Cooking from scratch in a microwave

[Venus193]

Is this even possible?  Are there books on this subject and would they be useful to a military person?  So many of them have only microwaves and no normal kitchens.

[Rei-chan]

I've done baked potatos in a microwave, but not much else....hmmm, I'll have to look into it!   

[Venus193]

I can't imagine it's possible to make gravy from meat prepared in a microwave, but there must be other things.

Of course, I have no idea whether anyone in the military gets their hands on fresh food in some of these places.

[sparksals]

I've done baked potatos in a microwave, but not much else....hmmm, I'll have to look into it!  

Did you know you can do baked potatoes in a crockpot?  Rub a bit of oil on them, throw in the crockpot with a bit of water on the bottom, not much, set to low, and 4-5 hours later... awesome baked potatoes!

[sparksals]

There are now microwaves that double as convection and speed ovens.  They're expensive, though, and I don't think would be on a military person's wish list.

I use a microwave for heating, re-heating and thawing things.  I prefer to use it to heat soups, canned food/veggies, but don't use it for normal cooking. 

[Gigi]

Here's a place to start with some microwave recipes.  Try Amazon or Borders or Barnes & Noble too.

http://www.recipesource.com/misc/microwave/indexall.html

[kckgirl]

Did you know you can do baked potatoes in a crockpot?  Rub a bit of oil on them, throw in the crockpot with a bit of water on the bottom, not much, set to low, and 4-5 hours later... awesome baked potatoes!

Do you have to put the potatoes on a rack?

[blue2000]

Yes, you can do many things in a microwave, including meat. You should be able to find a good cookbook in Amazon, I would think. I know I've got a few of them.

The only thing I would watch out for, is that microwaves tend to dry things out pretty quickly. So any meat that isn't fatty (such as fish) needs a little water or oil added before you put it in. The same goes for fresh veggies. And you should take it out every couple minutes to turn or stir it, so that it cooks evenly. Frozen veggies don't usually need water.

I've heard you can bake small items, such as muffins, in the microwave, if you have a microwave cookbook that will give you specific directions. But this is one thing I haven't tried yet, so I can't say how well it works.

Good luck!

[magicdomino]

When microwaves first came out, there were all sorts of recipes for cooking from scratch.  The first one that my mother bought was big enough to roast a turkey, and we did exactly that.  I still like to cook vegetables in the microwave, although meat can get a little tricky.

Try looking in used book stores or better yet, one of the online used book services like alibris.com.

[sparksals]

Did you know you can do baked potatoes in a crockpot?  Rub a bit of oil on them, throw in the crockpot with a bit of water on the bottom, not much, set to low, and 4-5 hours later... awesome baked potatoes!

Do you have to put the potatoes on a rack?

Nope.  You can even forego the water if you want, but make sure you poke a few holes in the potatoes with a fork.

[hobish]

Is this even possible?  Are there books on this subject and would they be useful to a military person?  So many of them have only microwaves and no normal kitchens.

Yes, it is definitely possible. My parents had a book called The Magic of Microwave Cookbook that had all sorts of recipes in it. They used it a lot, from what i remember. I just checked Amazon & there are now at least three editions available (edition III was selling for $.95). I bet one of them would be very useful to someone in the military. That's really thoughtful, Venus.

Kind of funny ...

When my siblings & i were younger our grandparents had a microwave as well, but all they ever used it for was reheating coffee (urp!) and making tea. The family was at their house for the day, and my grandmom invited us to stay for dinner, and said she'd throw some hot dogs on to boil for the kids. My mom must have told her how to heat them in the microwave because a minute later my brother came tearing out of the kitchen laughing his butt off because Grandmom put hotdogs in the coffee maker. 

[fklwmn]

One of my ex boyfriends was an MP living in the barracks. He was used to making do with his microwave and hot plate. Boy did he love me for introducing him to the wonders of a toaster oven!!! I bake almost everything in my toaster oven, a thought that had never occurred to him.

With his hot plate and toaster oven, it was as good as having a regular stove for one

[beakiebean]

You can cook ground beef in the microwave. Just crumble it up, cook it for a bit, crumble some more, cook some more, until it's done. I've made taco meat that way in the summer when it was to hot to even think about using a burner.


Becca

[Venus193]

All very interesting, Thanks!

[Sophia]

When I was a kid, my parents bought a microwave because I was going to be home alone, so I won't have to use the stove.  This was so early that they gave microwave cooking classes when you bought a microwave.  Back then, the micro. was supposed to replace the oven.  I even remember baking peanut butter cookies with my mother.  NOTE:  Believe the recipes cooking times.  We did not understand after-cooking back then.  Also, when you can smell your food in the microwave, it is probably done.