Why we don’t have a microwave on our boat

The kitchen appliances liveaboards keep on their boat is very personal. How the boat is powered, where they live and their day-to-day lives all play a role too. And the one appliance we don’t have on our boat is a microwave.

I know – it seems shocking someone doesn’t have a microwave in their lives. But let me explain.

Why We Don’t Have a Microwave on our Boat

The short is answer is we don’t need it.

The longer answer is we took our time evaluating whether a microwave made sense for us.

Before we left land, I stopped using our fancy (and large microwave) to see if I could survive in the kitchen without one.

And at first it was weird not nuking frozen vegetables, reheating leftovers and well, that was kind of it.

Now frozen vegetables are just as easy to heat on the stove. But the leftovers were a different story.

I’ve worked from home forever and leftovers are my lunch of choice. Heating them on the stove doesn’t have the same hands-off convenience. Plus there is the additional dishes. (We don’t have a dishwasher either.)

Instant Pot to the Rescue

A little Googling led me to the Instant Pot as a potential reheating vessel. I knew the Instant Pot was coming to the boat (I love my Instant Pot recipes), so if it reheated my lunch well, I was set.

Using the steam feature with a cup of water and the leftovers in a glass dish, I had perfectly heated lunches! In fact, they tasted better and reheated evenly.

The only downside is that it takes longer – about 25 minutes on average. But it’s all hands off, so I continue working.

When we bought our liveaboard boat, it came with a microwave. And it was gone almost immediately.

A Better Use of Space

In its place in the cubby underneath the lower helm is a Kitchen Aid mixer, a toaster, Ninja blender, stove-top kettle and the aforementioned Instant Pot. I can’t imagine my life without these appliances and I don’t miss the microwave at all!

Stay safe and happy cruising!