The Kitchen Appliance You Really Don't Need

In most American homes, kitchen appliances exist on a continuum. Stoves and refrigerators are compulsory. Things like flashy stand mixers are merely nice to have. One home cook's Made for TV trash might just be another's easy weeknight dinner treasure. And there is also one kitchen appliance that is so ubiquitous that it's easy to forget just how detrimental it can be to the pursuit of good food: the microwave.

Although we defy anyone to identify a recipe that advises the exclusive use of the microwave for optimal results, they're present in over a whopping 90% of United States households, according to the national Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reheating might seem more appropriate, but that figure still represents countless snacks, meals, and previously delicious takeout rendered limp, unevenly cooked, and sloppily steamed by the dastardly machine that might have seemed promising decades ago and really hasn't improved much since. 

The earliest microwaves harnessed the titular electromagnetic waves to heat eggs, potatoes, and other familiar foodstuffs. Today's microwaves do the same. So the big box taking up space and underperforming in your kitchen is the equivalent of a culinary car phone, if all our modern engineers did to that little marvel was to add a popcorn button (which would have, ironically, actually been more impressive in the telecommunications case). So you really just don't need a microwave.

Speaking of popcorn, that is the one item that comes up again and again in this discourse. The bagged stuff is just so easy, so cozy and nostalgic. Wrong! First of all, many popcorn brands explicitly advise against pressing that popcorn button because it tends to overcook; a hilarious defiance of its creator if there ever was one. Simply preparing popcorn from scratch on the stove allows you to adjust for improved flavors in any case, or you can make it even easier by using a bit of aluminum foil to approximate good old Jiffy Pop.

The microwave obviously isn't appropriate for your higher stakes items, either. You will never see the microwave mentioned among the best ways to warm up something like a lasagna, for one, which is best reheated in the oven. Remainders like mashed potatoes bounce back best with a sous vide bath. And french fries are a no-brainer for an air fryer revival. The established pattern here is that you're typically better off using virtually any other heat source in your possession than the clunky old microwave. Sure, it takes a little longer, but so did making or ordering your food to begin with. You deserve to enjoy in as close to an ideal state as possible. Thanks to its insulation, however, there is one use we'd recommend for the device. Your microwave will actually keep already cooked foods warm for a little longer versus somewhere like the countertop alone — just be sure not to turn it on.