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Hard & Crunchy then Soft & Limp

thatoneguy82

thatoneguy82

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
1,895
2
Beach Cities, CA
I'm talking about how fried foods are before and after they are put in a microwave. When freshly made, it's perfectly hard & crunchy and it's hot, of course. That heat can dissipate in a matter of minutes or hours. Sometimes it can leave a semi-hard & crunchy version of the original but it would be cold or possibly room temperature.

Anyway, the microwave option always gives the necessary heat but it totally destroys it. It's soft & limp. I know I can use a toaster oven, oven, etc but is there a way I can use the microwave and get the same results? Even at 30 seconds, the microwave heat wreaks havoc!
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
This made me smile...I'm terrible, I live alone and the microwave gets far too much use. I've tried these so called "Microwave Only" foods, including fries...which I'm not really supposed to eat...None of them come close to the real thing though....I'm determined to get away from the Micro and start cooking proper meals for myself.

I've been substituting real food fro Vitamin tablets....Not a good policy really.:)
 
thatoneguy82

thatoneguy82

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
1,895
2
Beach Cities, CA
Macman45 said:
This made me smile...I'm terrible, I live alone and the microwave gets far too much use. I've tried these so called "Microwave Only" foods, including fries...which I'm not really supposed to eat...None of them come close to the real thing though....I'm determined to get away from the Micro and start cooking proper meals for myself.

I've been substituting real food fro Vitamin tablets....Not a good policy really.:)
Click to expand...

Haha, yes I know what you mean. At least you're introducing vitamins! Also, it's not like food really has nearly enough to compare to what those tablets have. It just gets absorbs better.

I could've sworn years ago there was an informercial about putting something in a bag then putting in a microwave. The end result would be the same as putting it in the oven, but faster! I thought years later there would be something better, or a technique even.

The only "microwave" food I sporadically buy are the Healthy Choice Steamers. Those actually taste non-microwavey. :p But, I guess these leftovers from my trip to Jack In The Box later will have to stay limp. Poor eggrolls.
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
thatoneguy82 said:
Haha, yes I know what you mean. At least you're introducing vitamins!

I could've sworn years ago there was an informercial about putting something in a bag then putting in a microwave. The end result would be the same as putting it in the oven, but faster! I thought years later there would be something better, or a technique even.

The only "microwave" food I sporadically buy are the Healthy Choice Steamers. Those actually taste non-microwavey. :p But, I guess these leftovers from my trip to Jack In The Box later will have to stay limp. Poor eggrolls.
Click to expand...

Yep, secondhand takeaway is best done in a real oven...wrap in tin foil and heat slowly...It kind of works...I've done it a lot!:D
 
thatoneguy82

thatoneguy82

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
1,895
2
Beach Cities, CA
Macman45 said:
Yep, secondhand takeaway is best done in a real oven...wrap in tin foil and heat slowly...It kind of works...I've done it a lot!:D
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does. But it's too much work and requires too much power to do it. At least here. I live alone as well, so my kitchen isn't really spic & span. I don't know where my toaster oven is. The oven will heat up the whole place, well downstairs; I like it cold.

Eh, too much. I'll just settle for soft & limp. Too lazy.
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
thatoneguy82 said:
Yeah, it does. But it's too much work and requires too much power to do it. At least here. I live alone as well, so my kitchen isn't really spic & span. I don't know where my toaster oven is. The oven will heat up the whole place, well downstairs; I like it cold.

Eh, too much. I'll just settle for soft & limp. Too lazy.
Click to expand...

:eek: You're worse than me!!:D
 
Last edited:
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
We usually just use the oven for the same reason. On our microwave there's a defrost and cook button... I don't know what difference that makes since I push them according to the instructions on what I'm doing, but the microwave at default is usually trying to get the freezer excess out of stuff, so that's why when you stick anything that isn't a slab of ice to begin with comes out horribly soft.

You should be able to do fries on a pan though (even just to reheat). Pretty sure that's how we do the bagged ones at our house.
 
sviato

sviato

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2010
2,426
378
HR 9038 A
My parents recently moved our microwave to the basement to reduce our reliance on it and I started using this mini oven we bought and it's awesome. It may take a little more effort but food actually comes out like you want it to.
 
ideal.dreams

ideal.dreams

macrumors 68020
Jul 19, 2010
2,374
1,073
I've heard that putting a glass of water in the microwave with the food will prevent food from becoming like this. I've never tried it so I can't tell you if it works or not, but it's worth a shot.
 
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