Anyone not have a microwave?

[salsaverde]

Do you miss it? I really want to get rid of ours, tell me about your microwave free life.

[simpsongal]

My brother-in-law's family doesn't and I tend to think he's crazy because of it. It's so convenient, I would definitely miss it if it were gone. But if you're not into leftovers and don't mind heating tea in a kettle (or whatever else you do in the microwave) you could probably go without.

[mrs.jacinthe]

We had a few months (4?) when we were living in Ohio when we did not have a microwave. I missed it, so badly. Things become much less simple and more time-consuming. For example, when I make bread, I know to the SECOND how long I need to microwave the milk to get it to the right temperature. Heating milk on the stove was a freaking PROCESS, involving an infrared thermometer, constant stirring, fear of scorching, then overheating it, then having to wait for it to COOL to the right temperature.

Long story short - I couldn't do it. We had to break down and buy a new one. There's a space trade-off, but it's totally worth it, IMO.

[housegeek]

We couldn't, we eat popcorn on the regular. Put some scotch tape on the door and see how much you reach for it in a week or so, if you don't, store it and just dig it out for the random occasion you need it

[Deleted]

I had to go without one for a few years because i lived in a tiny studio with a mini-fridge. I missed it at first, but I learned to live without it and now I rarely use mine. I heat water on the stove, and i found that most leftovers are much more delicious when you cook them on the stove in the skillet for a minute or two... Especially pasta and sauce! It really unlocks the flavor without drying it out. I recommend it.

[Deleted]

Also, stovetop jiffy pop is delicious and really fun to make.

[TBM]

I don't really use mine often, and DH hates using it, but I would really miss it for the things that I do use it for.

I love my microwave so much, that I am going to be sad to have to get used to the brand new one in our new house. I am 99.9% sure that it is not the same brand as ours. If we were not moving across the country, I would switch them so that I could keep mine.

ETA: We don't make popcorn in ours...stovetop is so much better.  I tend
to use mine for partially defrosting frozen dog food and for heating
water for dyeing small projects, but it comes in handy for melting
butter, heating syrup, and stuff like that that even DH will do in it.  I used to use it for my morning chai, but I have a really nice frother/warmer now.

[bunnymendelbaum]

We don't have one. I only miss it a little. It would be nice to be able to reheat leftovers, but we use the stove or toaster oven and I think it tastes better.

Our parents think we are nuts and keep threatening to buy us one. I might get one of those tiny cube ones when I start making baby food for DD2. Heating that in water on the stove was a PITA. It would live in the appliance cabinet plugged in next to the coffee maker so not out in the open.

Oh and we make popcorn in a pan on the stove top. So delicious!

[slug*bug]

My SIL doesn't: they haven't had one for years.

Personally, it wouldn't work for me, but she doesn't miss it. That said, I think her lack of one had more to do with what she perceives as potential health risks from microwaving food. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

[Marmee]

Ours broke & we went months without it. I didn't miss it honestly. I had a repair guy here for something else & he just happen to be able to fix it relatively cheaply so I got it done. If it wasn't built in I wouldn't have bothered.

[Blueper]

I have one above my stove, and I can't wait to remodel and put a hood there in its place. I'm glad that it is black because it gets gross from all of our cooking. We don't need it since we have an electric kettle that boils water in 30 seconds, a countertop smart oven that we should start using for leftovers, and a stove-top popcorn dealio.

[pitterwoo]

huh, we have a pretty big microwave sitting out and now that I think about it we mostly just use it for reheating our coffees in the morning and some leftovers. We do most everything on the stove. I swear boiling water on the stove tastes better than microwaved. We also have a air popper for popcorn so I think we could get away from the microwave if we could drink our coffee faster.

[pitterwoo]

Feb 22, 2013 15:10:49 GMT -5 Blueper said:

I have one above my stove, and I can't wait to remodel and put a hood there in its place. I'm glad that it is black because it gets gross from all of our cooking. We don't need it since we have an electric kettle that boils water in 30 seconds, a countertop smart oven that we should start using for leftovers, and a stove-top popcorn dealio.

is this like a toaster oven but has more options like convection or something else?  

[eliza22]

We haven't had one for about a year. I only miss it when I have lots of different leftovers to reheat. I think the extra counter space is worth the trade-off.

[kitty]

I would definitely miss mine. I do know a cousin didn't have one for years because her kitchen is tiny. Once her DS started eating table food she ended up breaking down and buying one for the convenience of quickly heating things for him.

[dragonfly08]

We were microwave free for about a year, when we were in temporary housing and didn't want to spend money on a counter top model when the house we were building was going to have a built-in unit.

It was tough in the beginning, especially when DD was born about half way through that time, but we managed and I could do it again if I had to. I heated water on the stove, and reheated food either on the stove or in the toaster oven. Slightly less convenient but certainly doable.

[TBM]

You could experiment by unplugging yours for a couple of weeks and seeing how many times you go to and noting what you wanted to use it for. That would give you an idea of whether or not it would really be missed.

[Blueper]

Feb 22, 2013 15:13:44 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

Feb 22, 2013 15:10:49 GMT -5 Blueper said:

I have one above my stove, and I can't wait to remodel and put a hood there in its place. I'm glad that it is black because it gets gross from all of our cooking. We don't need it since we have an electric kettle that boils water in 30 seconds, a countertop smart oven that we should start using for leftovers, and a stove-top popcorn dealio.

is this like a toaster oven but has more options like convection or something else?  

Yes, I had no idea that it existed until it was gifted to me.  I have only used a few of the settings (bake, convection bake, and reheat), but I love it.  If I had the money for this, it would be my go-to wedding gift for everyone.

[catbus]

We don't have one--haven't for over 18 months--and rarely miss it. I never boiled water in a microwave, and avoided microwave popcorn because of the nasty chemicals, so no worries there. Occasionally I wish I could heat something a bit more quickly than I can on our stove or in our toaster/convection oven, but meh. I don't miss it enough to get a microwave.

In our case, we were renting a condo with a built-in microwave. When we bought our house in July 2011, we figured we'd wait and see whether we missed the microwave before buying one. We just haven't missed it enough to give up a chunk of counter space to it.

[ckinla]

We don't and we LOVE not having one! Food tastes better (oven and stovetop - no more soggy pizza!), and I love having the extra room on the counter. Definitely not a necessity IMO - my BF and I can't see ourselves ever owning one again.

[boiler717]

We have one and I wish we didn't. It's not a huge deal, I relegated it to a shelf in the back corner of the pantry, but I don't use it except for easy Mac (which I wish I would not eat!!)

[minniebee]

We didn't for about a month. Our rental didn't come with one. A first I thought I wouldn't miss it at all, I rarely used the built-in one at our last house.

Then I realized that the only thing I ever used a microwave for was reheating leftoevers for lunch, which I had done at my office before we moved. Now that I'm at home for lunch, I missed having a microwave to reheat leftovers.

Sure, reheating in the oven tastes better, but it takes a lot longer and it's not energy efficient to heat up the oven just for a plate of leftoevers. We bought a small counter top microwave for $60 and it does the trick. Without it, I would probably waste a lot of leftovers so it was worth the small investment..

[RoxMonster]

I don't think I could live without mine. It's a built-in above our stove, so it doesn't take up counter space, though.

Whenever I get or make coffee, I end up reheating it in the micro halfway through because it gets lukewarm. We also heat up dinner leftovers at least 3-4 times a week in the microwave. It's just so quick and convenient, and also I am lazy lol. I would be lost without mine, but commend anyone who can live without it.

[Deleted]

Wow, I am surprised at the responses! I use mine daily. I even occasionally think about how hard it must have been before microwaves. 

[sjh722]

Add me to the list of we don't use it for much, but would miss it!

We make popcorn with an oil popper but use the microwave to melt butter. We also use it fairly often for reheating leftovers or quickly softening butter for a recipe. Like pp said, I work from home and it takes a lot of energy to warm up the oven just to heat lunch. I don't cook in it, but it's definitely convenient to have. Ours is built-in so we're also not sacrificing counter space for it.

[kellikans]

we're without one right now while we remodel the kitchen, and I miss it.