Microwave oven rant. Rice.

Adam Funk wrote:

> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like
> a numeric keypad on it, so you could (for example) press
> 2-3-0-start to zap something for two and a half minutes. Now
> you have to press the minute and ten-second buttons repeatedly.
> This annoys me. Bring back the numpad.

The Panasonic I got three or four years ago has a keypad like you
wish. 2-3-0 is a two and a half minutes. I *think* the Panasonics
I've seen between then and now are like that.


--
Blinky
Killfiling all posts from Google Groups
Details: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

In article <[email protected]>,
Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:

> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like a
> numeric keypad on it,

When *I* was a kid, the only microwave ovens around were the radar
dishes my Dad worked on at GE. Uphill. Both ways.

> so you could (for example) press 2-3-0-start to
> zap something for two and a half minutes.

And when I was a young adult, the only microwaves had mechanical dial
timers. In the snow!

> Also, why does the stupid thing have to beep EVERY TIME I press a
> button?

So you know when your kid is about to microwave your cell phone.

> Oh, and of course, GET OFFA MY LAWN!

You get offa mine. Come back in twenty years.

--
- Doctroid Doctroid Holmes
It's too confused to make sense, so let's make nonsense.
-- Chris McG.

Kate Connally wrote:

<snip>

> It finally died and I got a new one for about $60.
> It has a keypad and many functions. I thought they all had
> number keypads these days. I've never seen one that has
> what the OP describes. So, OP, it looks like you didn't do
> your homework and just bought the wrong mw oven. Go out and
> buy the right one! Sheesh!

I thought they all had number pads, too. The ones I've looked at do,
except for the budget models which still have dials.

On Jul 25, 10:34 am, Pennyaline <[email protected]> wrote:
> Kate Connally wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > It finally died and I got a new one for about $60.
> > It has a keypad and many functions. I thought they all had
> > number keypads these days. I've never seen one that has
> > what the OP describes. So, OP, it looks like you didn't do
> > your homework and just bought the wrong mw oven. Go out and
> > buy the right one! Sheesh!
>
> I thought they all had number pads, too. The ones I've looked at do,
> except for the budget models which still have dials.

Some of the very inexpensive ones only have a dial.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

In article <[email protected]>,
Kate Connally <[email protected]> wrote:
>It finally died and I got a new one for about $60.
>It has a keypad and many functions. I thought they all had
>number keypads these days. I've never seen one that has
>what the OP describes. So, OP, it looks like you didn't do
>your homework and just bought the wrong mw oven. Go out and
>buy the right one! Sheesh!

Microwaves seem to have followed a strange curve.

In 1999, I bought my first one for $80, and it had the buttons,
but they were arranged strangely. Instead of being four rows
of three buttons, it was two rows of five buttons. I think
that's why it was cheaper.

In fact, I think a lot of kitchen appliances are cheap because they
have bad interfaces. I used to have a rickety-cheap toaster oven
that I used all the time, for toast, muffins, frozen tater tots,
and other stuff I didn't want to bother using the big oven for. It
had two knobs: one for the temperature and one for toast darkness,
and a "toast" button. Then my parents bought me a fancy-cheap
toaster oven, with a little convection fan that makes things cook
faster. Neat, but it has three knobs now: mode, timer, and
temperature. If you want to toast, you have to first set the mode
and temperature knobs to their "toast" setting, then move the timer
past the 20-minute mark so it knows to turn the oven on, THEN move
the timer to the desired toast darkness. And it always burns the
toast, always always. So I never use it anymore.

--
Nick Bensema <[email protected]> AIM: NBensema
==== ======= ============== http://www.io.com/~nickb/

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:46:07 -0700, John Kane <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Jul 25, 10:34 am, Pennyaline <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I thought they all had number pads, too. The ones I've looked at do,
>> except for the budget models which still have dials.
>
>Some of the very inexpensive ones only have a dial.

And the -really- inexpensive ones have a wind-up key in the back.

Dave "no no, the DOG has ticks!" "then we must FLEE!" DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney posting from [email protected] "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

On 25 Jul, 10:32, Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:

> But first, I agree with the point that microwave ovens are generally
> for reheating rather than cooking as such --- with the exception of
> rice, for which the microwave is a legitimately easy cooking method.

That doesnt add up to me, nukes are foor cooking as much as reheating.
And rice I wouldn't do in a nuke.

I think the main problem with them is that they are different and most
people dont seem to have figured out how to make good results with
them yet. A strange age of ignorance.

The litle cookbooks that come with them dont seem to really get the
message across. They only explain some things, and dont honestly point
out the plusses and minuses, and hence what dishes are best done in
what machine. They have at least gone part way in this respect, but
show me even one such booklet that shows how to reheat pastry
successfully in a nuke.


> Also, why does the stupid thing have to beep EVERY TIME I press a
> button? I want it to beep ONCE ONLY --- to get my attention when it's
> finished.

The keypad buttons are fairly unreliable, so it needs to let you know
when its registered a keypress. Just a way of hiding a cheapass design
issue.


NT

Doctroid <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like a
>> numeric keypad on it,
>
> When *I* was a kid, the only microwave ovens around were the radar
> dishes my Dad worked on at GE. Uphill. Both ways.

>
> And when I was a young adult, the only microwaves had mechanical dial
> timers. In the snow!
Damn kids. WE had to harness microwave rays from the SUN!

In alt.religion.kibology Doctroid <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:

>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like a
>> numeric keypad on it,

> When *I* was a kid, the only microwave ovens around were the radar
> dishes my Dad worked on at GE. Uphill. Both ways.

HAH!! When I was a kid, my Dad built this thing:

http://www.raytheon.com/products/pave_paws/

There's one of those monster phased-array radar arrays out on Cape
Cod, and we went on a tour once, and the tour consisted of walking up
and down a lot of staircases and hallways without seeing anything
cool, unlike in 'WarGames'. We were still fascinated, because Dad
told us about how one time some poor ******* who was out on the
window-washing-type scaffolding used to service the little antennae
was out there doing his servicing job, and a pulse went out and cooked
his insides and he died HOURS AND HOURS LATER. All these years later,
I think that story was ********. I'd post a Google Maps link, but the
whole place is pixelated out because it's supposed to be a BIG SECRET,
even though you can see it from anywhere on the Cape.

Also, since my Dad was a big Raytheon Guy, we had one of the biggest,
baddest Amana RadarRange Microwave Ovens ever made. Unfortunately, my
folks were completely lost when it came to what to do with a microwave
oven. They would grill up some burgers briefly on the grille, and
then to heat up the insides and melt the cheese, they would stick
these seared burgers in a bun, with cheese and whatnot, and then nuke
it at INFINITY for about 30 seconds or so. The result was that all
the grease waiting to drip out of the burger ended up saturating the
lower part of the bun, which made for a cheeseburger you needed to eat
with a spoon.

Partially as a result of this childhood trauma, I have relegated my
microwave oven to the pile of stuff I probably should sell or just
throw away. Any foodstuffs that have the recommended heating method
of 'microwave' is probably full of fat and sodium. You might as well
just fry up a pound of bacon. In a frying pan, goddammit.

Join me!! Toss your microwave in the trash, and use a toaster oven or
a real toaster or a real oven!! Microwaves are for SUCKERS!!!

--
"Soon, the name of Invader Zim will be synonymous with DOOKIE!!
- Invader Zim

* Terri wrote, On 25/07/07 09:54 PM:
> Doctroid <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like a
>>> numeric keypad on it,
>> When *I* was a kid, the only microwave ovens around were the radar
>> dishes my Dad worked on at GE. Uphill. Both ways.
>
>> And when I was a young adult, the only microwaves had mechanical dial
>> timers. In the snow!
> Damn kids. WE had to harness microwave rays from the SUN!
>

BAH! From your own solar system?!
WE had to borrow a sun to harness microwaves from!

--

anTon O'Masia [ antonomasia <at> gmail <dot> com ]

Tom Kraemer <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'd post a Google Maps link, but the
>whole place is pixelated out because it's supposed to be a BIG SECRET,
>even though you can see it from anywhere on the Cape.

What happens if you take the Google Street Maps walking tour to a place where
you can see the buildings from, and look in that direction? More pixellation?

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from [email protected] "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

On 2007-07-25, Nick Bensema wrote:

>>It has a keypad and many functions. I thought they all had
>>number keypads these days. I've never seen one that has
>>what the OP describes. So, OP, it looks like you didn't do
>>your homework and just bought the wrong mw oven. Go out and
>>buy the right one! Sheesh!

Maybe (as has been suggested) it's a regional thing.


> and a "toast" button. Then my parents bought me a fancy-cheap
> toaster oven, with a little convection fan that makes things cook
> faster. Neat, but it has three knobs now: mode, timer, and
> temperature. If you want to toast, you have to first set the mode
> and temperature knobs to their "toast" setting, then move the timer
> past the 20-minute mark so it knows to turn the oven on, THEN move
> the timer to the desired toast darkness. And it always burns the
> toast, always always. So I never use it anymore.

Toaster ovens have come up a few times recently in ARK. I haven't had
one for a long time and I'm not sure they exist in the UK.

I bought one for $5 at a yard sale ca. 1991, but I always unplugged it
and made sure it had cooled down before leaving my apartment.


--
Nam Sibbyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla
pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: beable beable beable; respondebat
illa: doidy doidy doidy. [plorkwort]

On 2007-07-25, Blinky the Shark wrote:

>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like
>> a numeric keypad on it, so you could (for example) press
>> 2-3-0-start to zap something for two and a half minutes. Now
>> you have to press the minute and ten-second buttons repeatedly.
>> This annoys me. Bring back the numpad.
>
> The Panasonic I got three or four years ago has a keypad like you
> wish. 2-3-0 is a two and a half minutes. I *think* the Panasonics
> I've seen between then and now are like that.

I'll look harder next time, but the one with these annoyances is still
going (almost 10 years old, I think). I think this may be a local
(UK) issue.


--
I worry that 10 or 15 years from now, [my daughter] will come to me
and say 'Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of the press
away from the Internet?'" --Mike Godwin, EFF http://www.eff.org/

[email protected] wrote:
> On 25 Jul, 10:32, Adam Funk <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>But first, I agree with the point that microwave ovens are generally
>>for reheating rather than cooking as such --- with the exception of
>>rice, for which the microwave is a legitimately easy cooking method.
>
>
> That doesnt add up to me, nukes are foor cooking as much as reheating.
> And rice I wouldn't do in a nuke.

I *only* do it in the mw now. It comes out absolutely
perfect. It's so much easier and foolproof.

The only time I wouldn't use the mw is if I were
making risotto or something like that.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
mailto:[email protected]

Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2007-07-25, Blinky the Shark wrote:
>
>>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like
>>> a numeric keypad on it, so you could (for example) press
>>> 2-3-0-start to zap something for two and a half minutes. Now
>>> you have to press the minute and ten-second buttons repeatedly.
>>> This annoys me. Bring back the numpad.
>>
>> The Panasonic I got three or four years ago has a keypad like you
>> wish. 2-3-0 is a two and a half minutes. I *think* the Panasonics
>> I've seen between then and now are like that.
>
> I'll look harder next time, but the one with these annoyances is still
> going (almost 10 years old, I think). I think this may be a local
> (UK) issue.

I am in UK and I have had Panasonics for about 20 years and they have both
had keypads

Tom Kraemer <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:


>
> Partially as a result of this childhood trauma, I have relegated my
> microwave oven to the pile of stuff I probably should sell or just
> throw away. Any foodstuffs that have the recommended heating method
> of 'microwave' is probably full of fat and sodium. You might as well
> just fry up a pound of bacon. In a frying pan, goddammit.
>
> Join me!! Toss your microwave in the trash, and use a toaster oven or
> a real toaster or a real oven!!

I had a toaster oven that I loved but it died. I got a cheap toaster
to take it's place that burns the living **** out of everything I
put in it. So now I just put rocks in the hot sun and wait for them to
heat up before toasting my bread on the rocks.


Microwaves are for SUCKERS!!!
>
I like your revolution and would like to join but mine microwave is
installed into the framework of the upper cabinets above the oven
and trashing it would result in a gaping hole. Have no fear though,
I only use it for heating & thawing items as actual cooking in it makes
the food taste like ****.

Kate Connally wrote:
> Gini wrote:
>
>> "Kate Connally" wrote
>>
>>> Doctroid wrote:
>>>
>>>> Adam Funk wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> The microwave my parents had when I was a kid had something like a
>>>>> numeric keypad on it,
>>>>
>>>> When *I* was a kid, the only microwave ovens around were the radar
>>>> dishes my Dad worked on at GE. Uphill. Both ways.
>>>
>> ==
>> I thought the beeper could be turned off on all of them--as it is on
>> my very cheap, BOTL Kenmore.
>
> Huh????? Where did that come from? What beeper?
>
> Kate

CROSSPOSTING DELETED

The OP is complaining about when you press each number on the keypad it goes
"beep". Mine does, but I don't get all worked up about it

Jill

"Tom Kraemer" <[email protected]> wrote

> Partially as a result of this childhood trauma, I have relegated my
> microwave oven to the pile of stuff I probably should sell or just
> throw away. Any foodstuffs that have the recommended heating method
> of 'microwave' is probably full of fat and sodium. You might as well
> just fry up a pound of bacon. In a frying pan, goddammit.
>
> Join me!! Toss your microwave in the trash, and use a toaster oven or
> a real toaster or a real oven!! Microwaves are for SUCKERS!!!

Once, while drunk, I tried to poach an egg in a microwave.
It exploded. I now know how to coat a microwave's insides
with egg matter. McGiver ain't got nothin' on me. I did
eventually figure out how to poach an egg in a microwave,
but it's far simpler to boil water on a stove.

I use it for heating water to make instant coffee, and for
cooking Healthy Choice frozen dinners. And the occaisonal
Hormel Chili. As such, it is an "eco-friendly" mechanism
for heating certain products. For actual cooking of real
food, microwaves are fairly useless. Nuking pastry type
stuff for 10-20 seconds to reheat it is useful, but it is
real easy to nuke it too long making it SOGGY.

Rubbery and soggy are microwave trademarks. Bread abhores
a microwave, but not cooked pasta, which is soggy pretty
much by definition. Hot Pockets actually figured out how
to crisp in a microwave, but I can't afford to eat those
grease bombs anymore health-wise.

Good toaster ovens rock, but for toast I use a toaster.
Right tool for the job and all that.

--oTTo--

In article <[email protected]>,
Terri <[email protected]> wrote:

> I like your revolution and would like to join but mine microwave is
> installed into the framework of the upper cabinets above the oven
> and trashing it would result in a gaping hole. Have no fear though,
> I only use it for heating & thawing items as actual cooking in it makes
> the food taste like ****.

Then you are using it properly and it is providing useful service.

Unlike TomK who still doesn't geddit. I mean he is not using a
microwave properly, or in fact at all; not that he is not providing
useful service. Which he isn't, but that's not the point.

--
- Doctroid Doctroid Holmes
It's too confused to make sense, so let's make nonsense.
-- Chris McG.