Does Microwaving Food Destroy its Nutritional Value?
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- peter
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Does Microwaving Food Destroy its Nutritional Value?
Due to my new working pattern I find I have to rely on microwaved meals much more than I previously ever have had to, and while I know the pasta, noodles etc I eat are perfectly nutritious in themselves (with chicken, veg etc added) I do worry that maybe the cooking process is much more destructive of the vitamins and supplementary food components than traditional cooking methods. Anybody know anything about this?
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Does the microwave kill nutrients?
Some nutrients break down when they're exposed to heat, whether it is from a microwave or a regular oven. Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example. But because microwave cooking times are shorter, cooking with a microwave does a better job of preserving vitamin C and other nutrients that break down when heated.
As far as vegetables go, cooking them in water robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water. For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur-containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer-fighting properties (as well as the taste that many find distinctive and some find disgusting). Is steaming vegetables - even microwave steaming - better? In some respects, yes. For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.
The cooking method that best retains nutrients is one that cooks quickly, heats food for the shortest amount of time, and uses as little liquid as possible. Microwaving meets those criteria. Using the microwave with a small amount of water essentially steams food from the inside out. That keeps in more vitamins and minerals than almost any other cooking method and shows microwave food can indeed be healthy.
But let's not get too lost in the details. Vegetables, pretty much any way you prepare them, are good for you, and most of us don't eat enough of them. And is the microwave oven good or bad? The microwave is a marvel of engineering, a miracle of convenience - and sometimes nutritionally advantageous to boot.
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Surely there must be something that is better cooked in a microwave than by any other method?
How about hot crab; I've always said white crab is the one thing you simply can't improve upon by adding any other flavours to it - maybe it could be heated without destroying it's subtle flavour by this method [never mind the fact that any food/drinks flavour is highly temperature dependant anyway; try warm white wine if you don't believe me
].
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
How about hot crab; I've always said white crab is the one thing you simply can't improve upon by adding any other flavours to it - maybe it could be heated without destroying it's subtle flavour by this method [never mind the fact that any food/drinks flavour is highly temperature dependant anyway; try warm white wine if you don't believe me
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/wink.gif)
Your politicians screwed you over and you are suprised by this?
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- peter
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Av, Av, Av!
At the absolute most I'll give a potato one minute each side before (wrapping it in foil, oiling and salting it, then) putting it in the oven (fan 180 for 45 mins). The skin should be crisp and savory, the flesh smooth and unctuous ....... It's a thing of beauty, not a convenience food!
C'mon........
(Apologies for being a prick; can't help it - it's in my nature!
)
At the absolute most I'll give a potato one minute each side before (wrapping it in foil, oiling and salting it, then) putting it in the oven (fan 180 for 45 mins). The skin should be crisp and savory, the flesh smooth and unctuous ....... It's a thing of beauty, not a convenience food!
C'mon........
(Apologies for being a prick; can't help it - it's in my nature!
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/wink.gif)
Your politicians screwed you over and you are suprised by this?
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- Savor Dam
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From a nutrition perspective, much is lost by not eating the potato skin...and we did start out discussing nutrition, even if our culinary tendencies are always liable to surface.
Aesthetically, a nuked potato doesn't have an interesting skin; I can see why it doesn't a-peel.
An oven-finished potato, even if parcooked in a microwave, has that oiled, seasoned, and roasted skin that peter rightly names "a thing of beauty."
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Aesthetically, a nuked potato doesn't have an interesting skin; I can see why it doesn't a-peel.
An oven-finished potato, even if parcooked in a microwave, has that oiled, seasoned, and roasted skin that peter rightly names "a thing of beauty."
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Is that a simple matter of placing a cob with its outer leaves in place in a microwave and turning it on for a few minutes Z? No pre-boiling or anything added (oil or butter etc) before cooking?
Your politicians screwed you over and you are suprised by this?
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
- Zarathustra
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It sounds really good; my main experience with corn is from a tin but I imagine that's a different animal all together! Sarge once said his favourite meal was fried chicken, corn and mashed potatoes .......And I'm guessing this was what he meant by
.
Your politicians screwed you over and you are suprised by this?
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
We are the Bloodguard