Microwaves are great! No waiting around for an oudated oven to heat up; just bung stuff stuff in, hit a few buttons and that’s it. It even turns off and pings when the food’s ready, instead of quietly staying very hot and burning everything to a crisp if you forget about it. Magic.
I think my aunt was the first person we knew to get a microwave. Now I know I was a lot younger so things might have seemed bigger than they were, but this thing was huge! It probably cost a small fortune too. Before microwave meals, people tried to use proper recipes for microwaves, and there were charts to work out how long to cook different weights of various ingredients. Crazy. Category D, 60 seconds on the side of a syrup sponge pudding is more my level!
My first microwave was at the same time more advanced, and much simpler than the early models, and much much cheaper. Instead of dials (probably the work of the same person who designed shower taps and toaster dials) it had a proper timer, but it also rotates the food on a wobbly plate, specially calibrated to ensure that handles aways end up pointing away from the door, instead of using some fancy hidden rotating microwave deflecting contraption. Unfortunately this microwave is nearing the end of its long and faithful service. Countless microwave pizzas have passed through its little door since 1990s but a small flooding incident early in its life has finally caused some rusting inside. Things were built to last in the old days.
Is there any invention that can even come close to the greatness of the humble microwave oven?
Notes from a small field 