Comment by WalterBright
5 hours ago
I bought over a pound of steak the other day for $5. (Yes, it was on sale. But it is frequently on sale.) Along with a potato for 50 cents, that's cheaper than a bag of Doritos.
Oh, and I bought a banana for $.22.
Cooking a steak takes about 10 minutes.
Microwaving a TV dinner ($7.50) takes more time.
This canard again [0]? You're comparing one piece of beef with a massive bag of Doritos. The banana's irrelevant, but last time you compared it to an enormous block of chocolate [1].
From experience a microwave meal should take about 3 minutes to cook so I don't know how you're taking more than 10 minutes unless, like your food item comparisons, you're cooking enough of them to feed an entire town.
0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49314864
Stouffers Spaghetti & Meatballs:
1. Cut film to vent
2. cook 6 1/2 mins on high
3. Let stand 1 min
A frozen pot pie is 10.5 min.
I don't know any frozen dinners for 3 min.
You didn't specify frozen - I'm looking at a meal taken out of the fridge, which still has a shelf time of ~a week. You're not comparing to a frozen steak either, which will also need an extended cooking time.
If you're concerned about cooking time then don't buy frozen, or let them defrost, and they take less time to cook. Since you're comparing to preparing a whole piece of steak and a potato, that shouldn't be too hard to do.
Also, your example is $3.34 [0] i.e. less than your $5 steak and 50 cent potato.
0: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Stouffer-s-Spaghetti-with-Meatbal...
Pot pie microwave time 4-5 minutes: https://airfry.guide/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Banquet-Chic...
As to let sit time, if you can instantly pop a potato or other food into your mouth after it comes out of the microwave you haven’t cooked it.
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P.S. Hamburger is even cheaper
Potatoes have a long shelf life and even then it’s not a clear win.
A medium potato is around 110 calories. 15 * 150 calories servings = 5$ that’s 20.45 medium potatoes for 5$ or 24.4c per medium potato. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doritos-Nacho-Cheese-Tortilla-Sna...
The potato requires prep, 10 minutes in the microwave ~= 1/4 kWh, and presumably a little salt and butter. A microwave meal is a more complete nutrition source and takes less time, making them more complex point of comparison.
Potato ------
Prep: 5 seconds under the faucet, 10 seconds to quarter it
Cook: 3 min 40 sec in the microwave
TV Dinner: 10 min in the microwave, $7.69 price
You’re undercooked your potatoes the goal isn’t simply to warm them, but allow your body to more easily digest them. But this isn’t just a me thing:
https://www.bigbearswife.com/how-to-cook-a-potato-in-the-mic... How long does it take to cook a potato in the microwave? Between 5-10 minutes
https://microwaveshub.com/how-long-to-heat-up-a-potato-in-th... The cooking time to heat a potato in the microwave will largely depend on the size and type of potato. Here’s a general guideline: Medium Red 6-8 oz, 4-5 minutes large Russet 7-8
I’ve literally never seen a microwave meal take 10 minutes, but I’m guessing that’s theoretically possible if it’s got enough mass to heat up.
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When I was a grad student, I pointed this out to my poor neighbor with lots of health problems (5 pills a day!) who was shocked that I ate such expensive food despite being poorer still.
15 years later she's 50 lb lighter, takes no daily medication, and we have a mortgage and three kids. That's right, I fixed her up and married her.
Microwaving takes less attention and less skill, though. And less cleanup. And you don’t need to own a pan. And you don’t need to own spices (steak is a bad example ofc). And you don’t need to think about the side dishes. And you don’t need to agree on what’s for dinner. And I think it’s worth repeating, you don’t need any skill and can’t really screw it up. And you don’t need to worry about it going bad because you were too lazy to cook it. Etc.
Processed food may not be cheaper, but the flavor:effort ratio is waaaaaay higher.
Throwing a steak in a frying pan is about the same effort as a microwave frozen dinner, and is objectively cheaper.
There's no universe where processed food is cheaper.
You can microwave a meal by tossing it into the microwave and walking away, you need to actually participate in cooking a steak and then clean up several surfaces. The stake is conservatively 10x as much effort and time is money, plus microwaves use far less energy.
Processed food isn’t a single unified thing, the prices definitely overlap but the minimum and maximum prices for processed foods are lower. That’s why our food supply ended up looking like it does, economies of scale beat home cooking. That’s true even going back thousands of years where communal cooking drastically reduced the fuel needs in warm climates.
Wait til you find out what's in a $5 steak!
Our cheapest grass-fed tenderloin is $10 for a half pound cut. One. In a poor northern state.
We had that cow two years and didn't supplement grain. Cheap as you can grow them.
With a $5 steak, it might as well be corn chips.
The $5 steak is the steak that's on sale. It doesn't affect the food value or the taste. A pound of steak is good for 4 meals for me.
You can have your corn chips. No thanks.