Pros and Cons of Cooking In The Microwave

Over the time, as we are pacing ahead along with technological developments, we have also brought a change in the pattern of cooking along with our style of living. We live a life where we are pleased with instant results and one such technological miracle that helps us in delighting ourselves with instant and yummy dishes is microwave oven. Cooking in the microwave has emerged as the most loved methods of cooking in the modern world.

Be it at home, fast food centres, restaurants or even school and office canteens, microwave ovens are in great demand everywhere. But when it comes to domestic usage, we all are actually depending on microwave mostly for defrosting food or meat or for reheating food. Less people know the correct manner of cooking in the microwave.

In many countries, people find it impossible to work in kitchens without a microwave, while some regions across the globe are not at all accustomed to cooking in the microwave. Lately, many medical studies have revealed that the exposure of food electromagnetic radiation can have hazardous effect when consumed but this notion has not been accepted on worldwide basis. Researches are carried on to approve whether cooking in the microwave is good or not.

So as per the facts known, if you are in doubt whether to use microwave for cooking or not, then you must read these pros & cons of cooking in the microwave:

PROS

1. Highly Economical

Microwave oven runs on the basis of volumetric heating, which is the procedure where the electromagnetic waves penetrate deep into the food and shrinks the time of cooking. Cooking in the microwave requires lower temperatures and energy as compared to traditional cooking gas. It is said that it takes around 70 percent less time to cook the same amount of food on a gas burner. There is no question about wastage of energy.

2. You Won’t Have To Eat Burnt Food

When you cook manually on a cooking gas, chances are high that lack of proper attention can ruin the whole beauty of the food by burning it. While cooking in the microwave, you get a respite from the tension of constantly checking it as you have a proper guide to set temperatures as per the food item.

3. Easily Heat Leftover Food Stuffs

Until now, it is microwave that has emerged as the fastest mode of cooking across the globe. Just in minutes or seconds, you can heat up leftover food stuffs without getting them burnt or over cooked. Moreover, you don’t have to wait long for taking a bite of your favourite meat chops that were forgotten in the refrigerator.

4. Relish Healthier Food

Cooking in the microwave ensures that no compromise is done on the quality of food stuffs. You can get better and healthier food items prepared in the microwave while maintaining their taste quotient. The colour and texture also remains intact as it doesn’t get affected from the smoke which arises in traditional mode of cooking. Since cooking for a long time on the gas burner deteriorates the nutrient content of the food, using microwave is the best option as it cooks food faster even with less oil.

5. Cooks Faster Than Conventional Oven

While cooking in the microwave, no preheating is required and food tends to cook faster as the space is small and heat gets trapped in the small area. In case of conventional oven, we need to preheat the entire oven even if we want to cook for two or four people and comparatively food takes longer time to cook and we actually don’t utilise the complete space too.

6. Extremely Convenient

It is not wrong to say that microwave is the ambassador of the modern day cooking. There is no requirement of preheating, little effort in cleaning is needed, fits in appropriately in kitchen, you get to eat home made food instantly, washing microwave utensils is easier as food doesn’t stick to its surface, etc. With so many convenience features, you cannot afford to avoid cooking in the microwave.

CONS

1. Plastic Dishes Can Induce Chemical Reaction

When we use plastic cookware for heating or cooking in the microwave, then the process of heating will result in chemical reactions between the food and the plastic or other kind of food packages not meant for use in microwave. This may lead to various health hazards too. So you need to make sure that you use only microwave safe utensils while heating or cooking in the microwave.

2. Limited Capacity

If you have a big family or you are a party lover, then microwave is certainly not for you. Cooking large amount of food for several people will mean cooking several times which will take lot of time and electricity. Moreover, if you wish to cook a number of dishes, then it becomes a cumbersome job.

3. Does Not Give The Browning Effect

The perfect browning effect is given by baking in the conventional oven. If you have a fetish for baked food items and you cannot tolerate imperfections, then you must not use microwave oven for baking as it is meant for cooking food fast or heating. It is not actually meant for rendering the same quality of food as made in the traditional oven. Even all bakers depend on ovens rather than microwaves for baking.

4. Cannot Be Used For Deep Frying & Other Cooking Patterns

The main reason why half of the world still has not accepted microwave oven as the standard cooking method is due to its inability to deep fry food stuffs and cook eggs or prepare food items that need to be stirred or flipped occasionally.

5. You May Find The Food Cooked Unevenly

Many a times we tend to use a utensil that is greater in measurement than the central plate that rotates. Due to this, part of the food item that is not within the range does not get appropriate heat. Different food stuffs require different range of heat so that it gets cooked to the core. But generally in a microwave, you will find that some places are too hot while there are spots where heat does not reach properly. This results in uneven cooking.

6. Flavours May Not Blend In Properly

In comparison to the conventional mode of cooking, cooking in microwave may result in improper blending of flavours and spices, due to which you may experience a flood of flavours in one bite and lack of flavours in another bite.

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