Microwaves are infamous for having baked-on-food bits which can take time to scrape and clean. Don't waste your time! Here's the 1-Minute solution with two different recipes:
- Mix 1/3 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it to boiling point. The amount of time will vary with your microwave. Mine is about 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes in the closed microwave to let the steam soften all the food, then wipe clean. Your only work is wiping it clean!
- After many years of using vinegar, I've changed to lemon because I like the smell much better and the cleaning is just as effective. Add two lemon wedges to one cup of water and microwave in a microwave-safe bowl to bring it to the boiling point. Let stand for 5 minutes without opening the microwave for the steam to loosen the food, then wipe clean.
Why is it 1-minute? Because it takes 10 seconds to put a bowl with the ingredients into the microwave and turn it on. You come back about 5 minutes later and use (at most) 50 seconds to wipe the inside clean. How perfectly Lazy is that?
I have seen some crazy tips on the web for excessive microwaving times. I don't understand why so long would be needed - and you'd risk scalding yourself or breaking whatever vessel you are using. There's also a chance of damaging the microwave elements with some of the 'tips' I saw. What works is the steam... so keeping the microwave closed after bringing the water to boiling point is sufficient.
The hot lemon or vinegar water is very good for de-greasing the stove top, wiping a counter-top, or for pouring down a smelly drain.
An alternative is to buy a food cover for using the microwave - this can be put into the dishwasher if it's dirty. No work! Or, if you prefer, grab a coffee filter (which is clean and food safe) and put it over whatever food you are microwaving - it's cheap, fast and easy.
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