Microwaves these days are almost an essential in most urban households, even single people before moving into an apartment at least require one in the kitchen. 

It is multi-use, you can heat food, make instant food, make Maggi and so much more with this one little square metal box. 

For a long time, living life was almost impossible without it, it allowed me the independence to heat my food at just the right temperature, and just enough for the number of people eating. 

But, a month or two ago, my microwave broke, and it was after that, I realised how dependent we were and that it was more a blessing rather than a problem for us. 

#1. Killed The Taste

One thing that I observed microwave did was killing the taste of the food, something that didn’t happen when heating on gas. 

And this wasn’t just with my microwave, but even using friends and the office one, and seeing the difference in my food now, I can come to that conclusion. 

While a microwave did heat up the food, it didn’t bring the freshness that heating on gas did. 

Rotis and paranthas would get stiff and hard while heating them on gas let them remain soft. Same for sabzi and daal, either they would get too hot or remain cold and the salt would suddenly just go away from it. 

Heating in a microwave baked, steamed or fried dishes would make them soggy, while dry vegetables or meats like chicken and all would get really rubbery and dry. 

#2. Electricity Bill

One of the biggest changes we noticed with the microwave gone was the drop in our electricity bill. 

While about 2 or 3 months back we were getting a total of Rs. 7-8,000 in our monthly bill, this time we just got a mere Rs. 2-3,000. 

A big drop of almost Rs. 5,000 was astonishing to us, since our other electricity consumption had not changed in the slightest. 

In fact, with the warm weather here, and AC being on during the night and even for a few hours during the day, it only increased. 

The only difference was that we were not using a microwave anymore. 

While it is true that microwave ovens these days are said to consume less energy, but at the same time, the cost of electricity is more than that of gas. 

Also, repeated use of them can result in more electricity being used, resulting in a heavier bill. 

As per sources, a standard microwave can consume energy anywhere from 600W (watts) to 1800W. 

While at the same time, a 60W light bulb uses just that much energy, and even a American-style Fridge Freezer uses from 40 to 50W. 

Your ceiling fan also barely uses energy ranging from 60W to 70W, which means that you can run almost 10 ceiling fans using the same energy that 1 single microwave uses. 

According to this, an average microwave in today’s time can use about 1200W for 30 minutes and that is not including the standby energy they consume that is used to run the clock and wait for further use. 


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#3. Harmful To Heat Food

There have been numerous myths around heating in microwaves which is not really valid, but at the same time, it is not entirely safe either. 

Only if you always use glass containers and only heat the dish once or twice is it safe. 

But reheating food repeatedly can result in loss of nutrients and even result in the bacteria increasing in number leading to the decaying of food quickly. 

Other than that, it has been scientifically proven that heating food in plastic containers can be quite dangerous to one’s health.

Heating food in plastic containers can be harmful, even resulting in cancer since plastic releases harmful chemicals linked to carcinogens.

As per reports, “microwaving food in plastic containers makes it release 95 percent of all its chemical components.”

It has been found that when heating in plastic containers, it can release a dangerous chemical called BPA and phthalates. These chemicals can then mingle with the food being heated leading to medical problems. 

Dr Nitasha Gupta, IVF expert, Indira IVF Hospital, New Delhi, stated in a report that, “The disturbing truth is that heat transfers the chemicals in plastic very effectively into your food. When the food is heated, the food touching the plastic receives the chemicals leaching out. Eating those chemicals can increase risks of cancer, infertility and havoc on the normal functioning of reproductive systems and your brain.”

Microwave Not Working

#4. Makes Us Dependent

Besides all these heavy duty facts, the usage of microwave, while making us independent was also doing the opposite.

At one hand it allowed us the control to heat our food whenever we wanted, but it also made us dependent on it. 

After it broke, family dinners came back since the food would only be heated up once and everyone had to eat then only. 

Also, another thing I noticed was that food remained hot for longer when heated on gas as compared to the microwave where it would cool down quite quickly.

So these were just a few ways that a broken microwave was actually a good thing both health-wise and financially for us. 

Do you have any more such stories related to not using a microwave?


Image Credits: Google Images

Sources: Times Now News, Daft Logic, Bijli Bachao

Find the blogger @chirali_08


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