Life without Microwave

I saw an episode of Tyler's Ultimate with Tyler Florence where he said he doesn't have a microwave in his kitchen - doesn't have the room. I was a little surprised by that because a microwave is a very convenient tool - albeit not a necessity.

I thought about what life would be like now without a microwave. I grew up without one so obviously it's possible. I remember how we used to use a kettle to boil water and reheat food in pots or in the oven. It just took more time, time we don't seem to have anymore.

So about 2 weeks ago the start button on my microwave broke. We couldn't use it anymore. It was a bit inconvenient but we managed without it for a little while.

I took the front panel off the microwave to see what was wrong and found the button was attached by thin plastic strips that had broken. I tried glue but it didn't work, so to the internet I went and I was able to find a website - amiparts - that had the part I needed. I ordered it - 30 bucks, delivered - and a few days later installed it and had our microwave back. Happily. I like the convenience of the microwave. But ...

Four days later I went to heat up some milk and pressed the start button. No sound. Sinking feeling. What now? The button was fine, and the microwave was counting down, but that's all. Don't tell me I just wasted 30 bucks and I still need a new oven. I don't give up that quickly, this is an over the stove oven and cost more than a counter top model.

I opened it up but didn't see anything obvious. Back to the internet. What a wonderful resource the internet is. I found a website dedicated to repairing microwaves. I looked through the troubleshooting guide and found my problem. The lower door switch was bad - 99% chance. I have an old microwave in the garage and decided to see if the switch was the same - it was! I swapped it out and had a working microwave again. Yea! Free. Double yea!

I like the microwave but I could live without it. It's just a matter of doing things differently.