Heating a ready meal in the microwave.

I've always assumed that the glass turntable is the plate!

Perhaps someone may come along and enlighten us, kittylester.

I think it’s just that if you overcook it a bit and the sauce leaks out, the plate will catch the mess.

Oh, how sensible!

Instead of moaning that the glass turntable needs washing again ?

I put the ready meal onto a plate if I want the plate to be hot as well. Turning the meal out of its container onto a cold plate can make it cool down before you have finished eating it. This sometimes matters, sometimes not.

Another reason for putting it on a plate is if it is something with a lot of liquid (such as soup), which is likely to boil over and give you a messy turntable to wash.

Oh, Grandma70s already said that.

I use a plate because the container is usual to hot to pick up.
I confess to be completely slovenly and eat it from the container ??

If the glass plate is being washed each and every time the microwave is used it is more likely to crack and break. I follow instructions so sometimes I pop the container in or other times I empty food onto a separate plate and cover so that I am not mopping up too much splatter.

I just cooked some frozen blackberries in the microwave and put the dish on a plate just in case. (Nothing spilled for once.)

ninathenana my DH would query any other way ?.

do people decant these onto a plate to eat ?
i never have. i just eat them out of the container they come in, with a few extras eg toms/pepps piled on top, or to add from side dish.
can't see any reason to make extra washing up, also some of the food may be lost, and get cold in transfer.

it's an education on here !
won't be doing it though.

Do you mean you tip the food directly on to the turntable? I don't understand. How do you get it off and on to a plate to eat it? Or are you really saying you use the turntable as a plate?

I pull the top right off, turn it upside down on to a plate and use the plastic container as a cover to prevent splashes. But I haven't cooked a ready meal like that for years.

Now Kitty as you know I am not a cook in anyway, but I am a dab hand at using the microwave.

DH carefully cuts out the shape of the glass plate turntable from a piece of kitchen roll, so if there are any spills it catches it. Place container on paper covered dish and if you have been told to prick the plastic cover you can always place another piece of kitchen roll over the top to catch any Mount Etna eruptions. When meal is cooked carefully take out meal and place on a heat resistant mat to stand for a minute.

Stage 2 heat your plate/plates with a rubber plate warmer (we bought ours at Lakeland) this only takes one minute, or pour boiling water over plate and dry.

Decant meal. Voila all done. ?

JackyB

Do you mean you tip the food directly on to the turntable? I don't understand. How do you get it off and on to a plate to eat it? Or are you really saying you use the turntable as a plate?

I pull the top right off, turn it upside down on to a plate and use the plastic container as a cover to prevent splashes. But I haven't cooked a ready meal like that for years.

No, I meant putting the microwavable container straight onto the turntable or on to a plate.

Kate, your dh has it down to a fine art!! I will investigate the plate warmer. I hate cold plates.

JackyB

Do you mean you tip the food directly on to the turntable? I don't understand. How do you get it off and on to a plate to eat it? Or are you really saying you use the turntable as a plate?

I pull the top right off, turn it upside down on to a plate and use the plastic container as a cover to prevent splashes. But I haven't cooked a ready meal like that for years.

Are you serious ?

I put the container on the plate off which I will eat it, so have a warm plate, can't be doing with cold plates.

I see a couple of people eat it out of the plastic container!

I hope no-one is tipping it onto the revolving glass plate

I’ve always assumed it’s an elf and safety issue in that the plastic container, when hot, is malleable which could lead to you being burned by the contents when you remove it from the microwave. Similar instructions apply if the ready meal is to be heated in a conventional oven: we are advised to place the container on a baking tray to stabilise it.
Rather like stating, “Caution: contains nuts” on a bag of KPs, the manufacturer is protected from litigation. Other nuts are available…?

NanKate's DH must be the favourite customer of the kitchen roll industry!

He certainly is Elegran however in his defence he cuts up small pieces of clean kitchen roll that are left over and we use them for wiping up small spills. He doesn’t waste anything. ?

Just a reminder that nost Kitchen rolls contain PLASTIC. Unless you are using the bamboo re-usuable type.
Preferably we should try to keep our usage of non-bamboo kitchen roll down to the very minimum. I t is NOT recyclable and is part of the problem of micro plastic in our oceans.

I very rarely put a plate in the microwave and then put the container with the ready meal on it.

I don’t like heating up ready meals in their plastic containers. I know they are marked microwave safe but I decant into the pasta bowl I usually eat out of. I don’t like the thought of what might be leaching out of the plastic.