Microwave

Is an oven really bettert hen the microwave? I mean the radiation of the microwave isn't really harmfull to the food is it... or are there minerals and vitamines lost when you use the magnetron? Can anybody help me?

No, nothing harmful with the microwave, but the oven cooks better in general, and food stays hotter much longer...

The microwave is great for heating up leftovers, boiling a small amount of water, and melting butter, cheese, etc., but isn't something you'd want to cook exclusively with...

No difference really in vitamins and minerals lost, but things tend to dry out more in the microwave, as it functions by acting on the water molecules in the food....

I actually heard a few years back that heating 'milk' isn't good in the microwave!
I mainly use the microwave for heating 'coffee' or small amounts of food!

I dont use it to cook cakes and food dishes in!

The microwave heats food from the inside out .
I tried putting bread in there, and it burnt it on the inside ..went charcoal ,while the outside was still the same colour!

They say that the door should be firmly shut .....something about leakage''???

I would rather stick to the old fashioned stoves....or even better.......wood fire oven!

helen...

My dad says the same thing about the milk.
But I guess it depends on what you cook.
Microwaves good if your on a run, simple as that.
Deep

I heard that the microwave is safe but you need to keep plastic wrap and plastice food containers out of the microwave. The plastic breaks down and can cause cancer.

Microwaves operate in a completely different way to ovens, its difficult to compare the two really. All a microwave does is excite water mollecules by way of microwave radiation, causing heat. You can't bake, roast, or braise food like that!

Yeah, I don't think they are really dangerous unless there is a bad seal on the door in which case it can leak harmful radiation. Also as someone else mentioned I've heard you shouldn't put plastics and Styrofoam in microwaves for health reasons.

Also as Paul said, certain things you just can't do with a microwave, most things tend to end up soggy instead of crispy while others can come out rather rubbery.

Personally I just don't like the way microwaves treat food (melted cheese especially, and reheating when the center comes out cold) and haven't had one for about three years. About all I ever used it for was defrosting meat and re-heating leftovers anyway, now I just plan ahead to defrost and reheat everything in the oven or on the stove top. It takes a little longer, but the payoff is way better imo.

One more note, if you ever heat water to boiling for tea or something in the microwave, let it sit for a while before dropping a spoon in with it, failure to do so can cause a scalding water volcano to erupt from the glass. Not a fun thing to learn the hard way.

I do miss microwaving cds shiny side up though the sparks are fun. (although doing that probably gives off a heap of bad fumes...)

I don't do any cooking with my microwave, the oven and cook top work much better at this. I only use it for reheating......and drying small pets.