The microwave stopped working...

[girli565]

We have a microwave but don't use it for anything aside from reheating leftovers. we don't eat popcorn often, I bake potatoes in the oven, and heat water for tea in the kettle. I have a keurig so I don't use it for coffee or to reheat coffee.

I could live without it but I don't know if I'd do it willingly. I've been without a toaster oven for 6 months and don't miss it.

 

[marmalade]

I wouldn't really miss my microwave if it was gone. I hardly ever use it, I think the only thing I really use it for is to melt butter for my popcorn that I made on the stove. I probably use my microwave 3-5x's a month at the most.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Anybody CAN live without a microwave but I wouldn't want to. I don't want to waste 15 or 20 minutes using an electric oven to reheat a piece of pizza when the micro can do it in 25 seconds. If microwaves were really unsafe all kinds of groups and organizations would lobby the government to ban the use of them. If they really put out toxic amounts of radiation even te government would get involved. If your family wants to live without a microwave, go for it. But it won't make you sick or unhealthy to use one.

 

[kelleigh1]

I think we could give up the microwave...except when it came time for me to make my popcorn. We don't really use it all that much. We actually use the timer on it more than the actual microwave.

And just to clarify, I don't buy the boxes/bags of microwave popcorn. I have the Orville Redenbacher micro-popper, so I use real kernels and it's air popped - none of the chemicals or added stuff. So if we didn't have the microwave, I'd probably just buy a separate air popper.

Although, when our apartment complex rebuilt our kitchens last year, they put in the microwave, so I can't "get rid of it" as it's built-in.

 

[Reese]

I've been almost microwave free for 10 years now. When we moved into our house we thought it was on it's last legs and we didn't really have the counter space for it so I put it in the laundry room. There it has sat on the shelf ready to be used by anyone who is determined enough to take their food all the way to the laundry room. Occasionally it gets to zap a bag of popcorn but we found we really enjoy air popped better. I tell myself that there is no point in throwing it out well it still works...but secretly it's because it's plugged in behind the dryer and I'm just don't convicted enough to move it.

So I'm sure you will be fine without a microwave. Besides food tastes better when it's actually cooked.

 

[worm761]

Nope. I need the microwave. I am a SAHM and the kids are home with me all day. DD is only 2, DS is 15 but attends a virtual school. My father lives with us too. So DH is the only one that leaves the house for work. We all eat leftovers for lunches or things that I cooked and froze like mini pizzas, french bread pizzas, pot pies, whatever. I know I can use the stove and oven but it takes forever. The microwave is just so much easier.

 

[Minnesota!]

Yep. We went without for 4 years in our old house (bad wiring) and though we had one in this house, it died around Halloween and we decided to not replace. Never used, collected dust, and bad food/bad for you.

 

[Miss Mary Poppins]

Ours died last June and we have not missed it yet. Dh has a hot pot for water and we just don't cook in the micro. I warm food up on the stove or in the oven. Popcorn in made in a pot.

 

[williamson_ja]

I would like to get rid of ours. My sister has gone without for the past 4 years and says she doesn't miss it. I'm always using it to defrost the meat for dinner. I'm afraid that I will forget to put it in the fridge the day before and I won't have it defrosted in time. However, I don't think they are very good for you. I also don't like the way it looks on the counter... and it is definitely on it's last leg. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Sadie22]

I cook batches of various meals and freeze them. They get reheated in glass containers in our microwaves. Heating in some plastics is questionable. Otherwise microwave cooking is safe and uses much, much less energy than our regular oven. We have two microwaves and they are used daily. We've only had a toaster oven for a few years but we use it whenever we can rather than the full size oven. The full size oven actually doesn't get much use at all.

 

[cornflake]

Most of that stuff about microwaves is just... bunk.

I've never actually heard the one about it making food have fewer nutrients. It's actually generally the opposite - if you, say, steam vegetables in the microwave, they'll retain many more nutrients than if you boil them on the stovetop.

All it does is excite water (and other such) molecules. That's it. It's non-ionizing.

They've been in homes for 40+ years.

As noted above, yes, some plastics should not be microwaved and that can release chemicals you don't want to ingest but that's the plastics, not the microwave itself.

I have nothing against getting rid of one, just saying...

 

[clm10308]

Have you checked to see if your microwave can be repaired? Several years ago we had an over the counter microwave that quit cooking. After pricing replacements and almost fainting, we had a repairman come out. We did have to wait about a week for the part to be ordered, but it only cost us about $50 to have it fixed.

 

[dillydilly]

We have been microwave free for over a year now. I do not miss it. I will admit that there have been a couple of times where I was in a bind and a microwave would've been helpful. That being said, I would not buy one again unless I had to have one for a specific need. We are a homeschooling family of 7.