24 Comments

1. 

   @Pwecko

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   For baking potatoes, turn the oven on to heat up. At the same time, put potatoes in the microwave. After ten minutes, transfer the potatoes to the oven for twenty minutes. Cooked in less than half the time with the benefit of crispy skin.

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2. 

   @_guavo_

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   Y'all getting paid by the British government to play up austerity?

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3. 

   @Timlagor

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   Pre-heating the oven seems gratuitous and wasteful.

   You can get most of the taste improvement by transferring the microwave potato to the oven for a much shorter time

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4. 

   @hollygreen217

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   5mins microwave plus 5mins in air fryer for baked potatoes are best

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5. 

   @syphonuk

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   Air fryer and slow cooker would be other interesting ones to test with compatible food.

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6. 

   @cindyespindola4946

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   I still won't have an oven for another week so good to know there are so many options with a microwave

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7. 

   @xGxPhantomZzz

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   Wait did no one realise that it costs Pi (3,14) pents to bake a pie?

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8. 

   @danandoliver3613

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   Microwave then air fryer for most things

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9. 

   @pinkroses135

   January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

   I like using the oven or stovetop for reheating to force myself to use my time better and plan my meals

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10. 

    @ethancampbell215

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    It’s really interesting thinking about what processes could be completed using a microwave because it’s cheaper to run than the oven without compromising on flavour or texture that makes the end dish worse than if prepared using a oven

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11. 

    @MrV4nd4l

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    I love that a cake made in the microwave costs pi

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12. 

    @isthatrubble

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    I'd be interested to see this done again but oven vs what I call a "convection microwave" (it may be called something else in the UK) which is a microwave that's also a convection oven. they're unfortunately very expensive compared to a regular microwave but can be much smaller than a regular oven (but still big enough to bake 2 loaves of bread at once!), and don't take as long to preheat. so you could compare time and energy usage between regular oven, regular microwave, and a convection microwave on oven setting.

    they also often have combo settings that alternate between microwave and oven heat, which we use to reheat frozen pies, lasagna etc – it would be interesting to compare the "frozen to piping hot" time and energy usage in the oven vs microwave vs combo convection microwave, for example. or some of them have a grill setting and a stand to raise things like meat up close to the element, which I suppose you could compare to cooking in a grill pan or griller (I think called a broiler in most countries?) – I've never used that setting though so can't say whether it's any good or not.

    I grew up primarily using one of those instead of a regular electric oven because our oven didn't have a working light and the temperature gauge was dodgy. you could roast red meat in it and use it for big batches of bread if you kept your eye on it, but otherwise we used the oven in the microwave for almost everything else. I honestly can't imagine living somewhere that didn't have one, which means my moving out budget has to be a bit higher than otherwise so I can buy one of my own!

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13. 

    @teresaluders1805

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    While I like the ease of a microwave for baked potatoes, they lack flavor compared to baking them.

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14. 

    @peeteeuk

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    9:42 *100% longer

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15. 

    @jillh2858

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    I have a Ninja brand "Foodie" that I use very often. I think it makes the best baked potatoes. I don't care for microwave baked potatoes because I miss the crunchy skin. The Foodie cooks a potato with lovely crunch in about 25 to 30 minutes. I'm curious to see the Foodie compared to an oven and to a microwave. I live in Wisconsin, USA and wonder if you have Ninja Foodie in UK.

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16. 

    @carlr2837

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    You can also do a half and half on potatoes. Microwave them for, say, 3 minutes, then reduce the baking time. You still get the crispy crust, and the fluffy texture, but with some time and energy savings.

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17. 

    @kawawangkowboy9566

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    How does it take 12 minutes to microwave a potato? Mine is a third of that time

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18. 

    @evanbasnaw

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    The big difference here seems to be, not cost or total energy, but time.
    If you can get similar results in 10 minutes, why waste an hour?

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19. 

    @coffeemaniax

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    Took 3.14 minutes to make a pie in the microwave and nobody made a pie joke in half a year… How utterly disappointing. https://youtu.be/1nOvRikOPH8?t=1098

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20. 

    @donettmurphy420

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    Great comparison.

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21. 

    @PaulaJaey

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    For me, microwave use is more of a health thing…maybe that’s my mom’s propaganda talking but I grew up thinking a microwave was less healthy than using an oven/toaster oven/stove to reheat or cook things. So most of my life, I didn’t ever have a microwave in my kitchen, until I moved out and into a rental apartment, which comes with a microwave and I can’t get rid of it 😛

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22. 

    @tripackonetooth4910

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    If ever… Here (in Philippines), I quite often prepare Brussels sprouts (frozen packs…). I mix in fried lardons and korean roasted chestnuts and I can tell you, my friends get nuts about it 🤤

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23. 

    @slambergamer91

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    i hate microwave food.. it taste weird… i dont mind that extra money as long my food dont taste fake

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24. 

    @noir-13

    January 3, 2024 at 10:12 pm

    A microwave is ALWAYS more efficient.
    With the microwave, virtually all the energy goes into the food. With an oven, you first lose a ton of heat heating up the oven, then you lose a lot of heat from the oven heating up its surrounding.
    It's a bit like comparing an electric vehicle to a petrol car. Sure, the car running on petrol can go a lot farther on one tank, but the EV is a lot more efficient.

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