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Various thoughts on frozen dinner instructions

T

torpid

Lifer
Sometimes while microwaving a frozen dinner at work, I have nothing better to do bit stand there and read the box. I've wondered several things:

1. How many people actually follow the step that says "let stand in microwave 1-2 minutes". I do not do this, ever. I do let it cool without eating sometimes, but never leave it in the microwave. Why does it say to leave it in the microwave? They are perfectly safe to touch by hand, shouldn't it just say let cool? I was thinking how absurd it would be at work to leave a frozen dinner in the microwave for 2 minutes and make everyone else wait. I'm hoping this will be a joke in a future episode of The Office.

2. Why do the instructions stay "remove from microwave" as the final step. Who is going to leave it in the microwave? Similarly, it says "remove cover". Are there people who try to eat the cover? Furthermore, it really isn't necessary to remove it. I can just pull it back halfway and eat it.

3. Why is the final step always "enjoy". What is the purpose of that? Did someone do a focus group or other test that demonstrated people actually enjoy their meal more if the box says to enjoy?

4. How many people actually use a conventional oven to heat one of these? My guess is that only 90 year old half senile people do this anymore, since about the 1980's or so. Often times the instructions indicate that it takes longer to cook an item than it would to make it from scratch. 30 minutes or more in some cases.

Is there someone somewhere who has the job of adding all these instructions? I mean surely someone in a board room somewhere came up with the idea that they should add "enjoy" as a step, and that people are so stupid that they need to be told to not eat the cover.
 
1) You want your food to cook to the core without being cold on the outside. That is how an oven works - keep the outside hot until the core heats up. Keeping it in the (now hot) microwave accomplishes this task. By taking it out early, you are denying yourself of much better food. You should try it once. I do see your point if there is a line for the microwave though.

2) Yes we have idiots. Idiots with large wallets. Idiots with large wallets and lawyers.

3) I don't know. Maybe putting the last thing they read as a positive note will make people think more positively about the meal. I'm just guessing here though.

4) Again, you are denying yourself from having much, much better food. I often don't mind a 30 minute wait. Just start it 30 minutes before you are hungry. Then you eat it at the same time as if you were microwaving it. A little time organization would make your life so much better, torpid.
 
I never let stand in the microwave.

Also, the times they suggest on the box are almost always too high with todays 1MW microwaves. I usually throw it in for the lower bound of the suggestion, and often times I end up burning it. Oh well.
 
pretty much everything tastes better when its cooked in the oven compared to in the microwave. the microwave just does nasty things to food.
 
Originally posted by: hypn0tik
I never let stand in the microwave.

Also, the times they suggest on the box are almost always too high with todays 1MW microwaves. I usually throw it in for the lower bound of the suggestion, and often times I end up burning it. Oh well.
Click to expand...

1MW? That's a hell of a microwave.

that's like 1000 times more powerful than mine. what do you power that with? 😉
 
I hate the ones that require intervention during the heating process. Cook for 2:00, stop, stir, cook for an addtional 1:00... ARGH!!!
 
Originally posted by: pontifex
pretty much everything tastes better when its cooked in the oven compared to in the microwave. the microwave just does nasty things to food.
Click to expand...

We're talking about a frozen dinner here. Let's say a frozen dinner on a scale of 1 to 100 tastes like a 22 in the microwave. Is it really worth 30 minutes to make it taste like a 25? I don't think so.
 
Yeah, I cook a lot of microwavable items in the oven. The difference can be huge. For example I like these forzen quiches that they sell at Trader Joes, tastes like ass when it is microwaved, taste really good when you heat it in the oven.
 
Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: pontifex
pretty much everything tastes better when its cooked in the oven compared to in the microwave. the microwave just does nasty things to food.
Click to expand...

We're talking about a frozen dinner here. Let's say a frozen dinner on a scale of 1 to 100 tastes like a 22 in the microwave. Is it really worth 30 minutes to make it taste like a 25? I don't think so.
Click to expand...

more than much of a difference.

then quit bitching about it.
 
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