Least favorite - and this has happened to my current one and the previous shared family one, don't remember/know if it happened to earlier ones as well - is that they rust themselves out from the inside. That steam has nowhere to go, so damages the interior (namely the roof) of the microwave. I have to cover everything to keep the steam contained so it doesn't make it worse (and to avoid the possibility of rust/paint flecks falling on my food)...and the disrupted structural integrity makes the microwave less effective. Making kale chips would be impossible, since it's not safe to let that steam escape into the body of my microwave. Maybe a healthy one that was dried out thoroughly between uses...but not THIS one. The damage has already been done.
Least favorite - They are less than 70% efficient at converting electrical energy to microwave energy. Over 30% is dissipated as waste heat, mostly in the Magnetron.
The fact that it can make plasma when I put a lit candle in it althought my mum say I shouldn't do it anymore because it's the 3rd microwave we burn in the family
I once drunkenly tried to explain the standing waves in a microwave to my housemates by squiggling lines in whiteboard marker on the fridge and waving my arms about. This video is infinitely more effective at relaying that information
Don't talk to Bob Marley fans that much. Did they keep their clothes on? Have you done bloodwork since then? Was there a camera in the residence to protect you from being scalped and there being insufficient evidence to make a conviction? We know you've dedicated your own life to science, but it's because we love science in a way which Harmonizes with your love of science that we're talking this way. You know how Bill Gates wears a camera necklace? Do that. Please see a doctor.
I remember the first time that I *actually* followed the instruction shared by almost all frozen microwave food: "Let sit 1-2 minutes in the microwave before eating". It really does make an enourmous difference. I used to always think that I needed to go an extra minute or two on top of the reccomended time becasue there would still be cold spots, but if you just let it sit a minute, the heat does actually spread out, and the food is actually cooked the right amount. It's almost like the team of professional food scientists specifically hired by the multinational food corporation to find the optimal microwave instructions knows what they're talking about :)
My high school had an old, but surprisingly advanced, Sharp microwave. When you used the sensor reheat function, the display would flash "LET STAND COVERED" for a certain amount of time (likely determined by the same artificial intelligence that determined how long to cook) after the food was finished. I always wondered what that meant.
@@aspecreviews Does it happen to be this one? If so then it's primarily using a humidity sensor for just about all of the smart stuff. ua-cam.com/video/UiS27feX8o0/v-deo.html
@@1224chrisng Hmm skeptical about this, i’ve seen people melt glass inside of microwave on high power using kiln for art projects. They weren’t melted before it was put in. Im guessing it was the additives inside the glass for lowering the melting point responsible for the heat. Feel free to add more information since i’m really curious of how it works
A metal bowl, and a hair dryer is how I dehydrate tobacco leaves. Also, put them in a glass jar on the dryer, and dry some clothes. Back in the day, we had a cable box. That worked extremely well for drying tobacco. I also put seeds in a wet bag on it. After two days, the seeds were ready to plant.
As a Radio engineer, I can say theses animations really made it simpler to explain stuff to people. Was not expecting this to be a science channel with such technically accurate animations. Good job!
Another fun fact: The microwave window isn't some special material that blocks microwaves. The circles you see though are smaller than the height of a microwave. So it's just physically blocking them.
I remember my physics teacher in highschool explained to us how microwaves worked. He took out the spinning wheel and lined up a bunch of marshmellows in a straight line, and after nuking, completely melted marshmellows and still normal marshmellows alternated each other perfectly. All these years later, it still sticks with me. He also put in a lit match for a few seconds and somehow it created plasma. It was so cool! (Don't try this at home, kids.)
You can make plasma with a grape as well. Cut it in half but leave a little bit of the skin at the end of the cut still attached. If done right, it'll glow like a mini sun for a few seconds.
I've found some tips and tricks to reheating food. My first is set the item off center, microwaves always carry the same waveform roughly which causes the hot and cold spots. Offset your food and that problem is solved. You can increase the microwave time and lower the power to half power and it will more evenly heat it as the magnatron rules at full blast. But it allows the heat to disperse throughout the food. As for the water problem don't put a lid on the food at first, wait till the end when you need to trap steam.
@Wesley Kirkland I always offset my food in the microwave in addition to using a lower power setting (such as defrost). This also prevents areas in some foods from getting seriously overcooked in spots, such as reheating meats. The combination may take a bit longer, but for heating simple foods this method is hard to beat. Glad to see that I'm not the only one who uses these techniques together.
If the food you are reheating allows it, make a donut shape of the food on the plate and then microwave it. That way you don't have areas that stay cold compared to the rest.
Random microwave discovery: I recently made a batch of custard-based ice cream in my new ice cream maker. In the freezer, it froze EXTREMELY HARD. So I decided to try microwaving it to thaw it, something I hadn't done before. Since then, I've read that regular ice cream usually goes all soupy on the outside if you do this. But for some reason, my homemade custard ice cream kept looking like it hadn't thawed much, so I did it a couple more times. Finally I tried it... and it scooped out easy because I had thawed it quite a bit. But the wildest part was that somehow it still held together, in this consistency that was more mousse-like. It wasn't perfect, there were areas of colder and harder ice cream in there too, but now I have a goal to make custard ice cream again and try a variety of microwaving approaches to see what I can come up with - maybe there's some potentially amazing, creamy, fluffy desert option awaiting me!
It may be because of the air bubbles inside of the ice cream, and the texture being already less watery than regular icecream means that the microwave only heats up the small amount of water that is frozen on the outside while the air bubbles and the texture manage to keep a good consistency
@@immkk1125 i think he just kept making it thicker by losing the already small amount of water, concentrating it to a glob of (probably extremely delicious) proteins, sugars and fats.
I have a microwave cookbook from back when they were still a novelty and it has helped me so much to understand how they work and how to use them correctly. It's like a superpower when you can prepare whole meals perfectly and quickly with just a microwave oven!
I have one of those cookbooks because in the early 70s my parents bought one of the original carousel microwaves when it came down in price. My dad had worked with microwaves in the USN. It was a tank and lasted about 35 years. I wish I had repaired it because it was probably a control issue. I don't think the newer ones emit the microwaves in the same pattern as that one. My most recent microwave actually doesn't cook the food as well as the cheaper one that melted it's inside panel.
I remember one time i was telling my dad how a microwave worked(there is context that makes it make sense but it isnt relevent) and he made fun of me in front of the rest of my family because he didnt think a magnetron was a real thing and made fun of me like "what like transformers?" Very hurtful childhood memory a specific line in the video brought up lol
Especially ironic considering a transformer is also real, and likely mounted on a pole visible from his kitchen window. (Converting distribution voltage at around 7.5kV down to 120V and -120V which can be subtracted from eachother to make 240V, we call it split phase and i find it really clever for how simple it actually is.)
@@EthanWinter-…no….every thought causes a head ache….these last 10 months have taken a serious toll on my health. “2 more months.” I tell myself. Or maybe it’s the voices from the shadowy figures. But I need to make this record. If not there shadow men said they will kill the rest of my family. They make me do things, I killed little Billy…… but making kale chips with the microwave has really helped.
I love this channel. I'm a chemist who had no food science experience and basically had to figure it out on the job (lol). Many times I've been thinking about a project and remember something you discussed in your videos. Takes a really good communicator to get technical concepts through so well. A bonus thing about the microwave vs. conventional heating when it comes to sogginess: When heating from surface in, the water evaporating into steam also absorbs a lot of heat (same thing which makes sweat so good at cooling you down), so the heat needs to deplete some water from the surface before it can go further down. Because the microwave penetrates a bit and delivers heat below the surface, expansion and evaporation can also happen further below the surface. So the outside will be less dry, meanwhile the percent loss of water is actually higher, it's just that more was taken from the middle instead of the outside. Source: I did R&D/troubleshooting for ways to accelerate drying of certain types of candy and this is one I tried.
I use the microwave oven at half the power for more time. The way it works is it send waves in 30 seconds intervals on and off and lets the heat parts of the food share their heat with the rest of the food.
If you have a microwave with an inverter you'll be able to run the microwave at an actual reduced power state. When such a microwave runs at a reduced power, you'll will not hear that clicking sound when the power to the magnetron is being turned on and off.. and the food, gets even more evenly heated!
@Ithecastic panasonic have an inverter based microwave oven with a moving magnetron, very much better than the standard ones. not so expensive but again they dont explain so its still a niche product
This is exactly how I reheat my leftovers. Even though our microwave has a rotating dish, using a lower power level helps prevent overheating stuff and lets the heat flow throughout the whole container. Alas, our microwave uses the duty-cycling version of power level.
Never realised the ice thing. I always just sort of took it for granted that ice takes weirdly long in the microwave to melt, because, well, it's quite cold. So next time, maybe I'll melt ice in a pan. (and yes, I do melt ice in the microwave; frozen homemade vegetable stock is one example)
Add just a little bit of water. The water will heat, which will melt the ice next to it, which is now water, and so on. This will also help it melt more uniformly, since otherwise it's quite dependent on what parts melt first.
how to reheat old rice in a microwave: 1. put in your bowl of leftover rice 2. put in a shot glass of water next to the bowl 3. set the timer for one minute 4. enjoy moist, like-new rice I've never had any luck with the damp-paper-towel thing, but this is foolproof.
I just sprinkle water over my rice before microwaving with a lid. The little drops of water turn to steam fairly easily and steams the rice, more or less.
I learned from a technology connections video that microwaves could be used to cook potatoes and ever since i havent looked back, 15min (bc i cook on low settings) and theyre always perfect, no poking no boiling just heat
I've only ever used a microwave for potatoes. But I do poke them with a fork to facilitate the steam moving out from the middle as once or twice they've gone kaboom and I had a steel box filled with fluffy starch.
I feel obliged to say how my experiment went: I used peeled potatoes, no poking, cut in quarts , I microwaved them for 2x5mins +2mins while shuffling them around in between and they came out pretty good, 2x7.5 mins should be enough for the first time I guess.
🇨🇱 For me, it's about 1 minute per potato. If Y put in 5 potato's, it's 5 minutes timing. And as someone said, poking with a fork helps avoiding eventually exploding Saludos de 🇨🇱
Would love to see some recipes that combine what you show here about microwaves with other tools to get better results faster. Like how you did dehydrating, or combining the microwave with say a toaster oven to do French fries or something.
One example I have is Twice-Baked potatoes. I "bake" potatoes through in the microwave first, then scoop out the insides, mash, replace, and then for the second bake I use the oven to get nice crispy-ness.
That's the wrong way around. Microwaves don't heat bowls - put a dry empty bowl in a microwave & try to heat it - it doesn't heat up. But, a plate or bowl gets warm/hot if there's food in it - the food heats the plate/bowl which helps redistribute the heat to other parts of the food.
@@nightjarflying There's lots of less than optimal crockery that does directly heat up in a microwave - put some form of food in it that doesn't absorb microwaves as well (eg something frozen, something very dry etc) and you will find that the container is sometimes warmer than the food, or at least parts of the food.
The fact that it creates resonant standing waves on purpose is the most revelatory information I’ve ever heard about an appliance. It instantly gives me information to use when heating and placing food, and why stirring is so crucial. Amazing.
This has changed my view of microwaves. I’ll never look at it the same, I’ll only view it with admiration of how interesting and incredible this invention is
Excellent quality of vids....I knew how the microwave works at its core but never thought about how it would affect ice or moisture content of a food!! It's quite amazing that it can heat up water so fast but doesn't really work well on ice...... Also adorable animations as always.... :)
do not heat up water in the microwave, if you put in in too long and the water isn't disturbed in anyway it could explode when you try to take it out (super heated water). same reason you shouldn't put eggs of any kind in the microwave.
Breaking a bit more into the wave mechanics for anyone interested: When the waves bounce back from the wall, you essentially En up with two waves traveling the opposite way on the same path. Electromagnetic waves have two "peaks", the one looking up is the crest while the one looking down it a trough. Now, when two crests or troughs meet, their energy gets combined to make a "big peek", a crest or trough carrying the energy of both of the waves for that moment. However, if a crest and peek meet, they neutralize each other and the wave gets dampened in that point, essentially meaning there is little to no energy there. And that's why there are "deadspots" in the microwave. A good way to see this is to put a whole bar of chocolate in the microcawe. You will see a pattern of molten and solid chocolate.
This video proves the value in understanding your equipment and the saying "a bad workman blames his tools". It's really important to thoroughly understand the tools you are working with and be aware of their limitations. This helps you get the most of out them.
@@Ceelvain it is very literally a particle accelerator. It produces microwaves by accelerating electrons, the same principal that a synchrotron lightsource operates on. Edit: I initially wrote photons when I meant electrons.
We chemists actually use something really similar in the lab, called an IR spectrometer. It's basically a microwave, except it can tell us exactly in which wavelength the vibrations happen. So we can use it to characterize unknown molecules. For example a carbonyl group (C=O) will always have a strong absorption at 1700, so if we detect that then we can be sure it has a part with a carbon oxygen bond.
Microwave is usually an element on my online or gaming handles, so l felt the need to learn as much about them as l can for consistency sake. A key tip about microwaving food is to avoid the center of the turntable if possible since the food in the axis of rotation is effectively stationary in the standing wave while the rim sweeps through the hot and cold spots. Also, don't just let frozen food stand when it's done cooking before eating, but in the middle of cooking as well. This gives the heat time to migrate deeper into the food and melt the ice so that it cooks more evenly.
Microwaves are mostly used to heat food, and indeed one particular microwave I had once said "Your food is ready" when the time ran out, which I thought was pretty presumptuous in two ways: that's you're heating food, and that it's ready. We've also used microwaves to heat other things, such as heat sources for applying to injured areas. We had a bag of something or other that heated up really nice in the microwave that I used on my back, alternating with ice, when it was injured on a few occasions.
Cooking pasta in the microwave was an absolute revelation to me. In the past when I cooked pasta, I needed to get a pot, fill it with water and put it on the stove, turn on the stove and wait for the water to boil (staying near the stove for safety reasons), then _finally_ putting in the pasta and waiting another 10-ish mins for it to cook, then draining into a colander, and then serving in a bowl. Oh, and then having to wash a giant pot plus a colander afterwards. So, a lot of mental energy. In comparison, for pasta for one, tip about 1cm deep into a tupperware container, fill most of the way with water plus your pinch of salt, nuke in the microwave for 7-10 mins depending on the shape (do not need to stay in kitchen during this time), tip out the water using the tupperware lid against the tub as a strainer, and then tip into bowl. Oh, and small tupperware container and lid can easily just be slotted into the dishawasher afterwards, no dramas! As somebody who cooks for one, absolute game changer in the staying-reasonably-consistently-fed department!
The microave is the most underated kitchen appliance. Everyone says itmakes food bad or assoceiates it with leftovers or pre-cooked food. The microave is just AMAZING, I am alawys discover new ways to use. My best tip, its to not expect the same result as other apliances, and just try and see what happens. Plus, it is amazing at "pancake-fing" thing that do not wnat to join, or wil get distroid when fliping: make a low moisture oatmeal in the microave, but instead of puting in a bowl, use a plate, flip it half way trought cooking, andd you will end up with an oatmeal pancaka, that requiers only one plate. The same thing can be aplied to any thing that you cold imagine being a pancake.
What will really bake your cookie is the connection between how magnetron ovens (that's how we call them in Dutch) work and how soap and sauces work. Fats don't jiggle in the the flipping field; fats are a-polar. What you drew there were fatty acids. Fats are fatty acids bound to a backbone of glycerol. Neutral, a-polar. That's why they don't mix well with water. Unless you add an emulsifier. And fatty acids are emulsifiers; the "head" easily donates a H+ and is negatively charged, but the long long "tail" is so long that a-polar oils and fats can mix to that side of the molecule. When you make mayo, you surround the polar molecules in your splash vinaigre with emulsifier (traditionally egg yolk) and suspend them in the oil. When you do your dishes, you surround the a-polar molecules of the fats and oils on your dishes with emulsifier (traditionally dish soap) and suspend them in the dishwater. Same thing. That's why the merger of Margarine Unie (a margarine company) and the Lever Brothers (a soap company) was chemically not at all weird. Today they are Unilever, one of the giants in the food industry. When you take an oil or fat and break away the glycerol (by stirring it in a base like lye) you get soap or nasty tasting emulsifier. Potashes (why you guys call K, potassium and not Kalium), are basic too. So when you're out camping and don't want stir up the biome with a modern constructed detergent, you can rub your dishes with the ashes of your fire and turn some of the oils and fats into soap. It won't perform as well as a modern detergent but it wil work... 🤔 There's this other cool UA-camr, MinuteEarth, this last nugget (and the history of phosphates that will come out when you pull this string in research) could be a nice collab video. 😘
As someone who loves cooking, I do use microwaves, but also despised them for most applications. You've given me a new appreciation for leveraging their strengths vs focusing on their weaknesses.
So what's why some microwaves have the de-freeze option that turns it on and off at low power. It's just slowly trying to melt the ice without burning other parts. Always wondered why it's doing that rather than blasting at full power.
Microwaves can unfreeze frozen food so then you can cook it, you put it to low (about 200 watts) for as long as you need, can be 20 seconds can be more, and once it's not frozen anymore heat it up. Also, the cold spots will heat up because the food is on a turn table, that's why the microwave turns the food. I never had any cold spots in my food when heating it in the microwave, but I don't use the microwave to cook food, just to heat it if it's cold.
Hi I am a microwave expert that has been microwaving since I was 7 years old...The best way to cook anything especially if it is frozen is to Select the power level button, then Select number 5 which will lower the power to 50% of the normal power. Make sure to extend the cooking time to make up for the lack of power, I typically go by around 75% extra time to what I would normally cook a specific food at. The reason why this works is the same as what the video shared, More time for the heat to get to the center of the food AND not destroying the food in the process by high heat.
The fact that ice doesn't melt in microwave 🧐 was new to me .very cool video and pretty cool channel top image (all those food and logo in the middle one ).
You can measure the speed of light with a microwave oven since the distance between the centres of the two high-temperature regions in 2:40 is the complete wavelength. Moreover, the long wavelength makes it challenging to heat food evenly. Having a halogen oven in your house can help you reheat or cook food quickly and evenly.
Getting the frequency is non trivial. Sometimes, it's in the fine print somewhere on the microwave, and sometimes not. Edit: it seems most microwaves operate at 2.45 GHz
@@pierrecurie Yes, there are several reasons. 2.45GHz is part of the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band that can be used without a license while bellowing a certain power. The magnetron that operates at 2.45GHz is considered technologically mature. This makes it easy to manufacture and its size is small enough for home use. Albeit 433Mhz & 915Mhz would have been a better option for heating depth, the cost of redesigning and licensing them is significant, so choosing 2.45GHz was more practical.
Why nobody explains the stand function of microwave. 99% of the times, you can heat any food evenly and make it stay hot for longer if you let the food stand in the microwave after the timer runs out. It works even if you set the timer for less than 2 minutes but let it stand for 5 minutes. You can't get this result even if you set the time for 5 minutes or more but open the door immediately. Spray or keep some water too along with food to get even better results. As a good rule of thumb, just remember to do just the opposite of everything above if you want to make something crispy or dehydrated, like chips; but if not, then do exactly as above. It's worth it, and you'll actually start loving your microwave!
An important thing to remember when using a microwave, the center of your microwave is either a hot or a cold spot (can actually swap at different heights as well) so if you place something in the center of the turntable, it will be either really hot or uncooked. It is best to place stuff off center in the microwave to avoid this issue, though if the stuff is big it can be difficult, in those cases you might want to split up the cooking into a couple shorter periods where you adjust the position between them. Also if you are heating up a liquid, you should have no problems with using a microwave as the liquid will mix due to convection as it gets heated, eliminating nearly all downsides, making microwaves actually one of the most efficient methods of effectively heating liquids, though be careful with water as sometimes it can be overheated and explode after being taken out of the microwave.
I do this with oily foods like Pizza, frozen taquitos, burritos too. The issue is that sometimes the paper towel sticks to the food, and most of the time you get the taste of the paper towel on your food (wet paper with a hint of chemical). I still recommend this method, though. Worth using when preventing food sogginess is important.
You cover food in a paper towel to preserve texture, I cover food to avoid the _exploding pockets of gas that hurt like shit when they land on my skin_ while taking the plate out.
A question I've been having lately, is, why does cheese seem to taste beter when it melts? I always thought it was purely a texture thing but I noticed even when cheese cools back down, it still tastes better than before. Might be a dumb question, I don't know, but may be a good idea for a video!
Is it pre-shredded cheese? There's a starchy layer on those to keep them from sticking. It's why Celiac's individuals cannot eat pre-shredded cheese unless it is gluten free. After it melts, that starchiness is browned and/or hidden in the cheese. Either way, it changes the taste. I have noticed a taste difference as well. But I don't see it in whole cubes of cheese like I do in melted shredded cheese.
Frozen fat doesn't taste like much, and a lot of the fats in cheese are completely solid (aka frozen) at room temp. Once you've melted it, it's possible to really taste everything that's there and not just the little bit of salt on the surface. I agree there's probably a cute video with animated fats waiting to be made about it.
The funny thing is, the concept for microwaves came about in WWII when an engineer was fixing up one of the radar facilities in Britain, only to find out it was on the whole time because the chocolate bar in his pocket melted entirely.
I bought my first microwave in 1978 for $600. It had dials, not buttons. No turntable, but a temperature probe. And it was HUGE. I bought my first color TV at the same time. It was (of course) a cathode ray, 19" for $178. My first VCR in 1980 for $1,000 (the remote had a cord for pause/play) and my first VHS camcorder for $1,000. My first blank VHS tape was $65, and there were no video rental stores yet; you could only record broadcast tv. I bought all of these things at Shillito's (Macy's) and still retain the receipts.
Another fun fact about microwaves is that they contain a capacitor that, when tampered with by DIY hobbyists (even when the microwave is unplugged!!), kills them instantly...whee!
That was informative and enjoyable. By way of thanks, I watched the whole commercial promotion -- which is not my custom -- and I took it seriously. I'm not in the market right now, but I have some grandchildren, so I made notes. Crazy Aaron's seems like a sensible outfit.
Yay! It's the best when we're able to partner with brands we are personally really passionate about. Their stuff is seriously awesome (their new "liquid glass" putty is the current favorite in our house...)
Basically, everything has a natural frequency at which it vibrates. A microwave is fixed to generate waves of the same frequency as water and oils(Since microwave isn't just one frequency, but a range of frequencies). As our food contains lots of oils and water, they warm up. EDIT: If you are interested to learn more, check the reply to this comment
MORE SCIENCE: This phenomenon is also called resonance, when a wave causes another body of the same frequency to vibrate more or less. For example, when you are on a swing, you exert force at a specific time to make it go faster and that same force at another specific time can reduce the speed. Microwaves have the frequency similar to natural frequency of water and oils and when it interacts with them, its similar to when the force makes the swing go faster. In this case, the molecule vibrates faster. Since temperature is just the measure of how fast a molecule is vibrating, the food heats up. Hope it helps🙂
Yes, but actually no. The natural frequency of vibration you mentioned is infrared (bonds bounce like springs). Microwaves are another type of resonance: Rotation.
I like to set the power level low and increase the cook time. Gives food time to distribute the heat more evenly without being teased by food in front of me Feels like a lot less waiting having something in the microwave for 5 minutes on low than 1 minute on high and 4 minutes of food sitting in front of me before it's safe to eat Also fun fact, magnetrons don't have variable output. Lower power settings just cycle it on and off for varying lengths of time
This is genuinely one of the best explanations of how microwaves work for cooking. It even beats some I’ve seen by physics channels. And thank you for acknowledging that they don’t *just* heat up water!
I like using microwaves to heat up the inside of a food before turning to the air fryer to heat up the outside and crispify it. Speeds up the cooking process without too much sacrifice for some things.
I love microwaves for the fast and easy convenience! I hate spending a lot of time cooking. I even got so good at making use of a microwave, I would joke I was a "gourmet microwave chef" lol Adding water to certain leftovers like spaghetti is def one of my fav tricks I use. Makes a HUUGE difference.
My favorite way to make scrambled eggs is in the microwave. It takes longer than doing it on the stove, but the consistency is always way more airy and fluffy than if I did it in a pan.
Thanks for the info about microwave oven basic principles. I hope you'll occasionally make more videos featuring microwave cooking tips. For instance, the effect of reducing the power and when to do so. Personally, I'm not finicky about food texture. (It's all good.) Nor blandness, because it's easy to add spices. My main concerns are nutritional value, avoiding toxins & carcinogens & excessive calories, and minimizing labor.
Okay to be Franklin Delano Rosevelt with you, you can get ice to melt as once the air causes some to melt into water, water will get heated and melt the ice and the more the ice melts, the faster the process will be.
My way of avoiding cold spots... is heating slowly, lowering the heating factor and increasing the time factor makes the food able to transmit the heat within itself and the water molecules aren't exited enough to evaporate too much
Thank you for effectively explaining what I was trying to explain to people for years: you are not irradiating food by using a microwave. I can't believe how many folks around me believe that.
The one thing i learned while in physics class is just dont put the plate with the food in the middel of the turntabel, if you set it off center as much as possibel your food will wander through the hot and cold spots and heat evenly. Its soooo simple i m baffeld it wasnt recommended in this video
While this is intuitive, the science that's currently out there doesn't actually support it (although there is admittedly very little good-quality research on this) so I didn't include it as an evidence-backed tip. But if it works for you, in your microwave, go for it!
Lights having polarity and a magnetic feild is blowing my mind right now. And the idea that another video on microwaves said they safe cuz the wavelength of light is too big to fit through the holes on the door, is really fucking me up.
OK, let's hear it: what are your most (and least) favorite things about your microwave?
I like it because it's fast but it makes pizza soggy.
Least favorite - and this has happened to my current one and the previous shared family one, don't remember/know if it happened to earlier ones as well - is that they rust themselves out from the inside. That steam has nowhere to go, so damages the interior (namely the roof) of the microwave. I have to cover everything to keep the steam contained so it doesn't make it worse (and to avoid the possibility of rust/paint flecks falling on my food)...and the disrupted structural integrity makes the microwave less effective. Making kale chips would be impossible, since it's not safe to let that steam escape into the body of my microwave. Maybe a healthy one that was dried out thoroughly between uses...but not THIS one. The damage has already been done.
Least favorite - They are less than 70% efficient at converting electrical energy to microwave energy. Over 30% is dissipated as waste heat, mostly in the Magnetron.
The fact that it can make plasma when I put a lit candle in it althought my mum say I shouldn't do it anymore because it's the 3rd microwave we burn in the family
Least favorite: Cold foot and lava hot bowl/plate that burns your fingers.
I once drunkenly tried to explain the standing waves in a microwave to my housemates by squiggling lines in whiteboard marker on the fridge and waving my arms about. This video is infinitely more effective at relaying that information
Sounds like you might be qualified for the MinuteFood team; squiggly lines, wavy arms, and nerdy enthusiasm are basically our jam :)
Don't talk to Bob Marley fans that much. Did they keep their clothes on? Have you done bloodwork since then? Was there a camera in the residence to protect you from being scalped and there being insufficient evidence to make a conviction? We know you've dedicated your own life to science, but it's because we love science in a way which Harmonizes with your love of science that we're talking this way. You know how Bill Gates wears a camera necklace? Do that. Please see a doctor.
Well, you tried...😅👍
Every nerd has been there. Keep trying mate!
Huh same but we were all high lol
I remember the first time that I *actually* followed the instruction shared by almost all frozen microwave food: "Let sit 1-2 minutes in the microwave before eating".
It really does make an enourmous difference. I used to always think that I needed to go an extra minute or two on top of the reccomended time becasue there would still be cold spots, but if you just let it sit a minute, the heat does actually spread out, and the food is actually cooked the right amount.
It's almost like the team of professional food scientists specifically hired by the multinational food corporation to find the optimal microwave instructions knows what they're talking about :)
fun fact, the same way a microwave can heat up molten ice, it can heat up molten glass, but only after it's already melted
My high school had an old, but surprisingly advanced, Sharp microwave. When you used the sensor reheat function, the display would flash "LET STAND COVERED" for a certain amount of time (likely determined by the same artificial intelligence that determined how long to cook) after the food was finished. I always wondered what that meant.
@@aspecreviews Does it happen to be this one? If so then it's primarily using a humidity sensor for just about all of the smart stuff.
ua-cam.com/video/UiS27feX8o0/v-deo.html
@@1224chrisng Hmm skeptical about this, i’ve seen people melt glass inside of microwave on high power using kiln for art projects. They weren’t melted before it was put in. Im guessing it was the additives inside the glass for lowering the melting point responsible for the heat. Feel free to add more information since i’m really curious of how it works
It's the special kiln who transform microwaves into radiant heat
Using a microwave to dehydrate food is knowledge we all need to have
I want details on how to do this now
i made a sin by giving the poor microwave a job to dehydrate tobacco, works surprisingly well!
A metal bowl, and a hair dryer is how I dehydrate tobacco leaves. Also, put them in a glass jar on the dryer, and dry some clothes. Back in the day, we had a cable box. That worked extremely well for drying tobacco. I also put seeds in a wet bag on it. After two days, the seeds were ready to plant.
This is new for me too. Can I dehydrate parsley leaves? or orange peels?
So like, can we make jerky with a microwave?
As a Radio engineer, I can say theses animations really made it simpler to explain stuff to people. Was not expecting this to be a science channel with such technically accurate animations. Good job!
@RedSaltMarine420 how do you know it's a guy? it's definitely multiple people working together. /Lh /nm
@@KCisScreaming "Dude" is generally accepted to be gender-neutral nowadays.
@@KCisScreaming Chillax dude, you're taking life WAY too seriously lmao
@@KCisScreaming have you considered the fact that ur mom gay
😂
Another fun fact:
The microwave window isn't some special material that blocks microwaves. The circles you see though are smaller than the height of a microwave. So it's just physically blocking them.
I remember my physics teacher in highschool explained to us how microwaves worked. He took out the spinning wheel and lined up a bunch of marshmellows in a straight line, and after nuking, completely melted marshmellows and still normal marshmellows alternated each other perfectly. All these years later, it still sticks with me. He also put in a lit match for a few seconds and somehow it created plasma. It was so cool! (Don't try this at home, kids.)
I think Numberphile has a video about using Aero Bars in a microwave to get Error Bars on the speed of light
You can make plasma with a grape as well. Cut it in half but leave a little bit of the skin at the end of the cut still attached. If done right, it'll glow like a mini sun for a few seconds.
I have an over-the-range microwave with a turntable disable switch. At first I was puzzled why anyone would want that.
stuck with you like the melted marshmallows
@@NoName-ik2du I did that when I was about 7 with my aunt's microwave. I don't think it ever worked the same way after that...
I've found some tips and tricks to reheating food. My first is set the item off center, microwaves always carry the same waveform roughly which causes the hot and cold spots. Offset your food and that problem is solved. You can increase the microwave time and lower the power to half power and it will more evenly heat it as the magnatron rules at full blast. But it allows the heat to disperse throughout the food. As for the water problem don't put a lid on the food at first, wait till the end when you need to trap steam.
I add water and put the lid on but don't close it.
I, a random person on the Internet, second these suggestions.
@@themadsamplist That works to depending on what you're microwaving.
@Wesley Kirkland
I always offset my food in the microwave in addition to using a lower power setting (such as defrost). This also prevents areas in some foods from getting seriously overcooked in spots, such as reheating meats.
The combination may take a bit longer, but for heating simple foods this method is hard to beat.
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who uses these techniques together.
If the food you are reheating allows it, make a donut shape of the food on the plate and then microwave it. That way you don't have areas that stay cold compared to the rest.
Random microwave discovery: I recently made a batch of custard-based ice cream in my new ice cream maker. In the freezer, it froze EXTREMELY HARD. So I decided to try microwaving it to thaw it, something I hadn't done before. Since then, I've read that regular ice cream usually goes all soupy on the outside if you do this. But for some reason, my homemade custard ice cream kept looking like it hadn't thawed much, so I did it a couple more times. Finally I tried it... and it scooped out easy because I had thawed it quite a bit. But the wildest part was that somehow it still held together, in this consistency that was more mousse-like. It wasn't perfect, there were areas of colder and harder ice cream in there too, but now I have a goal to make custard ice cream again and try a variety of microwaving approaches to see what I can come up with - maybe there's some potentially amazing, creamy, fluffy desert option awaiting me!
It may be because of the air bubbles inside of the ice cream, and the texture being already less watery than regular icecream means that the microwave only heats up the small amount of water that is frozen on the outside while the air bubbles and the texture manage to keep a good consistency
@@immkk1125 i think he just kept making it thicker by losing the already small amount of water, concentrating it to a glob of (probably extremely delicious) proteins, sugars and fats.
Great Idea you should post the results as a fun study on your youtube channel cool idea i love custard!
oh wow that's interesting thanks for sharing!
I had this idea with ice cream as a kid and proudly proclaimed it to work for softening up but my mom wasn’t too enthused about my experiment.
I have a microwave cookbook from back when they were still a novelty and it has helped me so much to understand how they work and how to use them correctly. It's like a superpower when you can prepare whole meals perfectly and quickly with just a microwave oven!
I have one of those cookbooks because in the early 70s my parents bought one of the original carousel microwaves when it came down in price. My dad had worked with microwaves in the USN. It was a tank and lasted about 35 years. I wish I had repaired it because it was probably a control issue. I don't think the newer ones emit the microwaves in the same pattern as that one. My most recent microwave actually doesn't cook the food as well as the cheaper one that melted it's inside panel.
I remember one time i was telling my dad how a microwave worked(there is context that makes it make sense but it isnt relevent) and he made fun of me in front of the rest of my family because he didnt think a magnetron was a real thing and made fun of me like "what like transformers?" Very hurtful childhood memory a specific line in the video brought up lol
nice, microwaved themed villain origin story
Especially ironic considering a transformer is also real, and likely mounted on a pole visible from his kitchen window. (Converting distribution voltage at around 7.5kV down to 120V and -120V which can be subtracted from eachother to make 240V, we call it split phase and i find it really clever for how simple it actually is.)
In Dutch, we actually call a microwave "magnetron".
can you please tell me the context i will not sleep until i know the context of this
@@smithwilliams5637 *could have
the words "of" and "have" do not mean the same thing.
I need to go to sleep
Have you slept yet?
@@EthanWinter-…no….every thought causes a head ache….these last 10 months have taken a serious toll on my health. “2 more months.” I tell myself. Or maybe it’s the voices from the shadowy figures. But I need to make this record. If not there shadow men said they will kill the rest of my family. They make me do things, I killed little Billy…… but making kale chips with the microwave has really helped.
Same
Wobduebsjdidbairbfh 👍
I love this channel. I'm a chemist who had no food science experience and basically had to figure it out on the job (lol). Many times I've been thinking about a project and remember something you discussed in your videos. Takes a really good communicator to get technical concepts through so well.
A bonus thing about the microwave vs. conventional heating when it comes to sogginess: When heating from surface in, the water evaporating into steam also absorbs a lot of heat (same thing which makes sweat so good at cooling you down), so the heat needs to deplete some water from the surface before it can go further down. Because the microwave penetrates a bit and delivers heat below the surface, expansion and evaporation can also happen further below the surface. So the outside will be less dry, meanwhile the percent loss of water is actually higher, it's just that more was taken from the middle instead of the outside.
Source: I did R&D/troubleshooting for ways to accelerate drying of certain types of candy and this is one I tried.
I use the microwave oven at half the power for more time. The way it works is it send waves in 30 seconds intervals on and off and lets the heat parts of the food share their heat with the rest of the food.
If you have a microwave with an inverter you'll be able to run the microwave at an actual reduced power state. When such a microwave runs at a reduced power, you'll will not hear that clicking sound when the power to the magnetron is being turned on and off.. and the food, gets even more evenly heated!
@Ithecastic panasonic have an inverter based microwave oven with a moving magnetron, very much better than the standard ones. not so expensive but again they dont explain so its still a niche product
This is exactly how I reheat my leftovers. Even though our microwave has a rotating dish, using a lower power level helps prevent overheating stuff and lets the heat flow throughout the whole container. Alas, our microwave uses the duty-cycling version of power level.
Never realised the ice thing. I always just sort of took it for granted that ice takes weirdly long in the microwave to melt, because, well, it's quite cold. So next time, maybe I'll melt ice in a pan.
(and yes, I do melt ice in the microwave; frozen homemade vegetable stock is one example)
Add just a little bit of water. The water will heat, which will melt the ice next to it, which is now water, and so on. This will also help it melt more uniformly, since otherwise it's quite dependent on what parts melt first.
@@reverse_engineered Good one! So basically like a seed, in a way.
This is better explained than some crackhead on tiktok. Those mf’s tell viewers that water and snow are both made by the government.
Phase changes take a lot of energy!
how to reheat old rice in a microwave:
1. put in your bowl of leftover rice
2. put in a shot glass of water next to the bowl
3. set the timer for one minute
4. enjoy moist, like-new rice
I've never had any luck with the damp-paper-towel thing, but this is foolproof.
I just sprinkle water over my rice before microwaving with a lid. The little drops of water turn to steam fairly easily and steams the rice, more or less.
@@AndyGneiss Both work, the direct contact can make the rice still wet if you put too much but is also less effort.
Rice is definitely one of the best foods to reheat with a microwave
😊 it’s cool that I already knew that
Works for pizza too
I learned from a technology connections video that microwaves could be used to cook potatoes and ever since i havent looked back, 15min (bc i cook on low settings) and theyre always perfect, no poking no boiling just heat
I didn't get that from technology connections, but now I'm definitely trying it out, if it works, I'm never boiling them again
Shouldn’t you still be poking them?
I've only ever used a microwave for potatoes. But I do poke them with a fork to facilitate the steam moving out from the middle as once or twice they've gone kaboom and I had a steel box filled with fluffy starch.
I feel obliged to say how my experiment went: I used peeled potatoes, no poking, cut in quarts , I microwaved them for 2x5mins +2mins while shuffling them around in between and they came out pretty good, 2x7.5 mins should be enough for the first time I guess.
🇨🇱
For me, it's about 1 minute per potato. If Y put in 5 potato's, it's 5 minutes timing.
And as someone said, poking with a fork helps avoiding eventually exploding
Saludos de 🇨🇱
Would love to see some recipes that combine what you show here about microwaves with other tools to get better results faster. Like how you did dehydrating, or combining the microwave with say a toaster oven to do French fries or something.
One example I have is Twice-Baked potatoes. I "bake" potatoes through in the microwave first, then scoop out the insides, mash, replace, and then for the second bake I use the oven to get nice crispy-ness.
4:29 do not try it with apples unless you want plasma in your microwave but if you really do want apples only do it one at a time
Microwaves are convenient way of heating a bowl, which might heat up the food in it as well
Lmao
That's the wrong way around. Microwaves don't heat bowls - put a dry empty bowl in a microwave & try to heat it - it doesn't heat up. But, a plate or bowl gets warm/hot if there's food in it - the food heats the plate/bowl which helps redistribute the heat to other parts of the food.
You can definitely heat plates in the microwave - go put a plate in the microwave for 90 seconds and report back
@@nightjarflying i think ceramics and glass do heat up?
@@nightjarflying There's lots of less than optimal crockery that does directly heat up in a microwave - put some form of food in it that doesn't absorb microwaves as well (eg something frozen, something very dry etc) and you will find that the container is sometimes warmer than the food, or at least parts of the food.
The fact that it creates resonant standing waves on purpose is the most revelatory information I’ve ever heard about an appliance. It instantly gives me information to use when heating and placing food, and why stirring is so crucial. Amazing.
How microwaves work is something I should understand but this video told me things I did not understand very well. Excellent video!! Thanks
This has changed my view of microwaves. I’ll never look at it the same, I’ll only view it with admiration of how interesting and incredible this invention is
Excellent quality of vids....I knew how the microwave works at its core but never thought about how it would affect ice or moisture content of a food!! It's quite amazing that it can heat up water so fast but doesn't really work well on ice......
Also adorable animations as always.... :)
do not heat up water in the microwave, if you put in in too long and the water isn't disturbed in anyway it could explode when you try to take it out (super heated water).
same reason you shouldn't put eggs of any kind in the microwave.
Never in my life i would think id enjoy someone talking about a microwave for 8 minutes.
Thank you to Crazy Aarons for your thoughtful sponsorship of this channel and video! Fantastic collaboration. Love to see it!
Breaking a bit more into the wave mechanics for anyone interested:
When the waves bounce back from the wall, you essentially En up with two waves traveling the opposite way on the same path.
Electromagnetic waves have two "peaks", the one looking up is the crest while the one looking down it a trough.
Now, when two crests or troughs meet, their energy gets combined to make a "big peek", a crest or trough carrying the energy of both of the waves for that moment. However, if a crest and peek meet, they neutralize each other and the wave gets dampened in that point, essentially meaning there is little to no energy there.
And that's why there are "deadspots" in the microwave. A good way to see this is to put a whole bar of chocolate in the microcawe. You will see a pattern of molten and solid chocolate.
This video proves the value in understanding your equipment and the saying "a bad workman blames his tools". It's really important to thoroughly understand the tools you are working with and be aware of their limitations. This helps you get the most of out them.
Not only does the magnetron have a cool name, it's also made even cooler by the fact that it is a tiny particle accelerator!
It emits photons. I'm not sure this qualifies as a particle accelerator.
@@Ceelvain it is very literally a particle accelerator. It produces microwaves by accelerating electrons, the same principal that a synchrotron lightsource operates on.
Edit: I initially wrote photons when I meant electrons.
Nobody summons Magnetron! 😁
Micro waves to Magnetron as he powers up.
*in Holland and Germany it's called that!*
We chemists actually use something really similar in the lab, called an IR spectrometer. It's basically a microwave, except it can tell us exactly in which wavelength the vibrations happen. So we can use it to characterize unknown molecules. For example a carbonyl group (C=O) will always have a strong absorption at 1700, so if we detect that then we can be sure it has a part with a carbon oxygen bond.
Oh so that’s why it takes so long to defrost stuff in a microwave but only takes 10 seconds to heat up cold meat.
Microwave is usually an element on my online or gaming handles, so l felt the need to learn as much about them as l can for consistency sake.
A key tip about microwaving food is to avoid the center of the turntable if possible since the food in the axis of rotation is effectively stationary in the standing wave while the rim sweeps through the hot and cold spots. Also, don't just let frozen food stand when it's done cooking before eating, but in the middle of cooking as well. This gives the heat time to migrate deeper into the food and melt the ice so that it cooks more evenly.
cy33kkW
That’s why I bought a convection microwave by using both heating options at the same time I get great tasting food without that soggy rubbery food
Microwaves are mostly used to heat food, and indeed one particular microwave I had once said "Your food is ready" when the time ran out, which I thought was pretty presumptuous in two ways: that's you're heating food, and that it's ready. We've also used microwaves to heat other things, such as heat sources for applying to injured areas. We had a bag of something or other that heated up really nice in the microwave that I used on my back, alternating with ice, when it was injured on a few occasions.
I love watching videos like this because I have more random facts in my head to share at random times
Cooking pasta in the microwave was an absolute revelation to me.
In the past when I cooked pasta, I needed to get a pot, fill it with water and put it on the stove, turn on the stove and wait for the water to boil (staying near the stove for safety reasons), then _finally_ putting in the pasta and waiting another 10-ish mins for it to cook, then draining into a colander, and then serving in a bowl. Oh, and then having to wash a giant pot plus a colander afterwards. So, a lot of mental energy.
In comparison, for pasta for one, tip about 1cm deep into a tupperware container, fill most of the way with water plus your pinch of salt, nuke in the microwave for 7-10 mins depending on the shape (do not need to stay in kitchen during this time), tip out the water using the tupperware lid against the tub as a strainer, and then tip into bowl. Oh, and small tupperware container and lid can easily just be slotted into the dishawasher afterwards, no dramas! As somebody who cooks for one, absolute game changer in the staying-reasonably-consistently-fed department!
gotta love all that hot plastic in your spaghetti... hope you're doing that in a glass tupperware
So know I know why pizza taste different when I put in on the microwave.
It dries mushrooms out too!
Very useful first step in mushroom prep
Yes - eggplant too! Great tip.
I microwaved some ice, pulled it out thinking it was still gonna be solid ice, got splashed with boiling hot water instead 😭
The microave is the most underated kitchen appliance. Everyone says itmakes food bad or assoceiates it with leftovers or pre-cooked food. The microave is just AMAZING, I am alawys discover new ways to use. My best tip, its to not expect the same result as other apliances, and just try and see what happens.
Plus, it is amazing at "pancake-fing" thing that do not wnat to join, or wil get distroid when fliping: make a low moisture oatmeal in the microave, but instead of puting in a bowl, use a plate, flip it half way trought cooking, andd you will end up with an oatmeal pancaka, that requiers only one plate. The same thing can be aplied to any thing that you cold imagine being a pancake.
What will really bake your cookie is the connection between how magnetron ovens (that's how we call them in Dutch) work and how soap and sauces work.
Fats don't jiggle in the the flipping field; fats are a-polar. What you drew there were fatty acids. Fats are fatty acids bound to a backbone of glycerol. Neutral, a-polar. That's why they don't mix well with water. Unless you add an emulsifier. And fatty acids are emulsifiers; the "head" easily donates a H+ and is negatively charged, but the long long "tail" is so long that a-polar oils and fats can mix to that side of the molecule.
When you make mayo, you surround the polar molecules in your splash vinaigre with emulsifier (traditionally egg yolk) and suspend them in the oil.
When you do your dishes, you surround the a-polar molecules of the fats and oils on your dishes with emulsifier (traditionally dish soap) and suspend them in the dishwater.
Same thing. That's why the merger of Margarine Unie (a margarine company) and the Lever Brothers (a soap company) was chemically not at all weird. Today they are Unilever, one of the giants in the food industry.
When you take an oil or fat and break away the glycerol (by stirring it in a base like lye) you get soap or nasty tasting emulsifier.
Potashes (why you guys call K, potassium and not Kalium), are basic too. So when you're out camping and don't want stir up the biome with a modern constructed detergent, you can rub your dishes with the ashes of your fire and turn some of the oils and fats into soap. It won't perform as well as a modern detergent but it wil work... 🤔 There's this other cool UA-camr, MinuteEarth, this last nugget (and the history of phosphates that will come out when you pull this string in research) could be a nice collab video. 😘
And I was going to ask about my difficulties trying to melt butter.
As someone who loves cooking, I do use microwaves, but also despised them for most applications.
You've given me a new appreciation for leveraging their strengths vs focusing on their weaknesses.
So what's why some microwaves have the de-freeze option that turns it on and off at low power. It's just slowly trying to melt the ice without burning other parts. Always wondered why it's doing that rather than blasting at full power.
Microwaves can unfreeze frozen food so then you can cook it, you put it to low (about 200 watts) for as long as you need, can be 20 seconds can be more, and once it's not frozen anymore heat it up. Also, the cold spots will heat up because the food is on a turn table, that's why the microwave turns the food. I never had any cold spots in my food when heating it in the microwave, but I don't use the microwave to cook food, just to heat it if it's cold.
Hi I am a microwave expert that has been microwaving since I was 7 years old...The best way to cook anything especially if it is frozen is to Select the power level button, then Select number 5 which will lower the power to 50% of the normal power.
Make sure to extend the cooking time to make up for the lack of power, I typically go by around 75% extra time to what I would normally cook a specific food at.
The reason why this works is the same as what the video shared, More time for the heat to get to the center of the food AND not destroying the food in the process by high heat.
The fact that ice doesn't melt in microwave 🧐 was new to me .very cool video and pretty cool channel top image (all those food and logo in the middle one ).
Can't believe Demeter is making my potatoes heat unevenly out of divine spite.
Least petty Greek god curse.
You can measure the speed of light with a microwave oven since the distance between the centres of the two high-temperature regions in 2:40 is the complete wavelength. Moreover, the long wavelength makes it challenging to heat food evenly. Having a halogen oven in your house can help you reheat or cook food quickly and evenly.
Getting the frequency is non trivial. Sometimes, it's in the fine print somewhere on the microwave, and sometimes not.
Edit: it seems most microwaves operate at 2.45 GHz
@@pierrecurie Just like wifi if I'm not mistaken lol. Way lower wattage though :D
@@derAtze Yes.
@@pierrecurie Yes, there are several reasons. 2.45GHz is part of the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band that can be used without a license while bellowing a certain power. The magnetron that operates at 2.45GHz is considered technologically mature. This makes it easy to manufacture and its size is small enough for home use. Albeit 433Mhz & 915Mhz would have been a better option for heating depth, the cost of redesigning and licensing them is significant, so choosing 2.45GHz was more practical.
explain how determining the frequency of light helps determine its speed?
Why nobody explains the stand function of microwave. 99% of the times, you can heat any food evenly and make it stay hot for longer if you let the food stand in the microwave after the timer runs out. It works even if you set the timer for less than 2 minutes but let it stand for 5 minutes. You can't get this result even if you set the time for 5 minutes or more but open the door immediately. Spray or keep some water too along with food to get even better results.
As a good rule of thumb, just remember to do just the opposite of everything above if you want to make something crispy or dehydrated, like chips; but if not, then do exactly as above. It's worth it, and you'll actually start loving your microwave!
An important thing to remember when using a microwave, the center of your microwave is either a hot or a cold spot (can actually swap at different heights as well) so if you place something in the center of the turntable, it will be either really hot or uncooked. It is best to place stuff off center in the microwave to avoid this issue, though if the stuff is big it can be difficult, in those cases you might want to split up the cooking into a couple shorter periods where you adjust the position between them. Also if you are heating up a liquid, you should have no problems with using a microwave as the liquid will mix due to convection as it gets heated, eliminating nearly all downsides, making microwaves actually one of the most efficient methods of effectively heating liquids, though be careful with water as sometimes it can be overheated and explode after being taken out of the microwave.
I also use the edge of the turntable for this exact reason.
That's it. I'm dehydrating apples with a machine that might kill me if I hit it with a hammer
Hot tip: when microwaving breaded things, put them on a paper towel. It gives the moisture somewhere to condense, and results in crispier food.
I do this with oily foods like Pizza, frozen taquitos, burritos too. The issue is that sometimes the paper towel sticks to the food, and most of the time you get the taste of the paper towel on your food (wet paper with a hint of chemical).
I still recommend this method, though. Worth using when preventing food sogginess is important.
You cover food in a paper towel to preserve texture, I cover food to avoid the _exploding pockets of gas that hurt like shit when they land on my skin_ while taking the plate out.
Exploding food is a thing due to pressure buildup of steam inside the food. Covering, whether to preserve crispiness or popping stuff, is a good idea.
That’s why I prefer my steam oven: 7 minutes to heat up anything, no funny consistencies, no weird taste… :)
A question I've been having lately, is, why does cheese seem to taste beter when it melts? I always thought it was purely a texture thing but I noticed even when cheese cools back down, it still tastes better than before. Might be a dumb question, I don't know, but may be a good idea for a video!
Is it pre-shredded cheese? There's a starchy layer on those to keep them from sticking. It's why Celiac's individuals cannot eat pre-shredded cheese unless it is gluten free.
After it melts, that starchiness is browned and/or hidden in the cheese. Either way, it changes the taste.
I have noticed a taste difference as well. But I don't see it in whole cubes of cheese like I do in melted shredded cheese.
@@thecountrychemist2561 Well, I can't tell right now, I'll have to check it out.
Frozen fat doesn't taste like much, and a lot of the fats in cheese are completely solid (aka frozen) at room temp. Once you've melted it, it's possible to really taste everything that's there and not just the little bit of salt on the surface. I agree there's probably a cute video with animated fats waiting to be made about it.
@@TysonJensen fa(c)ts
I've found the opposite is true for butter, melted butter just doesn't taste as good as cold butter
As a Kid I always asked my Self why Food gets Cold but Liquid gets Hot
The funny thing is, the concept for microwaves came about in WWII when an engineer was fixing up one of the radar facilities in Britain, only to find out it was on the whole time because the chocolate bar in his pocket melted entirely.
I bought my first microwave in 1978 for $600. It had dials, not buttons. No turntable, but a temperature probe. And it was HUGE. I bought my first color TV at the same time. It was (of course) a cathode ray, 19" for $178. My first VCR in 1980 for $1,000 (the remote had a cord for pause/play) and my first VHS camcorder for $1,000. My first blank VHS tape was $65, and there were no video rental stores yet; you could only record broadcast tv. I bought all of these things at Shillito's (Macy's) and still retain the receipts.
0:14 I didn't know you had access to the big red button.
Literally the best video I've seen on microwaves ovens, at least in relation to the interaction with food.
0:45 sees the magnetron input on right side, and animates the wavelengths coming in from the left.
Love Demeter's cameo in the video!
Another fun fact about microwaves is that they contain a capacitor that, when tampered with by DIY hobbyists (even when the microwave is unplugged!!), kills them instantly...whee!
That was informative and enjoyable.
By way of thanks, I watched the whole commercial promotion -- which is not my custom -- and I took it seriously. I'm not in the market right now, but I have some grandchildren, so I made notes. Crazy Aaron's seems like a sensible outfit.
Yay! It's the best when we're able to partner with brands we are personally really passionate about. Their stuff is seriously awesome (their new "liquid glass" putty is the current favorite in our house...)
Basically, everything has a natural frequency at which it vibrates. A microwave is fixed to generate waves of the same frequency as water and oils(Since microwave isn't just one frequency, but a range of frequencies). As our food contains lots of oils and water, they warm up.
EDIT: If you are interested to learn more, check the reply to this comment
MORE SCIENCE: This phenomenon is also called resonance, when a wave causes another body of the same frequency to vibrate more or less. For example, when you are on a swing, you exert force at a specific time to make it go faster and that same force at another specific time can reduce the speed. Microwaves have the frequency similar to natural frequency of water and oils and when it interacts with them, its similar to when the force makes the swing go faster. In this case, the molecule vibrates faster. Since temperature is just the measure of how fast a molecule is vibrating, the food heats up. Hope it helps🙂
Yes, but actually no. The natural frequency of vibration you mentioned is infrared (bonds bounce like springs). Microwaves are another type of resonance: Rotation.
@@fca003 oh, thanks man. More knowledge never hurts
I like to set the power level low and increase the cook time. Gives food time to distribute the heat more evenly without being teased by food in front of me
Feels like a lot less waiting having something in the microwave for 5 minutes on low than 1 minute on high and 4 minutes of food sitting in front of me before it's safe to eat
Also fun fact, magnetrons don't have variable output. Lower power settings just cycle it on and off for varying lengths of time
Best thing about a microwave is the consistency. I get perfect broccoli every time to the second!
This channel is fantastic!
Thanks for the good work you guys do.
some microwave ovens have wave stirrers which seem to help with the standing waves issue
This is genuinely one of the best explanations of how microwaves work for cooking. It even beats some I’ve seen by physics channels. And thank you for acknowledging that they don’t *just* heat up water!
"im a sucker for things that are weird and misunderstood"
me: 😄
I like using microwaves to heat up the inside of a food before turning to the air fryer to heat up the outside and crispify it. Speeds up the cooking process without too much sacrifice for some things.
Totally agree - I think it is a great tool for getting leftovers up to temp before using a different cooking method!
I've done that with frozen burritos. Nuke and then oven bake. Of course a MW is an oven.
Really? My microwave heats the outside not the middle 😅
This is certainly the best video about microwaves that i've ever seen.
Simple, right to the point and with a pretty accessible language.
Omg THANK YOU for explainibg that microwaves dont just effecr water, its always misrepresented and as a science aspie it always bothwrs me
Oh damn spelling misteaks but hey at least I got attention from min earth
I'm dyslexic
Dumb fact, ActionLabs made me aware about how you can't microwave small ants because they're smaller than the microwaves.
I love microwaves for the fast and easy convenience! I hate spending a lot of time cooking.
I even got so good at making use of a microwave, I would joke I was a "gourmet microwave chef" lol
Adding water to certain leftovers like spaghetti is def one of my fav tricks I use. Makes a HUUGE difference.
yes! it’s so underrated and underused as a cooking appliance and so many people don’t understand how powerful it can be for cooking certain things
My favorite way to make scrambled eggs is in the microwave. It takes longer than doing it on the stove, but the consistency is always way more airy and fluffy than if I did it in a pan.
Bleghh
Eeww
Did you know: the clock on a microwave uses more electricity than its primary purpose.
*Casually jiggles food molecules 4.9 billion times per second*
is- is that DEMETER FROM HADES GAME AT 2:04 I JUST SAW?????
You saw it too!!
I agree… as someone who ate lava and regretted it for days… microwaves can create lava…
Thanks for the info about microwave oven basic principles. I hope you'll occasionally make more videos featuring microwave cooking tips. For instance, the effect of reducing the power and when to do so.
Personally, I'm not finicky about food texture. (It's all good.) Nor blandness, because it's easy to add spices. My main concerns are nutritional value, avoiding toxins & carcinogens & excessive calories, and minimizing labor.
Okay to be Franklin Delano Rosevelt with you, you can get ice to melt as once the air causes some to melt into water, water will get heated and melt the ice and the more the ice melts, the faster the process will be.
Usually videos like this are about how microwaves are bad for you - I’m so glad it was just about the science of how it works!
Love the Hades styled Demeter!
2:14 "btw reality is 3D, more complicated and less cute than this"
Ah yes, a problem that every otaku is well familiar with.
cringe
Now it makes sense, the microwave goes round in a circle to cover the cold spots and make the food heat up thoroughly
I use microwave to bake cake + airfryer to “crustify” the exterior: it is now my preferred method for a fast and weird cake when i have sweet cravings
No idea why this is in my recommended, but the drawn style is pretty neat.
5:13 *C A N N I B A L I S M*
My way of avoiding cold spots... is heating slowly, lowering the heating factor and increasing the time factor makes the food able to transmit the heat within itself and the water molecules aren't exited enough to evaporate too much
I was pleasantly surprised how good this video is.
So many people have very little real knowledge of everyday things.
TY for making this video.
Thank you for effectively explaining what I was trying to explain to people for years: you are not irradiating food by using a microwave. I can't believe how many folks around me believe that.
The one thing i learned while in physics class is just dont put the plate with the food in the middel of the turntabel, if you set it off center as much as possibel your food will wander through the hot and cold spots and heat evenly. Its soooo simple i m baffeld it wasnt recommended in this video
While this is intuitive, the science that's currently out there doesn't actually support it (although there is admittedly very little good-quality research on this) so I didn't include it as an evidence-backed tip. But if it works for you, in your microwave, go for it!
As someone who did academic research in Microwave technology, I find this video surprisingly well made and properly presented.
2:05 Love the little Demeter drawing here
I use that thing almost daily. Yet this teached me so many new things. Thanks for making it so easy to understand!
This is now one of my favorite videos ever. I love seeing everyday items in a whole new light.
I must do an experiment. What happens if you smash a microwave with a jackhammer as it cooks chicken as i smoke a cigarette? I think i have a disease.
Can't wait to see Magnetron makes his/her/its debut in the Transformers Universe
Lights having polarity and a magnetic feild is blowing my mind right now. And the idea that another video on microwaves said they safe cuz the wavelength of light is too big to fit through the holes on the door, is really fucking me up.