Microwave cooking & nutrition

[em]

I never realized that you can cook just about any damn thing in the
microwave. Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, etc.) come in
packages ready to be thrown in the microwave. I've been cooking meat like
crazy in the microwave, and its really not that bad at all (once you get the
hang of it). Cleanup is really easy, wayyy easier than washing out a frying
pan.

I did a little googling. There are two camps: extremist who swear microwaves
will kill us, and seemingly rational sites such as the two below.

Mike

http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/microwave.html
<snip> Nutritional benefits of microwaving:
Although you may think that microwaving is an "easy-way-out," using a
microwave to cook your food has its nutritional benefits. More vitamins and
minerals are retained with microwave cooking than with many other methods of
cooking. This is because microwave cooking requires a shorter cooking time,
covered cooking and little to no water. </snip>

http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/micwave1.htm
<snip> Microwave cooking and nutrition:
The majority of reports published on the nutritive value of foods cooked in
microwave ovens indicate that food prepared in this manner is at least as
nutritious as comparable food cooked by conventional methods.

Most of these studies have concentrated on vitamin retention and indicate
that cooking in minimal water for a reduced time, as occurs with
microwaving, promotes the retention of the water- soluble vitamins
particularly of vitamin C and thiamin. Microwave cooking is preferable to
boiling to minimise the leaching of vitamins into the cooking water; in this
regard it is similar to steaming.</snip>

[FOB]

Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
and nuke. I don't do meat in the microwave, I much prefer the browning you
get from a cast iron frying pan or the oven. The cast iron pan is easy to
clean, run some hot water in it, let it sit for a few minutes, run well with
a plastic scrubber, rinse in hot water, sit back on the stove to dry.
Baking pans can go in the dishwasher. Sometimes I do meat in liquid as
well, like a pot roast in red wine, things like that take a long slow
simmer. Cleaning a pan for something like that can be amortized over the
several servings it makes. But I do use the microwave a lot, I also cook
rice and potatoes for my skinny SO. And it's great for heating leftovers.

em wrote:
| I never realized that you can cook just about any damn thing in the
| microwave. Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, etc.) come in
| packages ready to be thrown in the microwave. I've been cooking meat
| like crazy in the microwave, and its really not that bad at all (once
| you get the hang of it). Cleanup is really easy, wayyy easier than
| washing out a frying pan.
|
| I did a little googling. There are two camps: extremist who swear
| microwaves will kill us, and seemingly rational sites such as the two
| below.
|
| Mike
|
| http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/microwave.html
| <snip> Nutritional benefits of microwaving:
| Although you may think that microwaving is an "easy-way-out," using a
| microwave to cook your food has its nutritional benefits. More
| vitamins and minerals are retained with microwave cooking than with
| many other methods of cooking. This is because microwave cooking
| requires a shorter cooking time, covered cooking and little to no
| water. </snip>
|
| http://www.foodscience.csiro.au/micwave1.htm
| <snip> Microwave cooking and nutrition:
| The majority of reports published on the nutritive value of foods
| cooked in microwave ovens indicate that food prepared in this manner
| is at least as nutritious as comparable food cooked by conventional
| methods.
|
| Most of these studies have concentrated on vitamin retention and
| indicate that cooking in minimal water for a reduced time, as occurs
| with microwaving, promotes the retention of the water- soluble
| vitamins particularly of vitamin C and thiamin. Microwave cooking is
| preferable to boiling to minimise the leaching of vitamins into the
| cooking water; in this regard it is similar to steaming.</snip>

[Marengo]

On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:10:32 GMT, "FOB" <fob@removethisameritech.net>
wrote:

>Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
>broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
>and nuke.

Yep, that;'s what I do also. It actually steams them.

[trader4@optonline.net]

On Dec 8, 7:00 pm, Marengo <pjmare...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:10:32 GMT, "FOB" <f...@removethisameritech.net>
> wrote:
>
> >Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
> >broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
> >and nuke.
>
> Yep, that;'s what I do also. It actually steams them.

Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
and appearance difference.

Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.

[FOB]

But don't do that with cast iron, it will ruin the seasoned finish, you
should never use any detergent on cast iron.

trader4@optonline.net wrote:
| Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
| foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
| as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
| cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
| and appearance difference.
|
| Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
| burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
| with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
| and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
| real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
| You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.

[BlueBrooke]

On Sun, 9 Dec 2007 05:55:57 -0800 (PST), "trader4@optonline.net"
<trader4@optonline.net> wrote:

>On Dec 8, 7:00 pm, Marengo <pjmare...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:10:32 GMT, "FOB" <f...@removethisameritech.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
>> >broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
>> >and nuke.
>>
>> Yep, that;'s what I do also. It actually steams them.
>
>Agree, it works well for vegetables. Also great for warming most
>foods up or thawing them out. But I draw the line at cooking meat
>as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
>cooking method. Cleaning a pan is a small price to pay for the taste
>and appearance difference.
>
>Here's a tip for cleaning out a heavily soild pot or one you let get
>burned. Sprinkle some dishwasher detergent in the pot and cover it
>with an inch or so of water. Bring it to a boil, cover, reduce heat
>and let it just simmer for about 1/2 an hour, maybe an hour if it's
>real bad. It loosens stuff up so it then comes out very easily.
>You can also use one of the dishwasher tablets.


You can use vinegar, also.


--
BlueBrooke
254/225/135

[Jackie Patti]

FOB wrote:
> Veggies don't even have to be frozen first. I nuke my squash, cauliflower,
> broccoli, Brussels Sprouts. Put in a pan with a little bit of water, cover
> and nuke. I don't do meat in the microwave, I much prefer the browning you
> get from a cast iron frying pan or the oven. The cast iron pan is easy to
> clean, run some hot water in it, let it sit for a few minutes, run well with
> a plastic scrubber, rinse in hot water, sit back on the stove to dry.
> Baking pans can go in the dishwasher. Sometimes I do meat in liquid as
> well, like a pot roast in red wine, things like that take a long slow
> simmer. Cleaning a pan for something like that can be amortized over the
> several servings it makes. But I do use the microwave a lot, I also cook
> rice and potatoes for my skinny SO. And it's great for heating leftovers.

That's how I cook, sometimes two or three main dishes at a time, then do
a big batch of dishes and it's nuking leftovers all week and very easy.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

[em]

<trader4@optonline.net> wrote

> But I draw the line at cooking meat
> as the results are not even close to what you get using a traditional
> cooking method.

The meat browns fine, not like it does in a frying pay, but its a different
way to cook. The meat doesn't dry out if you cook in a covered container; in
fact, you may need to drain the container mid-way through the process. I
think proper seasoning is critical and I'm working on that. Have you tried
cooking meat in a microwave? Did you try experimenting for a while to get it
right? Things didn't work out too well the first few times I did it, but as
I experiment the results are getting better.