Is the microwave still cheaper?

[PrincessPerky]

I know that a microwave is cheaper when cooking small amounts, but at what point is it better to use the stove?

right now I have to heat up lunch to feed 5 (well 4.5, baby eats a small amount) and I am wondering just how different stove, vs microwave would be.

when it was just a small amount the 3 minutes in the microwave beat the stove easy, but now we are talking food that wont be hot for 10-15 minutes, might be better to just go back tot he stove with the leftovers...

[kork13]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

when it was just a small amount the 3 minutes in the microwave beat the stove easy, but now we are talking food that wont be hot for 10-15 minutes, might be better to just go back tot he stove with the leftovers...

not entirely on point, but a related item worth pointing out is that ovens take ALOT of juice to heat up... We use a toaster oven for alot of smaller cooking, which is great. It's maybe 1/8 of the volume you need to heat up, so it's faster and much cheaper.

As to your original question, if it's anything much more than about 4-5 minutes, I'll use the stove. Can't speak to energy consumption, but I will say that the microwave tends to do a poor job of things that have to cook for longer periods... And the stove is just easier, since you have to repeatedly stop the microwave to stir everything if it's in for more than a couple minutes.

[whitestripe]

to be honest i really don't like microwaves and never have. our old flatmate dumped one on us and we only use it to heat up dog food (we feed them a combination of rice, mince and veges). i guess i am biased then when i say that I only use the stove or oven to heat things, and warm water or the fridge to defrost things. on the plus side it tends to make you more organised!

[disneysteve]

Microwaves are much more energy efficient. They don't lose nearly as much energy to heat as the stovetop does, so I'd suspect that in your scenario, the microwave is still the way to go.

[NeedaDollar]

I personally don't use the microwave for anything that will take longer than 15 mins for some reason. I use my toaster oven more than my oven. I do agree that the microwave is more energy efficient plus it won't overheat your home.

[MonkeyMama]

It depends. Our electricity is expensive and our gas is dirt cheap. Stove top is pretty cheap in the end. I'd say our stove top is cheaper by a mile in that case.

BUT I think you meant the oven. Oven takes forever to heat and ours is electric. In that case I'd go with the microwave.

[Johnstone]

I really don't like microwaves and avoid using it unless I've got to re-heat something that I can't use a toaster oven for or to de-frost, which takes less than 4 minutes. Things like soup and vegetable left-overs (corn, peas, beans, etc.) go in the microwave, but almost everything else goes in the toaster oven for me.

[Aleta]

I use my toaster-oven instead of the oven. Depending upon how much you need to cook. I make biscuits or rolls in there and bake chicken and fish. I also make baked and sweet potatoes there. The oven just is too large and uses too much electricity for smaller items. Not to mention how much it heats up the kitchen. I love my toaster oven.