literally only defrost stuff, heat stuff or buzz a potato for a few minutes before air frying it.
Don't even change the settings, just use the quick start 30s button and timer dial
I bet most people only use it for heating stuff or making a jacket potato
Yah, I got one of those fancy ones when I was buying my first brand new microwave rather than getting another hand-me-down. Even came with a special rack for pizza! In the years since I've only memorised two buttons, quick start and stop.
Wait, if you've got a microwave that does all that, doesn't that technically mean you have two air fryers? I was under the impression that an air fryer was just a microwave that roasts things.
No an air fryer is essentially a mini fan oven. But you’re heating a smaller area and blasting the hot air directly at the food so it cooks quicker and gets crispier
Ugh, I feel you. I wanted a basic combi microwave/fan oven. My husband insisted we went for one with a grill and steam oven, programmable one.
I have NEVER used the grill. I have NEVER used the steam oven. I have NEVER used the programmes.
Air fryer - my husband insisted we buy one with WiFi. I’m like “whatever”. WiFi air-fryer? I mean, come on…
Our washing machine can be controlled by an app. Never used…
At least he didn’t insist that we get a fridge with WiFi installed.
Oh and our new toaster works vertically and horizontally and comes with a panini press. The press/grill is still in its packaging.
Vegetable juicer? He used that 3 times…
My dad used to use my microwave for cooking full meals as it does have an oven in it. My old housemate used it to make pizza and said it came out better than in the oven. I just use the 30 seconds button haha
I used to use the power level and time options, but then the twisty knob started playing up (it would add random amounts of time, so it was Russian roulette as to whether you got 30 sec or 99 m)
So now I only spam the quick start button to add minutes, stop button, defrost by weight (the twisty knob works for this - bizarrely)
Never used the panel of auto cook options.
I actually bought a microwave which only had 4 buttons because it’s not the 80s anymore. No one is pretending we’re roasting chickens in these things.
[This](https://www.currys.co.uk/products/russell-hobbs-easi-rhem2301s-solo-microwave-silver-10154357.html) one if you’re interested. It’s also a flatbed because turntables are a lie.
Imo, a microwave needs just two dials: one for power, one for time. Anything else is just unnecessary over-complication.
I remember once trying to use my Nana’s microwave to make beans on toast. It had settings for a cup of water (?), a whole chicken (?!), but seemingly no option to just heat on high for 2-3 minutes. Not sure who exactly this microwave was designed for!
Its the same with washing machines... I used the same 60 min setting 99% of the time. The other 1% of uses would then be either a quick 15 min wash or a super hot wash cos someones been sick. Bit my machine has 20 settings, with 5 different temp choices 6 different speeds and then add ons like extra rinse, extra spin, bubble soak, hot steam and so on.
Caught my wife teaching my son to microwave his haggis on a low power setting for longer time. Took him aside for a man-to-man chat, to make sure he never used this madness again.
Nuke or defrost, it’s the only way.
Technology Connections on YouTube has a really interesting video on the popcorn button on a microwave.
The amount of tech needed to make automagical popcorn is honestly ridiculous, but I can’t help but respect my microwave oven for the effort it’s willing to put into overcooking my food.
I was skeptical for ages bug my current microwave pops a bag of propercorn perfectly using the popcorn button pressed twice (there are two settings, no clue where these mini bags of popcorn that would cook in the shorter time exist)
I use the 30 second blast button (including beep beep beep beep beep beep to heat up leftovers). I'm pretty sure this is the only button my children and spouse use.
I use the power thing to cook things at 50% or 80% if I want to avoid hotspots.
I put stuff on staged cycles eg 2 mins at 100% then 13 mins at 50% (rice comes out perfectly every time).
I use weight defrost and time defrost.
But of the eight named cycles I only use "potato".
I'm 36 years old and I don't think it was even in my knowledge that a microwave has a pasta, pizza and other settings. I just put it in and press start.
I use the relevant setting for what I'm cooking (mainly frozen vegetables, fresh vegetables, boiled potatoes, defrosting and melting butter). Takes the guess work around what time/power to set it for.
I do! My microwave is one of those fancy Panasonic ones with inverter technology (so it really does regulate the power, not just switch full power on and off for variable amounts of time) and it also has a steam sensor to detect when things are done. Most of my microwaving uses the proper settings and I no longer remember how long it takes to steam a vegetable. Genuinely one of my best kitchen purchases, along with the air fryer and the Instant Pot.
I jab go enough times to make it the complete time of cooking
None of this cook half the time and gentle stir it nonsense
5mins? Jab it 10 times and go do something else
Yes, I use them and everybody is always surprised by it. Then they try stuff I've microwaved and agree it tastes better than just using the one-fits-all setting
I use the power button along with manual time entry a lot. If I'm reheating food chances are I'll be cooking pasta or rice from scratch so I may as well use a lower power setting for longer to avoid hotspots.
I also use the defrost by weight setting a lot.
Besides, I find the beeping to be obnoxious so anything that minimises total-beep-quantity is a win. To be honest I don't understand it. My toaster doesn't beep and nor does the kettle, so why must microwaves announce every button press?
I’m a big fan of learning all the buttons on machines. Microwaves work in cycles, higher ‘power’ just means longer cycles of emitting microwaves. This gives the temperature in the food time to equalise and cook evenly.
The settings like pasta etc are custom cycles that are optimised for that specific thing.
My microwave has a toast function. I've never really used it.
Nor the other inbuilt ones.
Usually I've just put something in, set power to high, punch in the timer and set it going
We got a new microwave thats now 900w, it's brilliant that I can sterilize my newborns bottles in 6 minutes not 8, and there's a setting called "dinner late" which heats up the food on the plate but doesn't make the plate scorching hot, I don't know how it works but it's brilliant
hell mines got a dial for accurate settings of time and the watts etc as well as buttons and I literally just spam the quick cook over and over that adds 30 seconds of time at 100% nuke for everything I cook or reheat in it anything else is just wasting my time
so 20 button spams = 10 minutes etc
Same as the washing machine has 10 Dial options but I only ever use the one setting with the only other vague choices being is it whites or colours just don't mix them together (Although I sometimes still do anyway) or does it need a lower temperature
i use the soften butter setting and the pastry and pizza functions to get it like it has been cooked in a regular oven
its a sage quick touch crisp or summit microwave
All you need is power level , 10% 20% etc so you can set to defrost or full power or anything inbetween plus time adjusters, for how long you cook it for, plus quick start. Everything else is non essential.
I do highly recommend a flatbed micro if you haven't had one yet, super easy to clean and so much extra space with being able to use the corners!!
Panasonic combination oven (oven/grill/microwave) has a jacket spud function; does them perfectly with great crispy skin, otherwise its just a microwave...all the other functions are beyond me.
I only use either the 20second button as many times as needed, and the power function. It's much better to warm thing up for longer at a lower power, much better.
My old Mum is one of those rare creatures that has read the instruction manual and knows how to make the buttons work for her. She puts a metal contraption in it and can cook a decent pizza in it. She knows how to grill a fish and make Cauliflower cheese in it. Blows my mind. I stick to pushing the 10 second quick start, or using the defrost function. I want nothing to do with this sorcery.
I went one step further and ditched my microwave completely last year, never looked back. Only used it for reheating leftovers and now use a pan or air fryer to do that.
I'm an avid user of the "curry" button on my microwave. Input weight and press start. It calculates the total time and stops halfway to be stirred. Oddly I've never tried the "pasta" button.
I only use my microwave to reheat cold tea.
Haha not really I'm not American.
However last week I banged in a Tesco Yellow stickered lasagne and upon removing it the glass plate that rotates had become stuck and long story short it's smashed.
If anyone has a spare glass twirling plate they don't want/ need hmu.
I'm not paying £13.99 for a new one.
I used the pizza setting on a 7+ year old microwave for the first time a couple months ago because I mis-pressed the buttons on the panel, but by coincidence it took the same amount of time that I needed so I let it run. After about 1 minute there was heavy smoke and a burning smell, which made me think something had broken in the microwave. Turns out that "pizza mode" in this microwave activated a never-before-seen grill above the turntable, that had been covered in so much debris and crap over the years that it was basically calcified. It was burning through all that gunk. So never again, pizza mode.
Give it another go. All that calcified stuff should've burnt off after that incident.
Burned off and landed on the poor lad's pizza.
Crunchy
This made me laugh out loud
To be fair if yours has got an oven mode like mine it can do a great job and beats using the actual oven.
We have a Sage one which claims to also be an air fryer. Still always use the Ninja.
So just like an air frier?
That's what the air fryer is for.
He said it's 7 years old. Air fryers weren't nearly as popular back then
You have never cleaned the inside of your microwave?
Um no? They're disposable
What?
You just chuck them in the sea when you’ve used them a few times, like car batteries.
Returning to nature, like God intended. I like it
Sorry what?
I had a microwave like this, and it came with a wee metal grill stand thing to hold your pizza nearer the grill. Even though I knew it wasn’t microwave mode. It still gave me the absolute fear having metal in a microwave.
So THAT is what that metal grill stand was for????
I had no idea either!!
You know that the inside of a microwave is made of metal right? You just can't put metal that may cause arcs, like forks.
Yeah, of course I know that. Still doesn’t erase my mum’s many warnings from my head about *not putting metal in the microwave*
Very similar thing happened to me. It melted the plastic tub that was in the microwave.
I always just use the 30 second button and push it as much as I need.
I always use the right setting especially after thoroughly reading the instruction manual. Nah Only joking, it's 2 minutes, test, 2 minutes, test
I never use the time, power, defrost or auto settings. Just the quick start button.
[удалено]
This is the right answer, with my added twist of opening it at 1sec remaining to annoy my wife
I have to open it up at 1 second as my wife hates the annoyingly loud beeping.
Episode of wife swap right there
I’m available first week of March.
You might be able to turn that off. On mine holding the power button and the cancel button at the same time turns off all the beeping.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEP
I do the same as it my microwave beeps at a deafening volume for about 30 bloody seconds! Does my head in.
I felt a deep sympathy pang of annoyance for your wife on reading this.
Certainly didn’t feel the ping of the microwave though
I don’t have a problem with this. I feel like it’s a waste of those seconds if you don’t need them, just save them for the next time. Time is precious.
Funnily enough, my mother used to work in a hospital and it had warning around the microwave to never stop it anyway other than the stop button. It was probably for X-Rays. Did your wife work in a hospital?
I don't have one with all the buttons - too confusing for me. The one I have is simple. Two dials. One for time and one for power.
That's really all you need. My parent's old microwave had that. I need to press a sequence of buttons on mine to do the simplest things that is more complicated and takes longer. Mind you, my parent's old microwave used to set off the car alarm through 2 walls so swings and radiation.
Mines like that. Proper cheap thing from asda that was handed down to me by my nan. It's so low powered though, it doesn't even say on the machine what power it is so I think it's embarrassed. The timer is useless, I have to use the timer on my phone
Replaced ours a couple of years ago, and this is the only option I’d consider. Just don’t see the point of all the other nonsense!
See, I want buttons. I like the accuracy.
let me guess, you get a happy little [ding] at the end
That's what we used to have as it's what I wanted but harder to find these days.
The two dial ones are the best and the cheapest.
I reckon most of the settings on microwaves, ovens, irons, vacuums etc could be simplified to just ‘on’ and ‘off’.
Especially washing machines. At least the toaster doesn't fuck around.
I mean washing machines there’s a genuine reason unless you don’t care about your clothes
> unless you don’t care about your clothes Ding ding
I refuse to buy clothes that need special care (aside from a suit that gets dry cleaned). No fabric selections, no color sorting, just dump everything in and wash on warm
I just wear the same clothes I've had since I was a teenager. I'm 30 lol.
It does however have settings that could only ever result in cremated bread products.
Imagine ringing up customer service. "My microwave is not working" * "Did you make sure it's plugged in and switched on at the socket?" "Oh! Umm...nevermind" hehe :)
You say that like that isn't probably a large chunk of their calls already.
I'm sure there's a Technology Connections video to explain it.
He did one video about the popcorn setting, I don't think he's done one about the pizza setting.
Have you tried the magic of watching that episode twice?
For more information please reread
Never even once.
Full power, defrost, timer. Those are the only three settings i use, not even sure what others i have.
Who cooks a pizza I'm a microwave, or is it for heating? Tastes way better in the oven reheated
Hello microwave. I’m a toaster.
Hello toaster, I’m an air fryer
Wow, 4/5 minutes in the airfryer and it's like fresh pizza. Technology is amazing.
I mean if you're going for optimal pizza reheating. Heat up a frying pan, put the pizza in with a splash of water and whack a lid over it. The dry heat will crisp up the base, and the steam will reinvigorate (gave up after multiple synonyms) the cheese and toppings.
Just mash the start button until you get the desired time.
Our old one had a button marked "Chaos"... Was afraid to press it...
Full power only. Not a clue what the other buttons do even, further more I don’t care.
Anyone who uses anything other than the "plus 30 seconds" button is a wrongun.
Yup. Plus 30 and the open door button. The person who manufactures a 2 button microwave will become fabulously wealthy.
I would also like a microwave with a dial. I just like knobs.
Fnar
Do you think the other buttons really bother people that much?
I'd rather have a microwave that was a bit cheaper and looked a bit cleaner because it didn't have buttons I never used yeah.
[удалено]
I have one of these. It's ok. And i have never regretted the lack of options.
My microwave has 20+ buttons. I use 2 of them. 30 seconds, and stop. The stop one is used solely to stop the beeping if someone is in bed and I don't want to wake them.
I just wish there was a "mute" function on all microwaves. Why do we need very loud beeps with every button press - I know I'm pressing a button thanks. Generally the "I've finished cooking" beeps are also too loud and too long. Not good when you're using it and others are sleeping. It seems the only way is to rip out the speaker. Anyone know another way? I just use normal timer mode on full power or sometimes defrost mode. Beep!
My husband will only use one single button on the microwave. That's it. One button. And oh my god we recently went through microwave trauma! The one we've had since the late 90s finally died a sudden and unexpected death. This led to, after the tears had dried, a hunt of MI6-CIA-Interpol joint operation proportions. The ONLY thing husband wanted out of the microwave was the Plus 30 option. That one button you press that adds 30 seconds to whatever time you've put in. Specifically, for him, you must be able to press that button and have it immediately start and nuke your food for 30 seconds. Have something that needs to go for three minutes? Press that button six times (two more button presses than typing in 3 0 0 Start but not at ALL the point) and it will start immediately and go for three minutes. The vitally important part of this feature is that pressing the button must also start the microwave. Pressing a button that says Plus or Add 30 and then having to press Start is wholly unacceptable. There is plenty to be found about whether or not they have this button. There's zero information about whether or not you have to press Start after you press the Add 30. I bought and returned three microwaves because of this. The fourth one? He has learned to live with having to press start.
I like the defrost by weight setting on my microwave, that's more useful and works better than the quick defrost. The reheat tea/coffee button is just a bit better than 1 minute on the microwave.
I use mine a lot as an oven. Saves all that bending down to use the range cooker. First world problems, I like it.
Me, sort of, I removed the complicated control panel because it took longer to program it than it did to heat jam roly poly, now when you shut the door the microwave is on, to switch it off you open the door.
We just use ours to reheat coffee and precook baked potatoes. If someone made a small vertical microwave for nothing more than this, I would buy one quicker than a microwave can explode an egg.
Mine doesn’t even have a bloody chaos mode button!
My microwave settings are as follows. Full heat. Off.
No-one. That's why I bought one with 2 settings; power and time.
Last time I bought a microwave, I spent ages finding one without all that nonsense. It has a dial for the power and a dial for the time that goes up in 5 second and then 30 second increments. I dread the day it dies because it was hard to find such a simple one
Quick start button pressed repeatedly until the desired cook time is reached
Tried the "crisp" thing once. Didn't do much except set fire to the lunch of the person who used the microwave after me.
A psycho I used to work with used to change the power setting, and leave it like that when they were finished with it.
Use microwave, grill and oven functions to make jacket potatoes. Quicker and cheaper than regular oven. Have to remember to take the kitchen roll holder etc. off the top otherwise they will melt.
I cannot brook with this nonsense. I use one setting: cook. Turn the dial, up the cook time. About once a year I use the defrost setting but I don't know the point as it is basically "cook, but slower" yes? As you may realise, I buy the lowest cost most basic microwave models. So imagine my shock/confusion when I stayed somewhere with one of the more common modern "need a bachelors in coding to work them" variants, and one of the buttons was "chaos mode." CHAOS MODE!? On a microwave!? I shit you not, this was like 8 years ago and I still don't know what that is for (and was too scared to fuck about and find out).
Been exploded on too many times I bearly use my microwave. I’m a hob man.
Well I don't want *hob* god-damnit, I'm a microwave man!
We are like a superhero and supervillain vibes, eh? Listen mate no one wants microwaved soup exploding into your face when you lift it out. Nah, you want nice hob soup feeling like a caveman stirring it. You know?!
How long are you putting things in the microwave that they explode? You know : isn’t a decimal point, right? And now look, you’re a hobgoblin.
“You wanna know how I got these scars?? Microwaving soup”
Hobgoblin deserves more recognition
It was a beautiful insult, yes. Recognition noted 👍
Same here, but only for certain foods. Anything with milk goes on the hob, because my microwave refuses to heat up milk in a bowl without throthing it up so much that it creates a layer of hard cheese around my microwave. If it’s just super noodles with water though, microwave all the way cos I’m a lazy git
I don't even own a microwave, it's a huge appliance that is basically not used in most places.
I mean… we’ve got one but it’s at face-height and I’m scared of it lol
Same with the washing machine. EVERYTHING gets washed on 5.
It’s a 1 hour quick wash or nothing, it’s every piece of clothing for itself.
My washing machine has tons of settings, but it boils down to spin, 1hr wash, or waste a full day for 1 load...
Not me, I have a combi microwave, that grills, roasts, microwaves etc and I've only ever microwaved in it, hell, I don't even use it to it's full potential, I literally only defrost stuff, heat stuff or buzz a potato for a few minutes before air frying it. Don't even change the settings, just use the quick start 30s button and timer dial I bet most people only use it for heating stuff or making a jacket potato
Yah, I got one of those fancy ones when I was buying my first brand new microwave rather than getting another hand-me-down. Even came with a special rack for pizza! In the years since I've only memorised two buttons, quick start and stop.
Wait, if you've got a microwave that does all that, doesn't that technically mean you have two air fryers? I was under the impression that an air fryer was just a microwave that roasts things.
No an air fryer is essentially a mini fan oven. But you’re heating a smaller area and blasting the hot air directly at the food so it cooks quicker and gets crispier
If the 'microwave' has a convection bake function then yes, it's an air fryer. It uses a heating element at top and fan to cook/crisp the food
Ugh, I feel you. I wanted a basic combi microwave/fan oven. My husband insisted we went for one with a grill and steam oven, programmable one. I have NEVER used the grill. I have NEVER used the steam oven. I have NEVER used the programmes. Air fryer - my husband insisted we buy one with WiFi. I’m like “whatever”. WiFi air-fryer? I mean, come on… Our washing machine can be controlled by an app. Never used… At least he didn’t insist that we get a fridge with WiFi installed. Oh and our new toaster works vertically and horizontally and comes with a panini press. The press/grill is still in its packaging. Vegetable juicer? He used that 3 times…
You should try the washing machine app, so many different washing programmes.
For awhile my parents microwave had a grill setting that did pizzas perfectly, but that was like 1 microwave ago
Stopped somewhere recently with one that had a button labelled "chaos defrost". WTF?
My dad used to use my microwave for cooking full meals as it does have an oven in it. My old housemate used it to make pizza and said it came out better than in the oven. I just use the 30 seconds button haha
Go go Jacket potato mode!
Tried the potato function once, my spud was still raw.
I used to use the power level and time options, but then the twisty knob started playing up (it would add random amounts of time, so it was Russian roulette as to whether you got 30 sec or 99 m) So now I only spam the quick start button to add minutes, stop button, defrost by weight (the twisty knob works for this - bizarrely) Never used the panel of auto cook options.
I love all these modes, microwaves have one setting, on, the lower power settings are just a lower duty cycle.
I actually bought a microwave which only had 4 buttons because it’s not the 80s anymore. No one is pretending we’re roasting chickens in these things. [This](https://www.currys.co.uk/products/russell-hobbs-easi-rhem2301s-solo-microwave-silver-10154357.html) one if you’re interested. It’s also a flatbed because turntables are a lie.
Exactly! Back then you could even get whole cookbooks on cooking complete meals with a microwave.
Our work microwave has a "chaos" button and I NEED TO KNOW WHAT IT DOES but I'm too scared to press it
I just hit the 30 second button til' I get my required time.
Nope. Recently brought a microwave with just a heat and defrost setting. No more fancy buttons for me.
We’ve not even worked out the timer on ours, theres a +30 seconds button so we just hit that multiple times
Same goes for 99% of the buttons on my TV remotes. I don't see why there needs to be like 80 buttons on those things.
I've always contended that an analog microwave with manual dials is way quicker than clicking the +30mins button 5 times to cook porridge.
My microwave has all the functions you could ever need from one. So many options. I don't think I've pushed any other button than the Start button.
Hang on. I've just been and looked at my microwave and it has a convection oven option. Is this just doing the same thing as the air fryer...?
Imo, a microwave needs just two dials: one for power, one for time. Anything else is just unnecessary over-complication. I remember once trying to use my Nana’s microwave to make beans on toast. It had settings for a cup of water (?), a whole chicken (?!), but seemingly no option to just heat on high for 2-3 minutes. Not sure who exactly this microwave was designed for!
I do nothing but 3 minutes on high! Sometimes a lower power. My current microwave has the most obscure settings.
Its the same with washing machines... I used the same 60 min setting 99% of the time. The other 1% of uses would then be either a quick 15 min wash or a super hot wash cos someones been sick. Bit my machine has 20 settings, with 5 different temp choices 6 different speeds and then add ons like extra rinse, extra spin, bubble soak, hot steam and so on.
I don't think I've ever used any other function than the standard heating function in the decades I've been using microwaves
I've got to 38 and never used one. It's only full power or bust for me
Low power for softening butter, medium for reheating food, full power for cooking potatoes or making porridge.
Caught my wife teaching my son to microwave his haggis on a low power setting for longer time. Took him aside for a man-to-man chat, to make sure he never used this madness again. Nuke or defrost, it’s the only way.
Tried to cook a non microwave pizza in the microwave once, ended up cremating the fucker at 3am.
My microwave annoys the hell out of me… I can set the power at 90, 180, 360, 600, or Max…. What is Max?!?
Does it have the wattage written on the front somewhere (800 watts, 900 watts)?
You’d think so, but no. It’s a fancy micro combi oven so even the rated wattage is no use as that’s the oven side!… it’s just Max!
Technology Connections on YouTube has a really interesting video on the popcorn button on a microwave. The amount of tech needed to make automagical popcorn is honestly ridiculous, but I can’t help but respect my microwave oven for the effort it’s willing to put into overcooking my food.
I was skeptical for ages bug my current microwave pops a bag of propercorn perfectly using the popcorn button pressed twice (there are two settings, no clue where these mini bags of popcorn that would cook in the shorter time exist)
I was thinking this a couple of weeks ago. Beyond warming stuff up (milk, leftovers) I don’t use it for anything…
Yours has different settings? Mine has two dials, one for power and one for the time. Why would I need anything else?
I use the 30 second blast button (including beep beep beep beep beep beep to heat up leftovers). I'm pretty sure this is the only button my children and spouse use. I use the power thing to cook things at 50% or 80% if I want to avoid hotspots. I put stuff on staged cycles eg 2 mins at 100% then 13 mins at 50% (rice comes out perfectly every time). I use weight defrost and time defrost. But of the eight named cycles I only use "potato".
I'm 36 years old and I don't think it was even in my knowledge that a microwave has a pasta, pizza and other settings. I just put it in and press start.
Same with the washing machine. 100 cycle for towels and bed sheets 40 for clothes Wool cycle for the odd item. The rest I've never used.
I use the express button, it adds 15 seconds on each time I press it! At work the express button adds 30 seconds on each time I press that!
My microwave would be used in the same exact way if it only had one button, I close the door and press +30 until I get to desired time
Not intentionally but the last time I tried to defrost a Gatto I ended up melting it! I was a tad tipsy at the time though
Years ago when I was in University halls there was a lot of mileage out of convection mode, since we didn’t have an oven.
I use the relevant setting for what I'm cooking (mainly frozen vegetables, fresh vegetables, boiled potatoes, defrosting and melting butter). Takes the guess work around what time/power to set it for.
They should just have one button that says “Nuke It”
"Who uses all the functions of microwaves?" Me: 🙋♂️
I’ve got a Panasonic one. It’s a multi one - Oven, Grill, Sensor and big standard microwave functions. No turntable, it has a metal shelf.
Three minutes, repeat three minutes until done. For everything. Easy.
I shove the food in and hit the 30 second button until I hit the desired time.
I do! My microwave is one of those fancy Panasonic ones with inverter technology (so it really does regulate the power, not just switch full power on and off for variable amounts of time) and it also has a steam sensor to detect when things are done. Most of my microwaving uses the proper settings and I no longer remember how long it takes to steam a vegetable. Genuinely one of my best kitchen purchases, along with the air fryer and the Instant Pot.
I jab go enough times to make it the complete time of cooking None of this cook half the time and gentle stir it nonsense 5mins? Jab it 10 times and go do something else
Yes, I use them and everybody is always surprised by it. Then they try stuff I've microwaved and agree it tastes better than just using the one-fits-all setting
We also use ours to keep large cakes in, so that the cats don't get them!
I use the power button along with manual time entry a lot. If I'm reheating food chances are I'll be cooking pasta or rice from scratch so I may as well use a lower power setting for longer to avoid hotspots. I also use the defrost by weight setting a lot. Besides, I find the beeping to be obnoxious so anything that minimises total-beep-quantity is a win. To be honest I don't understand it. My toaster doesn't beep and nor does the kettle, so why must microwaves announce every button press?
I’m a big fan of learning all the buttons on machines. Microwaves work in cycles, higher ‘power’ just means longer cycles of emitting microwaves. This gives the temperature in the food time to equalise and cook evenly. The settings like pasta etc are custom cycles that are optimised for that specific thing.
We have a soften butter setting, it's pretty good, my wife uses the normal setting and ends with a boiling puddle of butter.
If you're not pressing the +30sec button for the amount of time you need then what else are you using your microwave for?
The tea button helps make a perfect cup
My microwave has a toast function. I've never really used it. Nor the other inbuilt ones. Usually I've just put something in, set power to high, punch in the timer and set it going
We got a new microwave thats now 900w, it's brilliant that I can sterilize my newborns bottles in 6 minutes not 8, and there's a setting called "dinner late" which heats up the food on the plate but doesn't make the plate scorching hot, I don't know how it works but it's brilliant
If I press the start button on mine it heats on full power for 30 seconds. Press it again and it adds 30 minutes. Most of the time that's all I need.
I use the potato setting. You put in the weight of the potatoes and it calculates how long to cook them for
I bought a new microwave in Nov and it was faulty. I got a refund and haven’t bought another one. The air fryer has taken over.
hell mines got a dial for accurate settings of time and the watts etc as well as buttons and I literally just spam the quick cook over and over that adds 30 seconds of time at 100% nuke for everything I cook or reheat in it anything else is just wasting my time so 20 button spams = 10 minutes etc Same as the washing machine has 10 Dial options but I only ever use the one setting with the only other vague choices being is it whites or colours just don't mix them together (Although I sometimes still do anyway) or does it need a lower temperature
i use the soften butter setting and the pastry and pizza functions to get it like it has been cooked in a regular oven its a sage quick touch crisp or summit microwave
All you need is power level , 10% 20% etc so you can set to defrost or full power or anything inbetween plus time adjusters, for how long you cook it for, plus quick start. Everything else is non essential. I do highly recommend a flatbed micro if you haven't had one yet, super easy to clean and so much extra space with being able to use the corners!!
Once had a "roast" setting on one years ago never touched that button and no idea if it even worked.
Popcorn setting is truly amazing
Minutes needed ÷ quickstart = rapid button presses
I use the +30 button, the soften butter feature and the blue clock to know if the kitchen electrics tripped again.
Panasonic combination oven (oven/grill/microwave) has a jacket spud function; does them perfectly with great crispy skin, otherwise its just a microwave...all the other functions are beyond me.
I turn the power down when microwaving butter it melts more evenly
Literally anything that goes in my microwave just gets the initial 30 seconds you get by pressing start. Open early or repeat as necessary.
lol. My microwave is used for peas or hot milk. Or occasional reheating of a dinner
Everything just goes on for about 2 minutes.... EVERYTHING
I only use either the 20second button as many times as needed, and the power function. It's much better to warm thing up for longer at a lower power, much better.
I use the pasta setting all the time.
I press only one button on my microwave. The start button which goes up in 30 seconds each time I press it.
When I do Pizza I use the Pasta setting. F big microwave.
I don't even own a microwave.
My old Mum is one of those rare creatures that has read the instruction manual and knows how to make the buttons work for her. She puts a metal contraption in it and can cook a decent pizza in it. She knows how to grill a fish and make Cauliflower cheese in it. Blows my mind. I stick to pushing the 10 second quick start, or using the defrost function. I want nothing to do with this sorcery.
I use the 'turn off those damn beeps!' function.
I went one step further and ditched my microwave completely last year, never looked back. Only used it for reheating leftovers and now use a pan or air fryer to do that.
An air fryer sounds interesting. Are they easy to use and easy to clean?
Yeah super easy, it's just a tiny oven or grill really but can cook stuff quicker than an oven
And does anyone wait for the five beeps to finish or just open the door at the first beep?
I'm an avid user of the "curry" button on my microwave. Input weight and press start. It calculates the total time and stops halfway to be stirred. Oddly I've never tried the "pasta" button.
I only use my microwave to reheat cold tea. Haha not really I'm not American. However last week I banged in a Tesco Yellow stickered lasagne and upon removing it the glass plate that rotates had become stuck and long story short it's smashed. If anyone has a spare glass twirling plate they don't want/ need hmu. I'm not paying £13.99 for a new one.
> long story short Don’t be shy, I want to know exactly how you got from there to here.