I recently had my latest birthday. As a belated gift, Wahine’s sister gave me this…microwave cooker.
It’s a steep-sided glass bowl with a bit of a foot, with a ventable glass cover. It came with 3-4 recipe cards, including one for shakshuka.
Does anyone here have one of these, and what can it do that any other glass bowl can’t?
Do you follow him on Instagram? He has a few demonstrations with it. Worth searching out.
Thanks. If you’ve watched, is there anything special about MW cooking in these pieces?
I did notice the glass is borosilicate, so it should be more heat-stable than Pyrex.
Microwave shakshuka? 
Yup. I think that’s the first prep I’ll try.
Let us know how it turns out.
The recipe card calls for combining all ingredients (except eggs) in the bowl, nuking for 4 minutes, then cracking eggs into wells, and another 4-7 minutes under the magnetron.
The only twist is a warning to pierce the yolks, lest they explode.
I hate when that happens. 
I remember back in the Before Times, when microwaves in the kitchen were new, making scrambled eggs in a big Pyrex measuring cup. It actually worked, but I didn’t see any advantage to it, because scrambling eggs in a pan on the stove doesn’t take much longer, and when I was a little kid and my mom let me “help” scramble eggs, I was enchanted. There’s nothing enchanting about my microwave.
Couldn’t agree more. I find MWOs soulless, much like induction cooktops.
However, today, I did use my MWO to thaw my hummingbird feeders. I thought I recognized a grimmace on a couple birds’ faces, but it saved some time…
There are a few things MWOs can do passably well like thawing a half a frozen baguette or cooking a burrito, but there are other ways to do those things PDQ. The wave is good for heating small amounts of water for baby bottles.
They are good diversions for cats. (Spare while installed one was awaiting warranty repair. The oven, not the cat …)
Honestly, I don’t find my induction range any more soulless than any other range I’ve had. . It’s a lot easier to clean, too. All work and no play makes Meekah a dull girl.
To each her own. I’ve never found cleaning of any stove to be onerous. Once a year, whether it needs it or not…
I’m just not a big fan of digital controls and displays, the heavy electronics burden, and the lack of flame.
I note that more options for chip free gas stoves are coming out, and some are relatively affordable. .
Hmm. Just like they taught us in Home Ec.
For many of us, gas isn’t an option. I’m in a high-rise, and it’s a choice of electric or induction.
There is an induction range that has little blue lights that mimic the look of a flame, to let you know how high you’ve cranked it up ….I skipped that. I can figure out some things on my own.
Understood. I’m now in a house where a solid-fuel cookstove isn’t (yet) an option. My beach house has always had electric (now radiant), but I’d still rather stick with that than switch to induction. For me, there would be no real improvements, and there would be two huge disadvantages (cookware choice and needless cost) and several small ones.
Understood. My beautiful copper is napping, awaiting the appearance of that Panasonic all-metals induction hob, or something similar.
It’s interesting you mention the Met-All. It has a 'flame emulator" ring that glows, allegedly dimming and brightening to reflect lower and higher settings. Unlike every other feature of the appliance, the emulator isn’t useful.
Regarding your copper’s napping, I’m somewhat contrarian about induction converter disks. They definitely work, and depending on their construction, help even out induction hobs. Of course they slow response, but no more than does a very thick disk-bottom pan. The appliance manufacturers hate them, for reasons that are a little murky. They tend to get hotter than would just a pan bottom, which can make problems for some electronics in un- or inadequately vented cases. But they get no hotter than an empty pan would. I think the real reasons the makers hate and forbid them is that they necessarily fool sensors and detectors and therefore their use presents burn and fire safety issues.
I have them, but I don’t —and won’t — use them.
I get that. If–as the manufacturers say–converters are a risk to the appliance and any damage isn’t warranteed, then why take the risk?
I just don’t completely believe them. Watt-for watt, a converter doesn’t get any hotter than the pan the manufacturers want you to use. Where heat can build higher is expecting X watts into the converter to equate with X watts into the food. The imperfect thermal contact between the top of the converter and the bottom of the pan means that if you want X into the food, you must put more than that into the converter.
I can report that I’ve used converters quite a bit with no ill effects. But when I do, I keep my heat settings well under full power and the cook durations short.
