Preparing a meal using a microwave?

Foss27 if that was the case then anyone who cannot cook and has someone cook for them, goo food even, that is self fed using a wide handled spoon would fail.

I think the descriptors are mixed on this. The prepare a meal is separate to taking nutrition.

Not sure if this is PIP or ESA so shall leave it with my limited thoughts, but prepare a meal is prepare fresh veg etc as a guide, open cans or packets that meat may be in and cook requiring lifting and handling hot things safely.

Feed oneself would indeed require someone to actually need to be fed in order to get full points. Even here cutting up, blending etc may score points even if the food in the mouth bit is self administered. As would requiring observation incase of choking, or not eating at all.

If you are at risk of harm by using a microwave, in PIP even if you have to do it make it clear because it is assistance you need to avoid harm.

Hi foss,

Then heating a meal is not cooking..is it? It involves no preparation at all. No washing, peeling or chopping.

This descriptor should then not exist as they could state that everyone could buy a ready meal.. and a microwave (if they already do not own one).

It also appears that when my daughter brings me a meal over (she lives just around the corner), if it is still hot and I eat it immediately, it counts as not being able to prepare a cooked me for one. But if i leave it till later and re-heat it, then that may count as being able to cook a meal??

Not being argumentative, just trying to understand this stupid PIP system.

Looking at the detail in the guide it definitely splits preparing and cooking into seperate activities.
You score points for not being able to prepare food or cook at all. It goes into some detail with preparing the food. It mentions cooking using a stove or a microwave but doesn't say anything further about microwaves.

My advice would be to follow the guide at all times and answer the question as fully as possible, with evidence to support any issues.

Sticking a ready meal in a microwave obviously doesn't involve any of the prep work but could be construed as being able to cook. The original query sloely asked about cooking.

Foss,

Putting an already cooked meal in a microwave is not actually cooking. It is just reheating.

Surely this is different to washing, chopping and peeling veg and then putting this in a microwaveable container and then cooking it? Followed by some protein (can only think that raw fish would be suitable for microwave cooking). Followed by some form of potato, or rice. I would consider this being able to cook in a microwave, although when the last ingredient is cooked, the other two would be cold, and then it would all need re-heating.

I think it is all very debatable as to what one considers preparing and cooking against simply reheating..

Hi

I may be wrong, but I have long suspected this issue of microwave has been included in PIP2 so as to highlight contradictions in claimants statements in order to 'catch out', the claimant.

I agree that using a microwave is vastly different than being able to cook a proper meal, but assessors can easily use the claimants admission of being able to use a microwave as a confirmation that the claimant can 'prepare' a meal of some sort, even though it may lack proper nutritional value.