I microwave a TON of soup. Soup is one of my favorite foods.

Think about how microwaving food is supposed to work:

1. Put all your stuff in a microwave-safe container
2. Turn the microwave on for the allotted time
3. Microwave dings
4. Take it out and enjoy

How it works in reality: Step (4), according to the instructions on the can which nobody has ever read, ever, is technically “let your stuff sit for a minute to cool off, then grab it.” I emphasize technically. Because in practice, it’s “burn your hands just trying to move the bowl to the kitchen table and probably spill a bit on the floor because it’s hot and you’re rushing.”

You know what I decided I wanted? A microwavable soup bowl with a handle.

Seriously. Just add a handle. That’s the rocket science. Sort of like how you can lift a pot of boiling water off a stove top burner without a visit to the emergency room.

So I use this thing. Mine is orange. I don’t think the designers anticipated people eating directly from it, but I don’t care. I think it’s brilliant. I heat a bowl of soup, the microwave dings, and I chow down on that sucker.

A few other added benefits that I’ve noticed post-facto:

1. Between steps (2) and (3), your food has probably exploded all over the inside of the microwave for you to clean later. This thing comes with a lid. Problem completely solved. No more kitchen appliance interior decorating.
2. It’s totally oversized. Which is great. It’s not like I was running out of space inside my microwave or my food was claustrophobic or something. What’s more important is the strange fact that Campbell’s generally sells soups in sizes like “10.75 ounces” and Target generally sells bowls in sizes like “six inches” and it’s awfully difficult to tell whether the one will fit inside the other. I used to fill six-inch soupbowls up to the tippy-top, which I’d inevitably spill either because I’m a klutz or, again, the microwave has turned the bowl to molten lava temperatures. This thing: no problem.

I suppose the jury is still out on the prevalence of mouth burns now that the preliminary hand burn has been bypassed. I’d argue that there are more clues for food (steam, bubbly water, heat, etc.) than for plastic in judging appropriate temperatures. No scalded taste buds for me yet.