**The Surprising World of Microwave Hacks**

When it comes to cooking, many people associate microwaves with heating up leftovers and reheating pasta. However, these versatile kitchen appliances can also be used to create delicious treats and simplify various cooking tasks. In this article, we'll explore some amazing microwave hacks that will make you think twice about your cooking skills.

**The Art of Peeling Garlic Quickly**

If you're like us, garlic is a staple ingredient in many recipes, from garlic bread to pasta dishes. But let's face it – peeling garlic can be a tedious task. That's why we've discovered the perfect microwave hack for all you garlic enthusiasts out there. Simply take a whole bulb of garlic and crush it in your hands before placing it in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat it for 30 seconds, and voilà! The cloves will have shrunk slightly due to dehydration, making them much easier to peel.

**Microwave Hacks for Foodies**

Are you tired of dealing with cold patches on your pasta or reheated snacks? This hack is perfect for you. When heating up a large lump of food in the microwave, create a ring shape by spreading it evenly around the bowl. This increases the surface area, allowing the food to cook more quickly and evenly. And, if like real men, you have window boxes and a surplus of fresh herbs, this hack is a must-try. Simply strip the herbs off their stalks and lay them flat between two sheets of kitchen paper. Blast them in the microwave for 1 minute (for hard herbs) or 40 seconds (for soft herbs), and then return them to the microwave every 20 seconds until they're completely dry.

**Drying Herbs Quickly with Microwaves**

Fresh herbs can be a pain to store, especially if you have an abundance of them. This hack is perfect for drying herbs quickly without losing their color or flavor. Simply strip the herbs off their stalks and lay them flat between two sheets of kitchen paper. Heat them in the microwave for 1 minute (for hard herbs) or 40 seconds (for soft herbs), and then return them to the microwave every 20 seconds until they're completely dry. Store them in an airtight container for future use.

**Extracting Maximum Juice from Citrus Fruits**

When it comes to making marinades, sauces, or simply enjoying a refreshing drink, citrus fruits are often the star of the show. But did you know that microwaves can help extract more juice from your citrus fruits? Simply heat the fruit in the microwave for 10-20 seconds, and the molecules will weaken, allowing you to extract more juice. This hack is perfect for making delicious marinades or enjoying a freshly squeezed lemonade.

**The Power of Microwaves: Cleaning Your Appliance**

And finally, let's not forget about cleaning your microwave. Who among us hasn't been guilty of leaving their microwave a bit grimy after heating up last night's leftovers? This hack is a game-changer. Simply place half a lemon in a bowl full of water and heat it in the microwave for 5-10 minutes. The acid will cut through any grease, and you'll be left with a lovely citrusy smell.

**Bonus News: Exploring the Lack of Cooking Skills in the UK**

At Soffood, we're on a mission to explore the lack of cooking skills in the UK and beyond. We're sharing some of the stories we've uncovered so far, from the consequences of not knowing how to cook basic meals to the impact of online recipes on our kitchen habits. If you want to stay up-to-date with our latest findings, be sure to subscribe to our channel and check out our bonus videos.

**Nut Brittle in a Microwave: A Sweet Treat**

And finally, we're ending this article with a sweet treat that's surprisingly easy to make using your microwave. Nut brittle is a classic dessert that's often made from scratch. But with this hack, you can make it in just a few minutes. Simply melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar in the microwave for 10 seconds. Then, add 1 cup of chopped nuts and stir until they're evenly coated. Cook for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the mixture is golden brown. That's it! You'll have a delicious nut brittle in no time.

The next time you think of your microwave as just a reheating device, remember – there are many creative ways to use this versatile appliance. From peeling garlic quickly to extracting maximum juice from citrus fruits, we've explored some amazing microwave hacks that will make cooking easier and more enjoyable.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello and welcome to fridge cam if you masticate for nutritional purposes then this will be the show for you don't use the word masticate in the fridge today we show you five microwave hacks you actually might use then stick around we're going to cook up a sweet treat in a microwave that Rivals this cake in a mug but first we're out to prove that using solely a microwave you can cook great food so this is how it's going to work dish number one fish pie this is an awesome mixture of salmon Cod and had in a creamy white wine sauce with leak topped off with fennel and lemon mashed potato sounds delicious whilst I've created a dish using Sol and microwave James has also been staving way in the kitchen doing exactly the same dish but using traditional methods you can obviously see the difference thanks to the coloration of an oven however you guys blindfolded can you taste the difference between the two so let's Fork up this is going to be interesting isn't it cuz not only have we got to taste the difference we've also got to navigate a for into the mouth is this the okay I have no idea of the angle of which is at oh not that one that's lovely that's a good fish pie okay you're all loaded go this is dribbling play number two that's hard that tastes fresher that tastes like lighter and cleaner I don't know where you are but I know what you mean yeah yeah good I'm going to say the second one was done in the oven wasn't an obvious difference for me so I'll say the first one was done in the oven yeah agree in like the first one was was dodgier like it been cooked it sounds sounds weird it feels like it been cooked for longer so no huge discernable differences this was how the microwavable one was made so three potatoes just stabb them with a fork place them into a glass bowl and into your microwave on full power for 10 minutes that's about the equivalent of being in the oven for an hour for the filling we're going to make two portions we've got two microwavable dishes you can use teacups or coffee mugs if you haven't got things like this and then between the two we're going to divide some sliced leak a knob of butter a splash of white wine and half a clove of garlic crushed the bowl will be hot but potatoes are cooked at this point the filling these can go into the microwave and they need 5 minutes whilst you make the mesh the advantage of cooking these in microwave is they don't take on too much water so you get a really fluffy Mash you want to take the flesh out of the skins and mash them with milk butter the zest of a lemon and a pinch of fennel seeds now the leaks are softened and the garlic has cooked out we can add in the fish along with cream mustard and chopped chives to make an awesome sauce what's great about this is the fish goes in raw so all those juices form an amazing sauce next up we pile on our mashed potato and then because we can't emulate a crispy top in a microwave that you would get in an oven we're going to add on almonds pine nuts and some greaty cheese there we go so many awesome flavors if you want to leave one or two out maybe the fennel seeds or the lemon or one of the nuts you can simplify it but this is the ultimate version it now needs another 4 minutes in the microwave to cook the fish and I suggest you do that on a plate to catch any dribles and there we go all you need to do is check that it's piping hot all the way through you can stick a metal skewer or a table knife in leave it for a second and just check that knife comes out hot otherwise serve it with some steamed veg equally easy in the microwave that's microwaveable fish pie sorted I want to know if I was right yeah tell us Jamie was right yes you take your blindfold off you'll see you're kidding me what you don't get is that coloring of the cheese and the almonds and the toasty pine nuts from the microwave one but digging around and getting a whole combined flavor much the same you could serve me that and tell me it was made in an oven and I wouldn't even question it well e you approved your point congratulations if you are only equipped with the microwave you can still cook a cracking fish pie Barry useless or not you decide mommy says I'm useful if there was a zombie apocalypse Jamie would survive because zombies eat brains James as in beautiful James as in Chef James as in I poach eggs in champagne vinegar James dish number two a microwavable Andor traditional method risoto both have smoked ham squash and cabbage or cavalero not a huge amount of difference in the visual appearance one of these is done in the microwave one with constant stirring on the stove so what you're telling us is um that the Italians stop watching this about 10 seconds ago correct you got make an airplane sound hold out your hand put I'm going to put it in your hand well justo into his hand yeah M tasty M okay oh that is risoto I like that yeah it's G oh I got black pepper oh hining oh oh oh it's got everywhere oh still nice that is a lot more flavorsome I got a a lot of cabbage second one had more flavor but less bite the first one had more bite less flavor I felt like the first one had a better texture it was stodger it tastes more like a traditional Roto to me and if you are limited to just a microwave this is how you make it begin by finally dicing a chelot and a clove of garlic next up the squash peel it and dice it as fine as possible you want about half CM Cube pieces and then for the cavalo Nero take out the Woody stalks and chop that up in two squares if you can't get that use any green cabbage that's all the hard work done now placed all of the chop stuff into a bowl with some diced smoked ham a knob of butter a glass of white wine give it a mix and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes to cook grab yourself a little piece of squash and just taste it obviously there's plenty of cooking steel to come but it should be about half cooked next up we can add in risoto rice a do Cube crumbled and some water then it goes back into the microwave for 10 minutes you might want to stir it halfway through after 10 minutes you want to take it out of the microwave give it a stir and you want to test a grain of rice what you're looking for is something that's soft all the way through and it hasn't got a bite to it we using an 800 W microwave and for us it's going to need a couple more minutes if your microwave is more or less powerful you may have to adjust the time back in another couple minutes the colors look amazing the smells in here are phenomenal the only difference between a microwave risotto and one on a hob is you're not constantly stirring it so to give it that creaminess we're going to add in some creme fresh and plenty of grated Parmesan seasoned to taste and then serve it up garnish it with some radish some Crest more grated Parmesan and there we go my microwaveable smoked ham and squash rotto sorted and the great thing about the microwave one it literally just uses One Bowl One knife on chopping board one microwave job done at the moment I don't think one tastes better than another they just taste slightly different yeah do you think it was Dish One or dish two Barry you go first two two was cooked in a microwave one was cooked in a microwave no why would you do that Jamie wins again no really but they're both strong rotos and you get away with the creaminess here because of the creem fresh and the parmesan that's the thing I would never normally make a rotto in a microwave I would always do it on the hob but that recipe surprises us all you've taken your blind parts off haven't you I have to say what on microwave what a microwave and what on me microwaves aren't just for bad food you can get good food out of them too and while we're loving off the microwave so much why don't we show you some amazing microwavable hacks I looked at the wrong camera all the way through that if you're trying to peel a lot of garlic very quickly because maybe you're addicted to garlic bread or maybe you're trying to send off an angry mob of vampires or something like walking out of the Dead mixed with Twilight but without that annoying grumpy girl then this is the hack for you take take a whole bulb of garlic crush it in your hands put it into a bowl and into a microwave for 30 seconds when the garlic comes back out it'll be much easier to peel because the cloes would have shrunk slightly due to dehydration and science think of all that time saved that means you either get garlic bread quicker or you don't die as quickly from vampires don't you hate it when you need a microwave to reheat your favorite pasta potato or Panda neck warmer you keep getting cold patches well this is the hack for you if you're looking to heat up a big lump of food avoid slopping in the middle what you want to do is create a ring and spread it out to increase your surface area and therefore it should cook quicker also a microwave has a spinning plate for a reason there's lots of hot and cold points in the microwave so don't put your object in the middle of the microwave move it to the side and it'll cook more evenly if like real men you have window boxes and a surplus of fresh herbs and you don't want to see them go to waste then this is the hack for you strip the fresh herbs off of the stalks and lay them flat in between two sheets of kitchen paper blast them in the microwave away for 1 minute if it's a hard herb 40 seconds if it's a soft herb and then intervals of about 20 seconds until they're dry drying herbs in a microwave is a lot quicker than oven drying Sun drying or hanging and therefore they retain a lot more color and a lot more flavor test the herbs and keep returning them back to the microwave for another 10 or 20 seconds at a time until they're completely dry but they still have all the color and fragrance of fresh herbs store them in an airtight container for future kitchen fun if you're looking to extract the maximum amount of juice from your citrus fruit because you're making a delicious marinade having a margarita bath or hosting your own lemon party then this is the hack for you take your fruit heat it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds you want it to be warm not piping hot heating the molecules in the flesh of the fruit will make the membrane weaken and therefore will allow you to extract more juice from the fruit so now the vampires are gone your Panda scarf is warm you've trimmed your bush and the guys at the old people's home really like you it's now time to clean your microwave Place half a lemon in a bowl full of water put that in the microwave and heat that up for anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes this will steam clean your microwave the acid will cut through any of the grease and you'll get a lovely citrusy smell I reckon there are some actual hacks there that I might actually use microwaves are useful yeah and also don't forget to subscribe because well we will make you hungry and some bonus news if you head over to S of food most of you will know we're exploring the lack of cooking skills in the UK and Beyond and the consequences that has we're beginning to share some of the stories we're uncovering those bonus videos available overed food I reckon that fridge cam had everything it had just the right level of microwave radiation yep it had a weird three fourway blindfold date thing and a cracking peir don't forget to stay with us in the aftertaste we're going to make a nut brittle in a microwave even better than cake in a mug where was the cracking peir oh it's here I'm taking it with me uhoh cooking pear ladies and gentlemen Ben did a joke Ben did a joke Ben did a joke I also get a piece of fruit Ben did an innuendo and talking of innuendos nuts I'm going to make it not in a microwave that's the important bit oh yeah yeahhello and welcome to fridge cam if you masticate for nutritional purposes then this will be the show for you don't use the word masticate in the fridge today we show you five microwave hacks you actually might use then stick around we're going to cook up a sweet treat in a microwave that Rivals this cake in a mug but first we're out to prove that using solely a microwave you can cook great food so this is how it's going to work dish number one fish pie this is an awesome mixture of salmon Cod and had in a creamy white wine sauce with leak topped off with fennel and lemon mashed potato sounds delicious whilst I've created a dish using Sol and microwave James has also been staving way in the kitchen doing exactly the same dish but using traditional methods you can obviously see the difference thanks to the coloration of an oven however you guys blindfolded can you taste the difference between the two so let's Fork up this is going to be interesting isn't it cuz not only have we got to taste the difference we've also got to navigate a for into the mouth is this the okay I have no idea of the angle of which is at oh not that one that's lovely that's a good fish pie okay you're all loaded go this is dribbling play number two that's hard that tastes fresher that tastes like lighter and cleaner I don't know where you are but I know what you mean yeah yeah good I'm going to say the second one was done in the oven wasn't an obvious difference for me so I'll say the first one was done in the oven yeah agree in like the first one was was dodgier like it been cooked it sounds sounds weird it feels like it been cooked for longer so no huge discernable differences this was how the microwavable one was made so three potatoes just stabb them with a fork place them into a glass bowl and into your microwave on full power for 10 minutes that's about the equivalent of being in the oven for an hour for the filling we're going to make two portions we've got two microwavable dishes you can use teacups or coffee mugs if you haven't got things like this and then between the two we're going to divide some sliced leak a knob of butter a splash of white wine and half a clove of garlic crushed the bowl will be hot but potatoes are cooked at this point the filling these can go into the microwave and they need 5 minutes whilst you make the mesh the advantage of cooking these in microwave is they don't take on too much water so you get a really fluffy Mash you want to take the flesh out of the skins and mash them with milk butter the zest of a lemon and a pinch of fennel seeds now the leaks are softened and the garlic has cooked out we can add in the fish along with cream mustard and chopped chives to make an awesome sauce what's great about this is the fish goes in raw so all those juices form an amazing sauce next up we pile on our mashed potato and then because we can't emulate a crispy top in a microwave that you would get in an oven we're going to add on almonds pine nuts and some greaty cheese there we go so many awesome flavors if you want to leave one or two out maybe the fennel seeds or the lemon or one of the nuts you can simplify it but this is the ultimate version it now needs another 4 minutes in the microwave to cook the fish and I suggest you do that on a plate to catch any dribles and there we go all you need to do is check that it's piping hot all the way through you can stick a metal skewer or a table knife in leave it for a second and just check that knife comes out hot otherwise serve it with some steamed veg equally easy in the microwave that's microwaveable fish pie sorted I want to know if I was right yeah tell us Jamie was right yes you take your blindfold off you'll see you're kidding me what you don't get is that coloring of the cheese and the almonds and the toasty pine nuts from the microwave one but digging around and getting a whole combined flavor much the same you could serve me that and tell me it was made in an oven and I wouldn't even question it well e you approved your point congratulations if you are only equipped with the microwave you can still cook a cracking fish pie Barry useless or not you decide mommy says I'm useful if there was a zombie apocalypse Jamie would survive because zombies eat brains James as in beautiful James as in Chef James as in I poach eggs in champagne vinegar James dish number two a microwavable Andor traditional method risoto both have smoked ham squash and cabbage or cavalero not a huge amount of difference in the visual appearance one of these is done in the microwave one with constant stirring on the stove so what you're telling us is um that the Italians stop watching this about 10 seconds ago correct you got make an airplane sound hold out your hand put I'm going to put it in your hand well justo into his hand yeah M tasty M okay oh that is risoto I like that yeah it's G oh I got black pepper oh hining oh oh oh it's got everywhere oh still nice that is a lot more flavorsome I got a a lot of cabbage second one had more flavor but less bite the first one had more bite less flavor I felt like the first one had a better texture it was stodger it tastes more like a traditional Roto to me and if you are limited to just a microwave this is how you make it begin by finally dicing a chelot and a clove of garlic next up the squash peel it and dice it as fine as possible you want about half CM Cube pieces and then for the cavalo Nero take out the Woody stalks and chop that up in two squares if you can't get that use any green cabbage that's all the hard work done now placed all of the chop stuff into a bowl with some diced smoked ham a knob of butter a glass of white wine give it a mix and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes to cook grab yourself a little piece of squash and just taste it obviously there's plenty of cooking steel to come but it should be about half cooked next up we can add in risoto rice a do Cube crumbled and some water then it goes back into the microwave for 10 minutes you might want to stir it halfway through after 10 minutes you want to take it out of the microwave give it a stir and you want to test a grain of rice what you're looking for is something that's soft all the way through and it hasn't got a bite to it we using an 800 W microwave and for us it's going to need a couple more minutes if your microwave is more or less powerful you may have to adjust the time back in another couple minutes the colors look amazing the smells in here are phenomenal the only difference between a microwave risotto and one on a hob is you're not constantly stirring it so to give it that creaminess we're going to add in some creme fresh and plenty of grated Parmesan seasoned to taste and then serve it up garnish it with some radish some Crest more grated Parmesan and there we go my microwaveable smoked ham and squash rotto sorted and the great thing about the microwave one it literally just uses One Bowl One knife on chopping board one microwave job done at the moment I don't think one tastes better than another they just taste slightly different yeah do you think it was Dish One or dish two Barry you go first two two was cooked in a microwave one was cooked in a microwave no why would you do that Jamie wins again no really but they're both strong rotos and you get away with the creaminess here because of the creem fresh and the parmesan that's the thing I would never normally make a rotto in a microwave I would always do it on the hob but that recipe surprises us all you've taken your blind parts off haven't you I have to say what on microwave what a microwave and what on me microwaves aren't just for bad food you can get good food out of them too and while we're loving off the microwave so much why don't we show you some amazing microwavable hacks I looked at the wrong camera all the way through that if you're trying to peel a lot of garlic very quickly because maybe you're addicted to garlic bread or maybe you're trying to send off an angry mob of vampires or something like walking out of the Dead mixed with Twilight but without that annoying grumpy girl then this is the hack for you take take a whole bulb of garlic crush it in your hands put it into a bowl and into a microwave for 30 seconds when the garlic comes back out it'll be much easier to peel because the cloes would have shrunk slightly due to dehydration and science think of all that time saved that means you either get garlic bread quicker or you don't die as quickly from vampires don't you hate it when you need a microwave to reheat your favorite pasta potato or Panda neck warmer you keep getting cold patches well this is the hack for you if you're looking to heat up a big lump of food avoid slopping in the middle what you want to do is create a ring and spread it out to increase your surface area and therefore it should cook quicker also a microwave has a spinning plate for a reason there's lots of hot and cold points in the microwave so don't put your object in the middle of the microwave move it to the side and it'll cook more evenly if like real men you have window boxes and a surplus of fresh herbs and you don't want to see them go to waste then this is the hack for you strip the fresh herbs off of the stalks and lay them flat in between two sheets of kitchen paper blast them in the microwave away for 1 minute if it's a hard herb 40 seconds if it's a soft herb and then intervals of about 20 seconds until they're dry drying herbs in a microwave is a lot quicker than oven drying Sun drying or hanging and therefore they retain a lot more color and a lot more flavor test the herbs and keep returning them back to the microwave for another 10 or 20 seconds at a time until they're completely dry but they still have all the color and fragrance of fresh herbs store them in an airtight container for future kitchen fun if you're looking to extract the maximum amount of juice from your citrus fruit because you're making a delicious marinade having a margarita bath or hosting your own lemon party then this is the hack for you take your fruit heat it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds you want it to be warm not piping hot heating the molecules in the flesh of the fruit will make the membrane weaken and therefore will allow you to extract more juice from the fruit so now the vampires are gone your Panda scarf is warm you've trimmed your bush and the guys at the old people's home really like you it's now time to clean your microwave Place half a lemon in a bowl full of water put that in the microwave and heat that up for anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes this will steam clean your microwave the acid will cut through any of the grease and you'll get a lovely citrusy smell I reckon there are some actual hacks there that I might actually use microwaves are useful yeah and also don't forget to subscribe because well we will make you hungry and some bonus news if you head over to S of food most of you will know we're exploring the lack of cooking skills in the UK and Beyond and the consequences that has we're beginning to share some of the stories we're uncovering those bonus videos available overed food I reckon that fridge cam had everything it had just the right level of microwave radiation yep it had a weird three fourway blindfold date thing and a cracking peir don't forget to stay with us in the aftertaste we're going to make a nut brittle in a microwave even better than cake in a mug where was the cracking peir oh it's here I'm taking it with me uhoh cooking pear ladies and gentlemen Ben did a joke Ben did a joke Ben did a joke I also get a piece of fruit Ben did an innuendo and talking of innuendos nuts I'm going to make it not in a microwave that's the important bit oh yeah yeah\n"