Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Food Programme

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Food & Drink

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

BBC Radio 4 FM

Food Programme

Sheila Dillon

Gillian Carter

Helen Peavitt

Andrew Webb

Ruth Sanderson

The Food Programme: How Britain fell in love with the microwave

How Britain fell in love with the microwave

08/02/2015

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, How Britain fell in love with the microwave

The UK's guilty secret? Sheila Dillon charts the 60-year shift from pot to ping.

The microwave is the gadget people in the UK could not live without, but most cooks are afraid to admit they use them. Sheila Dillon charts the 60-year shift from pot to ping.

In a recent survey, the microwave was voted the kitchen gadget that people couldn't live without. 83% of all households in the UK have a microwave, yet many say they only use this hi tech device for re heating food. Sheila Dillon discovers how influences the way we eat, live and cook.

The editor of BBC Good Food magazine Gillian Carter believes that there is an emerging sector who are using it to make full, nutritious dinners using new recipes tailored to their microwave.

Microwaves were patented 60 years ago and hailed as the future of cookery. Helen Peavitt from the Science Museum in London explains how they went from hi tech war weapon to domestic every day item. Meanwhile self-proclaimed microwave hater food journalist Andrew Webb challenges himself to cook a full three course dinner entirely in the microwave.

Presenter Sheila Dillon. Producer Ruth Sanderson.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Food Programme

How Britain fell in love with the microwave

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4