- [Ben] The microwave was invented by accident in 1946
when the test on a magnetron melted the engineer's snack.
Fast forward to today, and nine out of 10
of us have one in our homes.
But the question, is it cheaper to run a microwave
than an electric oven and hob?
(upbeat music)
- So here's how this is gonna work.
Our food team have already cooked four dishes
using an electric oven or hop.
They've measured the energy in what's required to cook
that dish and the amount of time it took to do so.
- And now we are gonna create exactly the same dishes
using a microwave.
We're gonna measure the energy required using an adapter
and a Bluetooth app
and then we're gonna compare them at the end.
Not just energy usage,
but also time, ease and quality of end product.
- I like it.
- This is fascinating.
- This is a voyage of exploration.
- We are out of our depth.
- It's good job.
It's maths, not English.
- Science. Physics.
- Physics has some maths in, now.
(funky music)
- First up, let's test the baked or jacket potato.
- Familiar territory of this.
- Yep.
- [Barry] Stab it.
Microwave for 10, 12 minutes.
- If we're doing two of them, 12 minutes,
our microwave is 800 watts.
So that sounds about right.
And a quick reminder, a watt is a single joule
of energy being transferred every single second.
So 800 watts would be 800 jewels
of energy transferred every second.
- The app is saying that that is using 0.6 watts.
- [Ben] What? Just being on?
- [Mike] Just being on.
- [Ben] Well, you've got a little display light thing,
so that makes sense.
- Without even using it.
- [Ben] Yeah.
- It's costing money.
- A fraction of a penny a day, but across a year it adds up.
- [Barry] What are we doing?
- [Ben] We should stress in the spirit of fair testing
these are the same size and weight potatoes
as the ones we cooked in the oven.
- [Barry] Oh, Evers, that is thorough.
I like it.
- So it's coming out at a round about,
a ceiling of 1300 watts,
so I imagine that's 800 worth of power.
- [Ben] Microwaves.
- And then the rest is just keeping it going round,
keeping it turning on.
- [Ben] Turntable, a light, a countdown clock.
We're literally just going to cut it open
and add some butter, salt and pepper.
And then we'll compare it
to the same size potatoes we've cooked in an oven.
Bear in mind, the oven needs preheating first,
like 10 minutes.
And obviously the oven is a much higher temperature.
(Barry laughing)
- This is how out oven baked it.
- [Barry] Voila.
- [Ben] So full transparency,
we cooked two at the same time.
But again.
- [Barry] See straight away the the colour and the smell.
- Yeah.
- This is the unique experience.
I've never buttered and mashed potato with someone.
- [Mike] It's, yeah, it's like ghost.
- It's quite intimate, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- Two options.
One, 12 minutes in the microwave.
One, which we've cooked in an oven, 180 degrees
for about an hour and 15 minutes.
But that did include preheat time.
- Right, let's taste test first
because there are obvious visual differences.
- And audible, I heard the crack of the skin of the second.
- To Poppy.
(funky music)
- I mean that is cooked.
That is delicious.
- It's buttery, it's seasoned.
- It's one texture though.
- [Barry] Yeah. Yeah.
- [Mike] Ah, yeah.
Cheers.
(funky music)
All the moisture's been cooked out of it,
whereas in the microwave version,
- It's steamy.
- It's steaming itself throughout.
- That's true actually, yeah.
But it takes on that butter lovely.
The taste of the skin is awesome.
- That is 30% better than that because of the skin.
- Yeah. Oh yeah.
Well yeah, I agree.
- And I would also add,
there's so many caveats to this particular episode,
the oven was on and you could have done 10 potatoes.
We still chose to do two, but because the oven's on
and preheated, you could do a bigger number.
So if you're cooking for a crowd,
then the oven might be still a better option
than going twice with a microwave.
- Wow. It's all about the data, isn't it, Evers?
I'm looking at you, anorak boy.
(all laughing)
- Number one, baked potato in the microwave,
remember, it was using 1,280 watts.
- Yeah.
- And it was doing that for 12 minutes.
- Yeah.
- Using the UK cost of energy,
where it's capped out at the moment,
that works out at 8.7 pence of energy to cook
those two potatoes.
Nine P.
Whereas the oven, it was using less energy,
at just 830 watts, but for a much longer period of time.
The total cost, 28.2 pence.
It's more than three times the amount of energy
and it's, you know, six times longer based on time.
- [Mike] Microwave's, quicker, cheaper.
But that's the result.
- You only go to like, a deli and they're like,
do you wanna avocado with that, extra pound?
You're like, oh, for goodness sake.
If they went to me, do you want that microwaved, 10 P?
I'd go, no, this was rip off.
- [Ben] But it doesn't.
- But that's what it costs.
- Personally, I still much, much prefer the baked potato
rather than microwaved potato.
But, with the information, people can do as they please.
- Absolutely, I still go full baked potato in this instance,
but it's definitely making me think about
how I use my microwave and my oven.
(funky music)
- The second test we thought we'd do,
is a really fantastic Chinese-inspired noodle dish,
Dandan noodles.
We are now comparing the microwave to a hob.
- How do we make, Evers?
- In the bowl with your pork mince,
you're gonna add lots of lovely flavours.
Two tablespoons of sesame oil, two tablespoons of hoisin,
four cloves of garlic, grated,
one tablespoon of soy and a teaspoon of each,
Chinese five spice, sugar and chilli flakes.
And then you're gonna cook it in the microwave
on full power for six minutes, stirring every couple.
Registering about the same?
- [Mike] Yeah, about the same.
- We're also gonna take our straight to wok, udon noodles,
place them into another microwave safe bowl,
splash over a bit of water
and then we're going to cook those
until they're piping hot all the way through,
probably a minute or two,
you'll want a cling film over the bowl.
(microwave beeps)
Back in the microwave for another two minutes.
Then we go again.
You can now move on to the sauce.
One more microwaveable bowl, two tablespoons of tahini,
three of soy sauce, two teaspoons of sugar,
quarter of a teaspoon of Chinese five spice
and half a teaspoon of szechwan pepper.
- Someone's outstanding.
- I dunno what I'm making, but I'm getting excited.
- [Ben] Add some chilli oil to it.
- So I take it, this is fully authentic, Evers.
(someone laughs)
- If I'm honest, the only bit
that's missing is the couple of poles.
- Poles?
- Yeah, the street vendors used to walk
around with this sauce on one bucket,
noodles in another, on the end of two poles.
- Oh wow.
- And the Dandan was the person who would walk the streets
and sell you the noodles mixed with the sauce.
That's where it gets its name.
- Nice, so except for the poles, it's fully authentic.
- No.
(all laughing)
I was joking, but it gave me an excuse to tell the story.
And a couple clothes of garlic.
(funky music)
At this point we add hot noodles and your hot pork into it,
toss altogether and serve it with sliced spring onions,
which you can do whilst you wait.
(funky music)
So as a comparison here, you've done this in three bowls
in a microwave, of course you can do this in a pan
on a hob or something like a wok.
In this instance, you still probably want
to boil the noodles for a minute or two
before draining them off into the mixture.
So we did that as well
and that's the calculation we're comparing.
Now using tongs, move the noodles to the sauce bowl
with the pork, toss it all together
and serve it up with your spring onions.
And worth mentioning, this particular recipe is
from Can't Be Asked With the Rules
and it's from the chapter,
you don't even need a kitchen to cook.
This is all microwave and kettle and toaster hacks.
- Yes.
- [Mike] There we go.
Our version A, the hob made version by the food team B.
Both look stunning, actually.
- [Ben] Very similar in appearance.
- There's ever so much more, which isn't a sentence,
caramelization on the pork.
- I guess on the hob, you've got more control.
- Yes.
- You can see it
- [Ben] And you've got direct contact heat
with the metal, rather than microwave.
- [Mike] But other than that,
I can't see too many differences.
Let's try it.
- See what you think of it.
- [Mike] Smells are unbelievable.
- [Ben] That combo of kind of, hoisin, tahini and chilli
with garlic is so good.
- [Mike] It's that sauce.
It's the hoist plus everything else.
- The thing is you're throwing a lot
of punchy ingredients in there.
It's no surprise.
That is absolutely delicious.
- It's so sweet and meaty.
That doesn't taste like anything out microwave.
- No way.
- Striped of that, takeout, that's unbelievable.
Ever's coming dipper chopper in.
- What are you doing?
The single you're sinking.
Different textures, same flavours.
- [Mike] Sticky and more caramelised, I think, in this one.
- But now, we've gotta look at the maths.
- [Mike] That's your job.
(both laughing)
Go back to the sides.
(all laughing)
- [Ben] In the microwave.
- [Barry] Yep.
- Seven minutes.
- [Barry] Yep.
- The same kind of energy usage,
we're talking about 1,280 watts.
The cost of that, is just over five pence, 5.1 pence.
- Okay.
- We've got two bowls outta that.
- The hob took about 50% longer in time,
but that's because we brought up a pan of water
to boil the noodles, we then transferred,
plus the caramelization in the pan
and adding everything in.
The energy of our induction hob that we were measuring,
which is actually pretty energy efficient,
possibly compared to a lot of older hobs,
people might have at home, 1,561 watts.
So, that comes out at 9.7 pence.
So it is 90% more expensive and 50% longer to use the hob.
- And I would say there's not a huge amount difference.
That is better.
- Yeah.
- It is crispier in the pork.
- More caramelization in the pork for sure.
- And there's slightly better flavour and texture in there.
- For me, this one shows that it's not about efficiency,
'cause they're very similar.
- On time.
- It's more down to the fact that of flexibility
that you can make this with whatever you have to hand,
be that a hob or a microwave and you get the same results.
- But you can tell any story you want in numbers and maths,
it's 90% more expensive to cook this dish on the hob,
we found, than in the microwave.
But we are only talking four pence.
It's a quick cook item.
You know, you're cooking this dish in less than 10 minutes.
That said, scale that across a year,
you know if you're cooking this dish or similar once a week,
twice a week, across the year, it will add up.
But it is only four pence.
- Like it.
Hey, knowledge is power and I don't have either.
(Barry laughing)
(upbeat music)
- Number three, sprouts.
- [Barry] I think these are one of my favourite vegetables.
- Well, we've got 350 grammes.
We've halved them.
They're clean and good to go.
All you need to do is add in a little bit of water,
so they're gonna steam, cover with cling film
and put them in the microwave for five minutes.
- Steaming vegetables in the microwave is the only way
that I steam vegetables in the house.
- [Barry] Is it really?
- [Mike] Yeah.
- [Ben] One thing I would say is, the obvious cliche,
of sprouts are for your Christmas dinner or a Sunday roast
and that's one perfect use for them.
In which case, you are probably already juggling an oven.
You might have loads on the hob.
I actually think microwave is a really easy way
of taking the stress out of juggling loads of pans
on the hob or in the trays in the oven.
- Blackened sprouts seem to be absolutely everywhere
in restaurants,
- Yes.
- Especially over the last couple of years.
I see them everywhere and they're absolutely delicious.
- I promise you one thing
- [Mike] These won't be blackened.
- [Ben] These will not be blackened.
- [Mike] No, I know that.
(funky music)
- [Ben] And then we're gonna toss them through
with salt, pepper, butter and garlic.
- [Mike] So again, our version, microwave A,
the hobbed version, by the food team B.
- [Barry] Just saying.
- [Mike] And instantly.
- [Barry] Ours look a little bit more vibrant and exciting.
- Oh, we have ramped up the saturation in premier
and that's what I'm saying.
- [Ben] So I dunno how much truth there is to it.
But in theory, if you are cooking in just a few tablespoons
of water in the bottom of a bowl with cling film
and in a microwave, you're also retaining a lot more
of the nutrients that aren't being leached
into a big pan of boiling water which ends up being thrown
down the sink, but as a side by side comparison.
- Can you tell the difference?
- No.
This is a good one, but these are the same.
Let's talk numbers, Stato.
- 350 grammes of sprouts, cooked for five minutes
in the microwave, 3.6 pence of energy used
to cook that bowl of sprouts.
Whereas on the hob, seven minutes of total cooking time,
that includes bringing the water up to a boil
and then rapidly boiling while the sprouts are in there,
1,896 watts, the cost, 7.5 pence
- Not worth it.
- [Ben] So quite literally, twice the cost in energy.
Little bit longer in time, because you had to wait
for the water to pre-broil before you go,
whereas the microwave's straight in
and the difference in taste
- Nothing.
- Yeah, easiest one yet.
- Yeah.
As much as we are dealing with tiny, little prices,
we're still learning some stuff
and like this is the takeout,
do them in the microwave because there's no difference.
- But bear in mind water as well.
A whole pan of water required to boil your sprouts rather
than a few tablespoons in the microwave.
- But throughout the video,
we've been dealing with tiny prices
- [Ben] Pence here, pence there.
- Tiny, tiny prices.
But it's still really interesting, isn't it?
To actually just look at it in this amount of detail
and that's the way to go.
It's kind of a no-brainer, right?
- Yeah.
- Sprouts isn't obviously the only thing that's possible.
If you want lots more inspiration for
what you can cook in microwaves,
head over to sidekick , you can literally search
and there are recipe packs and recipes
that use microwave cooking to speed up your midweek meals.
One more, if you'd like it.
- Yes please. Dessert.
(upbeat music)
- Flashback 12 years, we were ahead of the curve.
We were cooking cakes in the microwave,
long before it was cool, but now let's talk
about it from an energy efficiency point of view.
You have an all in one cake batter there.
This one, pipe it into your bowl and microwave
for three and a half to four minutes.
- Oh, there it is.
He's off.
- [Mike] Oh yeah. Who wants some cake?
(Barry laughing)
- [Barry] All right, thanks mate.
(all laughing)
- I'll have this.
(Barry laughing)
- Excellent.
- Three and a half minutes.
It might need four, but we'll start at three and a half.
(someone laughing)
- If you wanna stitch me up with a batter,
I'll turn your microwave off.
- If you're a pastry chef, please look away now.
- [Mike] Oh wow.
(microwave beeps)
- [Mike] That's ludicrous.
(upbeat music)
- Now, definitely leave it to rest for a couple of minutes,
but I've got another idea.
There is a jar of Biscoff in front of you.
Take the lid off, pop it in the microwave for a minute.
- This is hurting you.
- This is the most ridiculous thing ever.
- [Barry] I love this.
- This is all kush.
Look how much Evers, your ears are bleeding.
- [Ben] Obviously, what a microwave does is
just throw energy to heat up water
or liquid molecules in food and they basically get hotter
and hotter and vibrate and vibrate and that is what cooks
and they're not always even microwaves in a microwave oven.
So if you put it off centre, then as the turntable moves,
it goes through all of those hot and cold spots
so you get a more even cook.
- [Mike] Oh my God, this is, this is gonna be ridiculous.
We're about to break the internet.
Oh.
- [Ben] Quiet, quiet, quiet.
- Oh, dying.
- Lovely.
- Have you ever eaten a cake like that?
Happy birthday, Barry.
(Barry laughing)
I can see an obvious difference.
- [Ben] One was baked in a caked tin and turned out,
topped off with our Biscoff sauce.
By Biscoff sauce, I mean liquid Biscoff
and the other one you've done in the microwave.
But it's the same recipe and the same ingredients.
- [Barry] We could have turned those out
and then poured some over here, couldn't we have.
- Yeah.
- Why would you do that?
We're looking energy efficiency here.
You've just doubled the washing up
by turning out of one bowl into another.
- Yeah, but firstly you don't even know that's a cake.
- I think you've missed the point here.
This is a dessert for after dinner
that is really easy to throw together.
I want in.
- [Mike] Oh yeah.
It looks like cake.
It's cooked like cake.
Cheers.
- [Barry] Cheers.
- Oh, taste great.
- Okay. Ignore the sauce.
What do we learn about the sponge?
- [Barry] You wouldn't know that's a microwave sponge.
One thing we learn from microwave sponges though,
is you have to eat them relatively quickly.
- They don't keep as well.
They tend to be spongier and bouncier, but drier.
Yeah, it's not very moist.
- [Ben] Whereas, the baked one, you've got
from obviously a baked cake, the colouring from the tin
and from the oven.
You've got a difference in texture.
(upbeat music)
Cake and a mug, as we always did, was always a compromise.
And this still is, in the sense that it is slightly drier
than a cake.
- Yeah.
- But there is not a huge amount of difference in it.
- Mainly because we've poured a whole tub of Biscoff
over the top of both of them.
(Barry laughing)
- Yeah.
- But that to me, more of a steamed sponge.
- Yeah.
So right, this is a steamed sponge.
- When the food team tested this,
everyone else in the studio absolutely demolished it.
- This is so wrong, but so right.
- So wrong, but so right, numbers?
Thank you.
- While we're talking about energy,
how many kilocalories are in this?
(Ben laughing)
- Now, bearing in mind, the ingredients were the same
and the method were the same.
So we're not including like the making of the batter
and stuff like that.
Just the cooking, the microwave version, total cooking time,
including the sponge and heating up the sauce,
four and a half minutes.
We know that the energy is 1,280 watts.
That is a cost of three pence,
just over 3.14 pence, of energy.
In comparison, the oven to bake the sponge,
but then the hob to heat the source.
Total time, 60 minutes, energy, 920 watts.
That is a cost of 31.3 pence.
So, pretty much, 10 times the cost in energy.
- Horses for courses.
If you're gonna bake a cake, a proper cake,
you're baking it for a reason.
- Yeah.
- I'd say go all out, do it properly.
If you wanna sponge at home, do this.
- Throughout all four examples,
we are talking quite substantial percentage difference
in energy use, but obviously is only minuscule pence
difference once you work it out.
But maybe in some instances, using the microwave,
moving forward, can save in the long run.
I would say more importantly, take away the inspiration,
that's a lot more possible in a microwave
than just the obvious mini meals.
- [Barry] Absolutely.
- The fascinating thing about this video is knowing
the amount of energy that each of those things use
in comparison to one another.
It just helps you make better decisions moving forward,
doesn't it?
- Well, now you know.
- Yes, is the answer to the title.
- That you can microwave a tub of Biscoff.
(upbeat music)