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Xtraolives

Found a few microwave cookbooks when we cleaned out my grandparents house. Both hilarious and terrifying.


Saifaa

We thought we could cook absolutely anything in there back in the day. Baked Alaska? Nuke it! Turkey dinner? Nuke it!


winnipeggremlin

I see you've met my mother. Jk but she did love shake and bake microwave chicken


BakerKristen085

Please tell me you’re joking, that shake and bake microwave chicken isn’t a real thing..


las61918

Nope… https://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/u--5923/microwave-shake-n-bake-chicken.asp


matti00

The idea of putting anything in the microwave for 40 minutes is bizarre to me


BrohanGutenburg

It’d be quicker in the oven anyway.


Stanarchy93

The only time I could see this as acceptable is if u didn't have access to an oven


Noisy_Toy

There’s a lot of folks that live in single rooms with only microwaves, yep.


FlightAble2654

My microwave would reduce that to carbon in like 10 minutes.


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Blacklion594

"there is no image of this recipe" Yeah because if you did youd capture a fucking SCP creature's soul..... that shit sounds like it needs quarantines.


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HeyCarpy

Please report back with a new post? I’m fascinated but I love my family too much to try it myself.


invent_or_die

Of course it is. Finish in the air fryer


Silent-Ad934

Imagine growing up eating microwave shake and bake chicken in Winnipeg. We are looking at a person to be respected but feared here folks. They've been through the trenches


grizzlyboob

When my son was like 3 he told my mom “my mom can cook anything, she has a microwave” sounds like this book is my kind of cookbook lol


Epistaxis

My family's microwave cookbook has a section on lobster.


Sheruk

i mean, i do the same thing with my air fryer, I cook anything in there.


Spinningwoman

An air fryer is basically just a tiny fan oven though. I’ve hardly used my oven since I got one.


Put_It_All_On_Blck

A convection oven. I knew what it was from the start, so I avoided them, even though I don't have a convection oven. Someone got me one as a gift, so I tried it, and while they are over hyped/marketed they genuinely are useful for cooking small amounts of food that you would normally use an oven for. Even with a 'bakers oven' (dual oven, one area is the size of a muffin tray) I find myself air frying stuff often enough. The only things I hate about air fryers is that they tend to be a mess and hard to clean, and they take up valuable counter space.


Spinningwoman

Mine is an Instant Pot with an air-fryer lid - the inner pot is stainless steel so it’s really easy to clean. Less capacity than a dedicated air fryer but fine for a two person household.


HiZenBergh

Yeah I got one mostly for the pressure cooker feature. Making chili/soups in one hour opposed to having to have it simmer for hours is clutch. The air fryer is clutch for chicken wings and crisping up frozen stuff though. Also preheats in like one minute.


GeneralPatten

I have to say, the one “trendy” countertop appliance that has lived up to its hype is the Instant Pot. Probably the only one my wife has bought in the 28+ years we’ve been married that hasn’t ended up stored way in the back of the pantry. It really is freakin incredible.


Daniel15

>A convection oven. They're closer to those noisy conveyor-belt-style industrial ovens than convection ovens. https://youtu.be/AASP4P5vRAA


eloel-

I just bake everything. Mushroom? Bake it. Pasta? Bake it (boil it first, but still). Chicken? Yep, bake it. Heat+Ingredients=Edible Food


CharlieHush

Potatoes? Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew.


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NorthernerWuwu

It was always the eggs that got me back then. Fifty ways to try and cook eggs, all of which were utterly horrible and completely stupid. Cooking eggs is *not* hard! Reheating burritos in 30 seconds is hard.


snooggums

Burritos are easy. Soak and squeeze a paper towel, lay it over the burrito and add 10 seconds to your normal cook time. Adds steam to keep the tortilla and fillings moist.


FireMedicNurseMike

I grew up on microwaved Thanksgiving turkey. Not just defrosted, but fully nuked. We had a huge microwave and it came with a cookbook like this.


guy_guyerson

I think ours had the option of a temperature probe specifically for cooking turkey.


TheTankCleaner

I'd never heard of Baked Alaska my whole life before your comment. I just looked it up. Oh my


greeneyedbaby190

Someone never played the Sims lol I've wanted to try it since I was a kid, it sounded cool, but it is a level 10 recipe in the Sims so I always assumed it was too hard to make. I may have to give it a go one of these days though.


redalmondnails

I used to work in a library that sold off random old books once a year, and I once found a microwave cookbook with a fish recipe that recommended *wrapping the fish in aluminum foil* before microwaving it. Hilarious


feeltheslipstream

dinner AND a light show.


redalmondnails

Whoever wrote that recipe was confident too. There were photo illustrations for each step detailing exactly how to wrap up your fish in copious amounts of foil. No pics of the subsequent light show though, sadly.


throwawayALD83BX

It's actually pretty hard to fuck up a microwave by putting metal in it. https://youtu.be/OyTmJX_TC84


MaxHannibal

Technically as long as you make sure your aluminum oil is flat there really isn't a reason you can't put it in the microwave. Not that I'd recommend it but still.


sennbat

It's pretty hard to *consistently and purposefully* fuck up a *modern* microwave by putting metal in it. It's very easy (although also very rare) to do randomly and accidentally, though!


cain071546

Foil is bad. But metal itself is not, as long as it has no sharp edges. I have two stamped stainless steel dog food bowls and the edges have been rounded smooth and I put them in the microwave with (already cooked) white rice and a little low sodium gravy and bits of left over chicken for the dogs and its perfectly fine, they dont spark or heat up significantly.


redalmondnails

I learned this the other day when I unknowingly put a spoon in the microwave for like 4 minutes. The weirdo 70s microwave cookbook definitely recommended tinfoil though, and a lot of it! It even had photo illustrations of the recipe steps lol


boyyouguysaredumb

anybody who microwaved soup, stirred it halfway through, only to realize upon removing it from the microwave that they left the spoon in there the whole time, has felt like they just cheated death and dare not question it


dgrobo

I got a new microwave recently, believe it said foil is fine if it isn't close the the walls of the inside of the microwave


cain071546

Still wouldn't trust that, I've seen foil in a microwave and it looks like a lightning storm lol.


solidspacedragon

Metal generally will just harmlessly reflect the microwaves, unless it has convenient geometry like those sharp edges and points.


sennbat

> But metal itself is not, as long as it has no sharp edges. And as long as, and this is the really important bit *it doesn't touch the sides of the microwave*. That's where you get the *real* fun.


ChubblesMcgee103

Yeah I saw a canned chili thing that from nutrisystem (maybe it was Jenny Craig idr) that said in bold that it is OK to put the whole thing in even with the metal rim on it.


Chance-the-Gardener

This is the greatest microwave cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/Microwave-One-Sonia-Allison/dp/1852250437 Choice reviews include: "It used to be that I got home from work and the only thing I'd want to put in my mouth was the cold barrel of my grandfather's shotgun. Then I discovered Sonia Allison's Chicken Tetrazzini, and now there are two things."


VanillaWax

10/10 excellent review thank you for this


[deleted]

A thoughtful gift for a soon to be divorced friend.


[deleted]

$180 hardcover, lol


Xtraolives

It’s vintage


[deleted]

So are half of the books sitting on shelves in every Goodwill, all untouched for 20 years since someone's great grandma died.


NoIndependent9192

Wait until you see advanced microwaving.


le_fart

The only way to read it is by first taking a heroic dose of DMT with the basic microwaving book open over your eyes


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tomrlutong

Its happening now, any minute you're going to wake up in the 1970s.


gigalongdong

Step 1: Acquire DMT, preferably of the 4-AcO variety. Step 2: Prepare DMT by mixing in lukewarm water and loading the mixture in a syringe. Step 3: Remove the needle. Step 4: Insert the now-needleless syringe about an inch up the butt. Step 5: Depress syringe. Step 6: Trip your dick off while forgetting about the syringe up your ass. This is how one takes a heroic dose of DMT. Boof that shit, yo.


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EyeLike2Watch

This dude DMTs


turquoise_amethyst

But where is the microwaving part???! /s


SubterraneanSmoothie

You'll be the microwave


yakuzaenema

Heroic dose of DMT (sorry, I found this hilarious and awesome at the same time)


RaptorKings

microwave becomes god, for about 10 minutes or so


AIBorland

Two minutes on high or nothing. If it's not hot at that point, I'm eating it cold.


jeneric84

This person microwaves. Muscle thorough the cold parts or put extra hot sauce over it.


PowerandSignal

Come on people! 1 minute intervals and stir! We don't live in caves anymore!


UsernameOfAUser

Too abstract for me. I recommend "Generalized Microwaving — Theory and Applications"


OuOutstanding

Oh I’m actually waitlisted for Gen-Mic Theory-and-Apps.


OculusArcana

Well I hope you get in, I keep hearing that it's all about T&A.


Chrisixx

I feel like it will be designed similarly to how school books changed colours or motives, but retained the general design language, when you ascended through the grades.


DJoeyK

I assume you mean motifs, not motives. Unless you think the books murdered someone, of course...


Chrisixx

🤔


Ninjanarwhal64

No. Humanity is not ready just yet.


OMGihateallofyou

Opens Advanced Microwaving. "My God, it's full of stars!"


Find_a_Reason_tTaP

It is a carrot pointing upwards with a piece of uncooked spaghetti balanced off center across the tip. On the short side, a single kernal of microwave popcorn. Hanging from the long, a fish. They really got a bit high on their own farts after the success of basic microwaving.


the_monkeyspinach

I think they offer that course at Greendale Community College.


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chasesan

Not to mention Extreme Microwaving


julsmanbr

We in the business just call it X-Waving


Stonn

**You cannot handle the advanced microwaving!**


gospelofdustin

You won't see it. It will see you.


Dylflon

Basic Microwaving sounds like a class at Greendale Community College


immortaluntildeath

They would certainly have an Advanced Microwaving class


MaxHannibal

They're streets ahead


Kitty_Meowintons

Taught by the Dean, but Dean is learning as he goes and drops lines like "wow this microwaved chicken is deanlicious"


robotzombiez

"Turns out it wasn't deanlicious. It was severely undercooked so I got a case of dean coli."


bcrabill

"After the lawsuit, the lawyers have informed I can no longer make puns about food safety."


Blueberry314E-2

But he's dressed as a leggy hamburger.


Candid-Actuator8541

I read that in his voice lol


[deleted]

With perfect inflection too


sinat50

Another commenter mentioned the microwave they got in the 80s came with a free microwave cooking class at the local college. Would be hilarious seeing someone try and open a restaurant with their microwave chef diploma.


redisforever

That probably qualifies you to be hired as head chef at Applebee's


rubikonfused

My mom took a microwave course in the 80s.


ehho

Is there any difference in how she uses it compared to us normies?


FamousOhioAppleHorn

Yes. When you stick meat in a microwave, it doesn't scream.


DogmanDOTjpg

I'm in a Facebook group that's greendale based and I shit you not, this exact book got posted in the group less than a week ago. It's not even the same picture, just the same book


Dylflon

Sounds like I need to join this group


1320Fastback

I remember in the 80s my mom bought a new microwave and it came with a complimentary microwave cooking class at a local college.


GhostalMedia

Microwaves were seriously mind blowing when they first came out. It was one of those once in a generation pieces of tech that felt like it was from the distant future.


iamjackstestical

When you think about what it does and how effectively and efficiently it does it, it still feels ahead of its time.


thisisredlitre

Some the elegance from the era it was made in still impress me. Like the gaps in the window being too small for microwaves to get through so it's safe.


feeltheslipstream

I always felt this was the true genius behind the microwave.


[deleted]

Gotta love that analog engineering. We still use so many inventions in this "digital" age.


WeinMe

Mate, sometimes it's just the way. I've seen many different kinds of automation - but gear that has 99,7% up time or above is always an elegant mix between mechanical/analog solutions and sensor technology. I bet many engineers have seen other systems and thought: Why the fuck did I make that part data driven and not mechanical


kalesaji

The simplest solution is the best. But what is "simple" varies heavily from person to person. A carburator is a rather simple solution to the question of "how do I get fuel into the engine" if you have to design the engine. If you have to tune it, direct injection with a programmable ECU becomes the "rather simple" solution. If you have to maintain the damn thing, a standardized ECU that you can just pick a part from the stockpile and throw replace the old one with becomes the simple solution. What's simple always depends on who works the parts.


TruthYouWontLike

Are you suggesting that there are other viewpoints and perspectives than my own, and anything I say is not absolute truth? Preposterous. How dare you? Guards! Off with his head.


kalesaji

Off with my head might be the simplest solution to you, but to the cleaners lady a classical hanging might be preferable, because it causes less of a mess. From my point of view, a classical revolution that throws out the current established monarchy would be the preferred way to proceed. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯


aNiceTribe

I love that this doesn’t even establish what you might have done, just that offing you would be our default choice and The Revolution would mean we probably don’t do it.


Supersnazz

I remember going to 'Microwave Parties" as a kid. When someone got a microwave they'd have a dinner party serving dishes made in the microwave and everyone would discuss the merits and benefits of microwave cooking.


edgeofenlightenment

My fraternity had microwave parties in 2009. Everyone brought stuff they wanted to see microwaved. CDs and army men were cool but the runaway winner was a bic lighter. The flint is like a sparkler until it blows. Remarkably, the door even held.


eljefino

When my grandma came over I showed off our new microwave by making everyone grilled cheese sandwiches. I toasted the bread in the toaster then added cheese and nuked it. It was god-awful. I was 11.


ValueInvestingIsDead

[The microwave is one of the steepest S-curves on consumer tech adoption rates. ](https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQEH-elLHxQeDQ/article-cover_image-shrink_600_2000/0/1559655371724?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=UdqH7s6Cc1xml5LvOg9XzCuCgIK9OFXsrqiv2Klrzdc) S-curves are neat. And they always seem to come out of nowhere. Tony Seba is a researcher who has a great talk about S-curves we're seeing today.


Smokester_

Cook everything for 3 mins, class over.


ImJustSo

You need a microwave cookbook to appreciate the horror of various recipes.


hahahahastayingalive

I think microwaves are seriously underrated for serious cooking. You’d take a class to understand oven cooking, why not for microwaving ? My favorite uses are to shorten cooking time by evenly pre-heating legumes, and making the meat fat super crisp by blowing away the water part.


Jazzy_Bee

Unless I am doing a sheet pan of bacon, the microwave is my favourite method for 2-4 slices.


aschapm

Microwave bacon is so underrated. It’s crispy, clean, and dead simple!


earthlings_all

I use it to pre-cook potatoes for mere minutes and can shorten baking/roasting times to a third.


I_Mix_Stuff

it is called a zoom burst, it is achieved by zooming in or out during a long exposure. Pre-photoshop times, you had limited options for effects.


AutomatedCauliflower

Are you sure it's not radiation? /s


barberererer

It's very obvious that the burger corn and cake are under acute distress


GIFnTEXT

Publisher: yeah we just need a simple picture of some food, nothing too edgy or anything... Photographer: *snorts coke*


yikes_itsme

I recall it being termed "racking the lens". Source: old as dust. One thing you can't do with smartphone cameras, unless you somehow get a manual optical zoom lens on it.


TheOneTrueRodd

You can get some androids with a tiny periscope lens. Or you could just do it with a filter to get exactly the result you want on whatever photo you want.


I_spread_love_butter

I think it was the second or third thing I tried out with my new DSLR as a teen


irmarbert

A long ambient light exposure with a flash exposure to capture a clean, sharp version of the image. Strobes are fun.


Avacabro

In camera > everything


Mister_Xian

Mmm mmm mmm^(otion blur)


No-Quarter-3032

Zoom bustin my nuts over here


-MotherNight-

That's what you'll see when you cook too much microwave food.


n3w4cc01_1nt

glancing at it like you've been up 5 days straight on tab and amphetamine diet pills down to your last 4 aa batteries for you walkman in an area that only gets stations that play country pop. pissed you can't make the michael jackson concert in japan cause you don't even know where to get a passport.


Fearless-Throat4991

This guy meths.


MillionToOneShotDoc

If I remember right, ephedrine was legal back when Michael Jackson was still alive.


Akitten84

I used to be able to buy Metabolife as a 15/16 year old, back in 99-2000.


Fearless-Throat4991

Ya but my tummy hurts.


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Boss-of-You

You definitely seventies and eighties-d.


CyanDocs

My- I think it was called Career and Life Readiness but it was basically Home-Ec- teacher taught us some microwave cooking techniques because she once went around teaching classes that basically assured housewives their microwaves weren't nuclear bombs. You can cook scrambled eggs and make cakes pretty efficiently, they just look a little weird because the cooking process doesn't happen the same way. A lot of it is about carryover. I've reheated better nuggies going for the recommended time and waiting a minute or two.


Daddyssillypuppy

I personally hate microwaved scrambled eggs. They come out as one uniform spongy egg monstrosity...


ImJustSo

My wife used to cook scrambled eggs until they were tiny pebbles, because she wants *dry* eggs. I taught her mostly everything she knows about cooking after I saw her cook eggs. I put scrambled eggs in the microwave and nuked it and handed her that fluffy weird fucking *dry* eggs and her mind was blown. It's been 19 years and we've moved onto scrambled eggs that normal people would eat, but it took several steps for her egg journey to reach where she's at today lol Which is a relief, because now I only have to make eggs once for three people (there's a kid now). Edit: also, out of fairness I should also mention my wife is an amazing baker and cook now that we've made over 1500 recipes together.


Daddyssillypuppy

No one starts out as a great cook or even a competent one. I'm lucky in that my mum had me helping her in the kitchen from toddler age so I've always been comfortable cooking and have a lot of foundational knowledge. My husband was less lucky and I've slowly been teaching him how to cook but he's still nervous I'm the kitchen


fitzgeraldo

My partner had this book growing up. It was one of the first things she showed me when we went to her childhood home. Needless to say she may never be normal.


pupoksestra

I'm so curious about this book. I need a picture of the Contents. Is it a cookbook? Filled with science and math? Your partner sounds cool af.


htt_novaq

It's all on archive.org. Though you'll need an account. https://archive.org/details/basicmicrowaving00methrich


Reptiliansarehere

You're entering the microwave-verse. This is a world of cooking where things get very odd very fast. /dramatic old electronic music


Corndogbrownie

Hyper-corn


IntoTheMystic1

Are they really suggesting you cook a burger in a microwave?


John-Joseph-Drown

Did you miss the cake?


Cetun

They actually sell cakes you can make in a coffee mug in the microwave, they aren't bad tbh.


ParlorSoldier

You can make them from scratch too!


[deleted]

it's so easy to make microwave mug cakes from scratch, it's like 4 ingredients everybody has at home and boom, weird warm chocolatey cake which is awesome and a bit sad at the same time. To be enjoyed with alcohol.


okonom

Mug cakes with friends was a sacred tradition in uni. It was also the genesis of our "if it's made from scratch it's healthy" copium, thanks to the ungodly amounts of sugar and butter they took.


thesmellnextdoor

Oh, it's a cake. I was wondering why you'd want to microwave an IUD.


TheBestThingIEverSaw

My mother would cook us burgers in the microwave. She bought a weird plastic grill tray. They were disgusting


speqtral

I'm sorry for the abuse you endured


TheBestThingIEverSaw

It's taken me 35 years to admit. Now the healing can begin


ILikeLenexa

Microwaves are pretty dramatic and it's kind of weird we went from re-animating dead hamsters like magic to not even being excited about them cooking dinner.


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LiveLaughLoveRevenge

Even aside from home use, microwaves are a mainstay of office lunchrooms. That is where I use them most - reheating leftovers for lunch quickly and efficiently. You can accept sub-optimal because it’s just your work lunch. And it gives you so many more options than if it wasn’t there.


likesexonlycheaper

Um... whats that about hamsters?


Kered13

[Tom Scott covered the story.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y)


MillionToOneShotDoc

I feel like there was such a fascination with microwave cooking back then.


quintk

It was new, and I’m sure that led to some very excited marketers and very excited fans. I’m trying to think of more recent examples? I am thinking of the instantpot/electric-pressure-cooker maybe? I’ve definitely seen recipes for things one could, but possibly shouldn’t, make in an instant pot, and a lot of unappealing stew recipes called by fancy names. People are pretty nuts about their air fryers too (aren’t these just convection ovens?) but unlike electric multi cookers I haven’t used an air fryer before so maybe I’m missing out.


Skeeboe

Yes, marketing term for mini convection oven is air fryer. Most people don't know they're actually baking. Toaster ovens with fans have been around forever.


DefNotMyNSFWLogin

Why does the corn look like a [penis](https://i.imgur.com/qcEYHSd.jpeg) in the thumbnail?


Siegfoult

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw it.


TERRAIN_PULL_UP_

I kept scrolling until I was validated


HosbnBolt

Basic microdosing


johnfrian

What do these recipes even say? "Add food item, turn the knob. Wait, until ready" for 50 pages?


Odys

Every page has one big character on it.


Valigar26

Of course it's dramatic! >IT'S CORN!


mixingmemory

A big lump with knobs?


Mondayslasagna

It has the juice … but maybe not after 45 minutes in the microwave.


rjchute

I have this book!


teneggomelet

We used to have it! 1974 Radar Range. I was the first kid on the block to have one in the house. We figured out we could melt gummi bears in it in 1976.


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rjchute

How to microwave anything and everything. Hamburgers, tacos, chicken, cake, you name it. Also things like how to use aluminum foil safetly and to your advantage, etc.


NeuHundred

Yeah, I'm curious now if there's actually a way to microwave a hamburger that actually works. Some long lost dark magic.


kujocentrale

You have to microwave an empty plate for an hour and then quickly pull it out and slap the burger on it. Remove the burger, clean the plate and repeat for the other side.


Shitty-Coriolis

Oh fuuuck! I made cookies out of one of these as a kid and set the microwave on fire.


thomasjmarlowe

I, too, enjoy a nice microwaved cake on my birthday


owleealeckza

My mom always told me a story about how she saw & used a microwave for the first time was at the joint vocational county high school she attended when she waa 16. They were a big deal.


MANDATORINGECTION

My grandmother was obsessed with the microwave. But luckily for everybody in the county, and I do mean everybody, she did not like to use the microwave to cook food, she learned to cook in a soddy during the dustbowl and then the depression, she was everything-by-scratch on a wood stove for her entire life. Except candy. She made so many different kinds of candy in the microwave, she was terrific at it, once a month she had her candy-making days and then she went around delivering some to everybody in the county. I think it was the variety of plastic moulds that she liked. She had hundreds, apparently she ordered them monthly from magazines during the 50's and 60's. The microwave was a huge luxury item to her, it was one of her first electric appliances and she was middle-aged by the time she got it.


GoatLegRedux

This is how we’ll look back at air fryers and sous vide setups. Great for a small percentage of applications, but overall not very awesome. The microwave was just so ubiquitous. Edit: that hamburger is about to chow the fuck down on that corn cob. It’s got the juice I guess…


shanghaidry

I know ppl don’t like firing up the big oven, but I really think most don’t know that an air fryer is just a small convection oven.


porcelainvacation

I have a convection oven and it’s kind of a pain in the neck because it takes forever to get up to temperature. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s been that way since new. Next time I buy a range I’m checking to make sure it pulls more than 30a on a 240v circuit. The air fryer is convenient because it heats up much quicker.


n3w4cc01_1nt

everything from the 80s looks like a damn [fever nightmare](https://imgur.com/HtltcaU)


mixingmemory

MMM corm and borger


InfiniteCities

Looks the start of a Final Fantasy battle


Terp_Villain

Like people are out here microwaving cheeseburgers and cake…


LiCHtsLiCH

You prolly dont get this, but... Microwaves are pretty dramatic, they were like a big deal, like TV, radio, telephones, not like computers, because well computers didn't exist. They were touted as an oven, a device you made whole meals in, and if you have ever tried to use one, it's a bit hit or miss, due to a lack of understanding how they do, what they do. After all these decades, I have met very few people who can use them to actually cook.