David Chang is obsessed with microwaves, but Gordon Ramsay thinks they're 'for lazy cooks'
- David Chang thinks everyone is under utilizing their microwave.
- He recently made his son's birthday cake in it.
- Gordon Ramsay says he doesn't even own the appliance and thinks they're for "lazy cooks."
Celebrity chef and restaurateur David Chang loves microwaves. Really, really loves them.
The "Ugly Delicious" host professed his love for the small kitchen appliance in a recent interview with Insider.
"The microwave is an amazing, amazing machine," he said.
"The next year-plus I'm going to be on this microwave march to get people to realize what an amazing piece of machinery they have in their kitchen that's probably collecting dust," Chang added.
The Momofuku maven doesn't just use it to reheat leftovers, though. In December, he made his son's birthday cake in the microwave from a regular boxed cake mix and in May, he showed his Instagram followers how to microwave an egg for a breakfast sandwich.
Chang wants people to know there's no shortage of things you can make - not just reheat - in the microwave.
"There's at least one microwave recipe in every episode of [Chang's new podcast] 'Recipe Club,'" he said.
But not all celebrity chefs agree with Chang. Using a microwave to actually cook a meal from scratch is where "MasterChef" judge Gordon Ramsay draws the line.
"Ugh, I mean, microwaves are for lazy cooks," Ramsay told Insider in December.
The "Hell's Kitchen" host says there's no machine that can replace "the texture and the searing and the contrast" you get from cooking with a pan.
"I was watching videos two weeks ago for Thanksgiving of people sticking turkey in the f------ microwave," he said. "Now, you know, if you thought deep fat frying the turkey was not enough, how the f--- do you get flavor out of a turkey with a microwave? Are you kidding me?"
In fact, Ramsay told Insider he hasn't even got a microwave in his own kitchen.
Ramsay acknowledges that microwaves can be useful for reheating a meal or giving something a head start on reaching a boiling temperature more quickly. "But to actually say it imparts flavors? No," he said. "It sends your f------ brain haywire. So no. Absolute bulls--- with a capital B."
The microwave is somewhat controversial in part because some people believe the waves can be harmful to the person consuming the food or strip the food of nutrients.
However, a microwave oven will not make your food radioactive, according to the World Health Organization. WHO compares the microwave to a lightbulb in the sense that once it's turned off, there are no waves left in the oven. By design, limited waves should leak out, according to WHO, but dirty or damaged seals can increase the risk.
The American Cancer Society writes that, when the appliance is used according to its instructions, there is "no evidence that they pose a health risk to people." However, echoing WHO, the American Cancer Society says that "ovens that are damaged or modified ... could allow microwaves to leak out, and so could pose a hazard to people nearby by potentially causing burns."
But to people like Ramsay who think the machine "sends your f------ brain haywire," Chang says, "Then I think they shouldn't use a cell phone and they should ask if the world is flat or round."
- Read more:
- Celebrity chef David Chang loves microwaves so much that he made his son's birthday cake in one, and it actually looks tasty
- Gordon Ramsay roasted a TikTok chef who made a 'radioactive' burger coated and stuffed with blue Takis
- A controversial vegan TikToker roasted Gordon Ramsay for eating meat, and he responded by shoving a hamburger in his mouth
- A former Momofuku employee says she was traumatized by celebrity chef David Chang in a review of his new memoir