I don't care for microwaves, except for heating up water for tea, which it is great for, but I like breads, and microwaves cook away the water inside the gluten making bread rather rubbery. I do like my Dell Mini 9 netbook, and my XDA-found custom ROM for my Nook Color! :D
I have a kettle, and it is just as quick, but is there a fundamental difference? Does the microwave "scorch" the water? Whatever that might be (ie, make it hotter than it needs to be, manipulate the minerals in the water in a way that affects taste?)
Water should be boiling, not just hot. When you say 'heat up water', it suggests it's not at the point of vigorous boil to really extract the flavour. Allow me to quote Douglas Adams:
"One or two Americans have asked me why it is that the English like tea so much, which never seems to them to be a very good drink. To understand, you have to know how to make it properly.
There is a very simple principle to the making of tea and it's this - to get the proper flavour of tea, the water has to be boiling (not boiled) when it hits the tea leaves. If it's merely hot then the tea will be insipid. That's why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot). And that's why the American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a thin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. The Americans are all mystified about why the English make such a big thing out of tea because most Americans have never had a good cup of tea. That's why they don't understand. In fact the truth of the matter is that most English people don't know how to make tea any more either, and most people drink cheap instant coffee instead, which is a pity, and gives Americans the impression that the English are just generally clueless about hot stimulants. "
I was skeptical about this, but some years ago my wife got me to do a taste test, and I had to agree that tea from the teakettle tasted marginally better.
