Just from a practical perspective: use your microwave as rarely as possible! Leftovers can be really amazing - sometimes as good or better than the original dish - but only when heated properly!
One massive exception: reheating coffee. Don’t leave your coffee maker on with a pot there. It will burn your coffee unless you agitate it frequently, which let’s be real, none of us is doing. It’s better to just turn your pot off as soon as the pot is done filling. Want more coffee in an hour? Microwave it. Why? Microwaves work by exciting water molecules. Your coffee will warm up very quickly this way, so go in short bursts and/or lower the power setting. This works for other similar liquids too, like heating up broth before adding it to whatever you’re cooking. Just don’t overdo it in the microwave because it will overflow if you aren’t careful!
Very good point! Microwaves are really the only way to reheat coffee. It’s not as good as just finishing the cup before it gets cold in the first place, but it’s miles ahead of every other option.
Not to disagree, but I find many people don’t know how to use their microwave. There are 10 power settings. Most microwaves allow you to do two settings at once. Just like we don’t put everything in the oven at 450° we don’t need to cook everything on the 10th power in a microwave.
Especially in this summer a microwave makes a huge difference in energy usage and also cuts down on adding extra heat in the house.
So while you’re not wrong about things tasting better being reheated in other ways besides the microwave, we also need to learn how to use our microwaves.
But… Why? What is “heating properly”? I heat almost anything in the microwave and it works perfectly, tastes just like any other way to heat stuff up. Most of the time it even works better, since it heats more evenly than almost any other method.
Just from a practical perspective: use your microwave as rarely as possible! Leftovers can be really amazing - sometimes as good or better than the original dish - but only when heated properly!
One massive exception: reheating coffee. Don’t leave your coffee maker on with a pot there. It will burn your coffee unless you agitate it frequently, which let’s be real, none of us is doing. It’s better to just turn your pot off as soon as the pot is done filling. Want more coffee in an hour? Microwave it. Why? Microwaves work by exciting water molecules. Your coffee will warm up very quickly this way, so go in short bursts and/or lower the power setting. This works for other similar liquids too, like heating up broth before adding it to whatever you’re cooking. Just don’t overdo it in the microwave because it will overflow if you aren’t careful!
Very good point! Microwaves are really the only way to reheat coffee. It’s not as good as just finishing the cup before it gets cold in the first place, but it’s miles ahead of every other option.
Not to disagree, but I find many people don’t know how to use their microwave. There are 10 power settings. Most microwaves allow you to do two settings at once. Just like we don’t put everything in the oven at 450° we don’t need to cook everything on the 10th power in a microwave. Especially in this summer a microwave makes a huge difference in energy usage and also cuts down on adding extra heat in the house.
So while you’re not wrong about things tasting better being reheated in other ways besides the microwave, we also need to learn how to use our microwaves.
But… Why? What is “heating properly”? I heat almost anything in the microwave and it works perfectly, tastes just like any other way to heat stuff up. Most of the time it even works better, since it heats more evenly than almost any other method.