gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) (08/27/84)
I am planning to buy a microwave in the near future and since
I do not know anything about them I was hoping some of you kind
folks out there could tell me what I should look for and your
experience with different brands. Because of lack of space I am
looking for one that hangs over a stove and replaces the hood
vent. Thanks.
Jerry Ruhno
epsilon!mbc2!gbrmsg@houxl.UUCP (M.GINGOLD) (08/28/84)
Recently, I purchased a microwave oven. Being single, I have a pretty strange schedule, no pattern. So, I thought a microwave would fit into my lifestyle very well. So far, I've mastered boiling water (for coffee) and heating up left-overs & frozen chicken (not too taxing a chore)... Does anyone know of a great microwave cooking book &/or have a collection of good-tasting microwave recipes that have been handed down to them?? Signed, Marshall (fast cooker, tasteless food)
wmartin@brl-tgr.UUCP (08/30/84)
Re microwave cookbooks: We have bought just about every microwave cookbook available (my wife ran a microwave cooking school for a while). The one we recommend for all beginners and also for anyone experienced who wants an additional one is the General Electric Microwave Cookbook. I have seen it on sale at K-Mart for $5.98 or so, so shop around and don't pay full price. It has the best mix of usable and suitable recipes, good illustrations, and readable format. For those who want guidance for using a microwave, check your local adult-education or community-school course catalog; they often have single-session classes for a reasonable fee. If there is no class available from that source, check the commercial sources; many stores that sell microwaves also offer classes or can point you to a cooking school which teaches microwave techniques. For those of you in Illinois, in the Chicago vicinity, check if the "Microcookery Center", in Glen Ellyn, IL, run by Mary Jo Bergland, is still in existence. My wife took a trip up there to take classes before she opened her store/school here in St. Louis, and can recommend it highly. As to brands, we (and many of our friends) have Amana models. We have had some maintenance required, usually under the warranty, and mostly related to the touch-panel control section. We ourselves have also used GE and Tappan. All have worked fine. We haven't tried any stove-hood models. One thing to consider about these -- a co-worker has one, and a storm drove water in through the hood vent and soaked the microwave. However, it worked fine after it was removed and allowed to dry out thoroughly. They are always too small for my taste, so I never looked at them with any attention. Will Martin
jvz@loral.UUCP (John Van Zandt) (08/31/84)
My wife and I have found the Microwave Cookbook by HP books to be a good source of recipes. They include everything from how to bake a potatoe to some fairly complicated recipes.
heiser@cca.UUCP (Bill Heiser) (09/10/84)
My roommate recently purchased a GE microwave oven. I have found that it is most useful for heating up left-overs. When used to cook "conventional" foods, though, the results are not often appealing. For example, I have used it to cook hamburger, and all the juice ran out, leaving a dry, tasteless burger. It could be that I am not doing it properly, but there really aren't too many ways to cook a burger in a microwave oven! The GE Microwave Cookbook seems to be pretty helpful and informative.
spoo@utcsrgv.UUCP (Suk Lee) (09/10/84)
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ microwaves>
One thing I've found a microwave oven
superb for is making hot chololate.
REAL hot chocolate with milk--you can
blast away at the milk at full power
and not worry about scorching it
since you *can't* (the most you can do
is boil it). The one thing you have
to do is keep a close eye on the milk.
If you're using a high power setting,
the stuff will suddenly start boiling
and you'll end up with chocolate foam
*ALL* over the place. Ick.
--
From the pooped paws of:
Suk Lee
..!{decvax,linus,allegra,ihnp4}!utcsrgv!spoodbb@fluke.UUCP (Dave Bartley) (09/14/84)
The night before last, I did chiles rellenos in the microwave, using
the guidelines from my Amana cookbook for scrambled eggs. That is,
at power level 8 (of 10). It took about 8 minutes for a {3-egg,
1-1/2 cups dairy products, 7-ounce can of chiles} recipe (not using
the recent net recipe, but a similar one, no doubt). It was great
and took about 1/5 the original recipe time.
I (when I say "I," I mean my fiancee and I but you get the idea)
usually put ribs in the microwave for a few minutes prior to
barbecuing them over coals or in a conventional oven. They usually
need turning though. Despite Amana's claims about their rotating
magnetron, I still find that it does things like baking potatoes
unevenly.
--
Dave Bartley UUCP: {decvax,ihnp4}!uw-beaver!
John Fluke Mfg Co. allegra! fluke!dbb
Everett, WA USA {ucbvax,hplabs}!lbl-csam!