A friend and I were both shopping for a microwave. We wanted to be sure we could operate it easily. We turned one on on the store, and couldn't figure out how to turn it off/cancel it without opening the door. We left it going as we quickly left the store.

Cooking story: Heating up a jar of Elmer's Gold Brick chocolate topping. Forgot that back then, Elmer's had a gold metallic band on the label. Yep, it arced.

Tried mw-ing my gloves to kill germs early in the pandemic.

Thought I would cook rice in my microwave, per the instructions in the little pamphlet with recipes and cooking times inside the box. Well, the revolving glass tray that dishes sit on inside the microwave broke into three pieces with a big craaaacking sound! But the bowl with the rice in it was intact. Not sure if it was the temp I had it set on or what.

I ended up ordering a new glass tray online from some company that kind of sounded like a thrift store for microwave parts. It was reasonably priced and fit my oven perfectly.

I've bought 'O' brand frozen jasmine rice that comes in microwave bags. 3 minutes to perfect rice. Yes, I can cook jasmine rice quite well stove top but sometimes I'm looking for shortcuts.

The bag says not to pierce. If I do not, it pops open with some force and coats the inside of my microwave with sticky jasmine rice. I lightly pierce with knife point about two places in those do-not-pierce bags.

My only really awful microwave story though was in a hotel room. One of those little cheapies with barely any power and a dial to turn to desired minutes. Arriving exhausted on a freezing winter night, I was trying to heat a flax seed pillow in the hotel microwave. Adding minutes, turning it, adding more minutes. I finally set it on just another minute or so and stepped into the bathroom briefly. I came out to the smell of something burning.

I grabbed the little interior turntable and rushed out to the deck off our suite, a glowing coals pillow on the turntable. Luckily it was raining/sleeting so no further harm done. We slept (heat on) with the second story door to the deck open to air the room.

The next morning DH emptied the mess into a waste basket liner, took it down to an outside garbage receptacle. I washed the turntable in the bathroom sink and tested with a glass of water. The appliance still worked. Or at least as well as did before I had my hands on it.

I always pierce a squash but then only microwave it long enough to tenderize the rind -maybe 3 min or so for easy cutting. Then I take it out and cut it in half, turn it cut side down, add some water to the dish, and finish cooking back in the microwave. I have a few recipes that use cubed roasted butternut, so I tenderize it in the microwave and it becomes easy to peel and cut. Then into the regular oven for roasting.

We don't cook in the microwave - only heat/reheat things. Ours is a small countertop Sharp carosel that we bought when we built this place in 1991. The digital display is wonky but it's still functional and I have not been able to find one small enough to fit again the the corner where we have it so there it stays.

Don't own one and don't want to.

Two, no, three stories:

I was popping a lot of corn for Christmas tree strings in the microwave and kept putting the unpopped kernels back in, hoping they'd pop. Then I noticed that they were actually glowing red, as they had become tiny burning cinders. I quickly took them out at set the glass bowl they were in on a wooden board on the counter to cool off. About 3am I was woken by a loud noise. On investigating, I found the glass bowl had developed a long, spiralling crack that circled around the bowl several times. Thermal shock, I guess.

Background- due to my husband's job, he lives in the city during the week and comes home to our town an hour and a half away on weekends. I work in a school, so often I go down to stay with DH during the school holidays. And we have separate bedrooms because I snore :-)

It was winter and I didn't have an electric blanket at that time. I had a wheat bag, which I heated up in the microwave. I didn't realise that DH's relatively new microwave was much more powerful than our older microwave at home, so I put the wheat bag in for the same amount of time I do at home. To my horror the wheat bag started to smoke, so I pulled it out with some tongs and put it into the sink., DH, who had gone to bed, came staggering out exclaiming, "What's that awful smell?" I had to confess.'The next day, the smell was still in the microwave, so DH took the back off it and washed everything down with vanilla water, which did the trick.

Which reminds me of a third story. I used to run the school canteen, where those students who wanted to could purchase lunch, recess snacks and drinks. When I came back after a day off, I noticed that our microwave, which was on a table behind the person serving at the counter, smelled distinctly of something burned. I asked my helper what had happened, and she told me that she had been making popcorn in it while serving the students, and was alerted to the fact that the popcorn was burning by the students who could see flames in the microwave behind her.

There's an OTR(over the range) LG microwave in one of my rentals. It has a button that says Turntable/on off. Yes...you can keep the turntable from turning. So the renter wanted it to turn and started beating her hand on the microwave until ALL the clips holding it attached to the upper cabinet broke. ??? Dumb! We got a call the microwave needed to be reattached...I showed her the button....she just nodded her head....like...of course I knew that!

I mainly use mine for melting butter if a recipe calls for it, or my husband uses it to reheat his coffee and to make lunch for our grandson who ONLY will eat a hotdog heated in there. Gross....

Two stories:

Had a friend who raved about the potato bags, “Perfect baked potatoes made in the microwave!!” I finally broke down and bought one. While cooking a potato we heard a loud bang - the microwave turntable had cracked. Loved the microwave, couldn’t find a replacement turntable. (Yes, we’re still friends. )

Left something to heat in the microwave for 2 minutes, came back and it was still cold. Repeated, still cold. ??? This time I stood and watched. The timer went from 2 minutes to done in about 5 seconds. A friend (different one) was insistent we had to buy a new microwave oven. A few days later they were over and we showed them it worked perfectly - my husband had fixed it! We never told her how, because he didn’t even know. He’d taken it apart and then put it back together and that was all.

The light in my built in microwave died after ten years. There is no way to replace it without calling a technician to disassemble the thing. (There are instructions about this but I'm not going to try this myself.)

The light died again last year, then came back to life when I replaced an also-burned-out bulb in the oven below the microwave.

No 'ta da!' The light quit again last week. I mainly use it to defrost and for frozen vegetables. I don't need to *see* it cooking. Worst case, I have a flashlight.

Many years ago I was popping a bag of popcorn from a well-known brand in a almost new microwave when suddenly there was a loud noise. If I remember correctly, it was a very loud "pow !". When DH opened the door, there was a hole blown out in the side wall of the microwave. There was no obvious reason for this to happen, and from then until we disposed of that microwave I was afraid to use it.

I would never take apart, or take the back off of a microwave. The capacitor inside stores electricity and can electrocute you. Someone in a town where I used to live was electrocuted while working on a microwave. It's supposed to be safe to work on one that's sat unplugged overnight, but I wouldn't risk my life on it even then.

When everyone was getting their first microwave I had a friend who insisted everyone has to blow up an egg. I decided not to though.

My first microwave back in the dark ages was a huge fantastically expensive Micro-convection thing from Sears bought for us by my amazing father-in-law. It did everything but wash the dishes (he also bought us a portable dish washer) It was very powerful and did a wonderful job of roasting. You could actually cook in it but it started arcing. We called Sears and they came and replaced something. It started arcing again (the old dad had paid for an extended warranty) we took it in and they replaced the "stirring cover" a thick cardboardy thing on the ceiling, It broke again and they replaced some sort of bearing, it broke again and now with the warranty finally run out they said it was the stirring cover-$60 please. I said I haven't baked a thing in it and the cover is spotless (being grease soaked apparently was a problem) Oh right, it is the bearing. BS. I made the manager of the store give me a big chunk of money and I bought a simple microwave elsewhere. Turns out Sears at that time was caught out cheating people in their repair shops. It gave me somewhat of an attitude about microwaves they dont deserve but they are not for cooking. People say they make the best scrambled eggs-just open the door multiple times to stir. Right.

Patriciae....your story reminds me of the first Micro I saw or used. My big brother

and wife had one of the very early (the first maybe?) Amana Radar Ranges. It had belonged

to a friend of theirs who had it quite awhile, but were "uncomfortable" using it, so

asked him if he wanted it. A huge thing

that took up way too much space on the Counter. It even had a large bound recipe

and "how to" book. When they first got it...the rest of the family went over to

see it and "oooh and aaaah" while we tried cooking different things. LOL I was

young and it kind of scared me and I didn't want to get too close to it LOL

Speaking of eggs:

When my children were young we were decorating Easter eggs with a thin plastic sleeve that you slid over a hard boiled egg and then boiled it again in water to shrink it around the shell. Yeah, you guessed it. One of them put one in the microwave and it went off like a bomb! The microwave door blew open and the shards blew all over the kitchen and even damaged the ceiling.

I was not as amused as they were.

Well, today I decided to try a little recipe that called for angel food and one other kind of cake mix, stirred together. To bake it ,you put 3 Tablespoons in a cup, add 2 T. water and microwave. Well, I didn't know enough to bake it only on minute, and gave it three. Yep, the smoke lingered for a long time, and the odor is still about!

Uptown Gal, I think I had that same Amana Radar Range. I was working in an appliance store with a discount or could not have afforded it. At that time, it cost more than most ranges or washers or dryers, seems like between $500-$600.

It was all decked out with faux wood panels etc like the dash in a car. And weighed so much I couldn't pick it up alone. Thankfully I had a reach in pantry in that little kitchen and could keep it behind closed louvered doors, open them and use in place.

I used that microwave for MANY years.

Lucille, it would have been better if this unfortunate incident hadn't happened at all but since it did, it would have been better a week or so ago with the microwave "cooking" thread. I mentioned a related risk at the time, that liquids (even water) can superheat and "explode" when picked up because the movement breaks the surface tension that holds in the steam and allows the water to get too hot. A safety measure that prevents superheating is to place a dry wooden toothpick or piece of a wooden stir stick in the container that floats on the surface.

Because of the uncertainties of how hot items can unexpectedly get, because that can overcook and cause items (and vessels) to explode, because of the often inferior taste and texture of items so prepared (like potatoes), and because of the risks, I don't get why anyone "cooks" anything in microwave ovens.

Driving to school one cold morning, I realized I left my mascara in the car overnight. When I got to school, I put it in our staff microwave to warm it up a few seconds. It blew up all over the microwave, it was totally black. Me and the janitor spent my first hour plan cleaning it up.

Ladypat, i’d award you a prize for the most imaginative use of a microwave oven.

I don’t really have a mw story, but I’d say that DH and I were among the first in our circle to buy one. We were young marrieds, and gathered our dollars together (I also think it was about $500) and drove to Des Moines to buy one from Sears. That sucker was so big it wouldn’t fit in our backseat or the trunk. We wedged it as best we could in the trunk and drove back to Missouri with it half hanging out. That was a great-running microwave.

Re the potato bag - my sister-in-law is a crafter and she made a slew of these and sold them at craft fairs back when the idea first came out. Well, she gave me one and it worked the first few times. But one evening I walked into the kitchen and the bag was on fire inside the microwave! Never asked her to make me another bag. ha

Fabric that goes into the micro must be 100 percent cotton including thread and trim. Any of you using bowl holders know this.

Years ago I wanted a small microwave ad saw an ad for a barely used one, just $40. It was way on the other side of the city but conveniently on a bus route. So I bought it and carried it home on the bus. When I boarded, the bus driver took one look and said, "Well, I hope you brought popcorn for everyone."

My first microwave was Amana Radar Range in 1982. DH was working for Raytheon, who owned Amana, so we got a rebate which made it a great price. I believe we had it for 15 years. It was the best one we ever had. I have cooked all kinds of foods in a microwave. Like any new appliance you have to learn how to use it. One thing I would NOT cook is meat, except bacon.

We got our first microwave in 1974.

We took the kids fishing and the got 4 or 5 small blue gills.

They could not bear to throw them back.

When we got home our son, age 8,

decided we should microwave the fish for the cats.

We didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the eyes popped out.

The kids still talk about it.