Microwaves get a bad rap but for me they’re the hub of the kitchen

‘We used it to make what we called “coffee” – hot milk with spoonfuls of instant coffee and sugar stirred in.’ Photograph: Jupiterimages/Getty Images

In my first rented apartment, my flatmates and I debated the merits of buying a TV. We only had a six-month lease, was it worth it? Should we split the cost three ways? Where would we plug it in? But when I mentioned the obvious absence of a microwave, their feedback was clear: we didn’t need one.

Microwaves get a bad rap for the most part. In popular consciousness they’re portrayed as an inferior way to make food, good only for instant popcorn, or eating leftovers that are cold in the middle and scalding on the top.