What has changed?
Discussion
Hi Guys,
Ever since my Parents bought our first microwave I have been conditioned to never put anything metallic in to it. Obviously, having tried it for myself, I know what happens!
Last night, I was having a conversation with my stepson and he happened to mention that he had bought a new lunch container, made of stainless steel, which was microwave safe. He was a bit sceptical at first, but on trying it out, no sparks, no explosion, just heated food.
Can anyone please tell me what has happened to microwave ovens or stainless steel to allow this?
Thanks for all positive responses.
Ever since my Parents bought our first microwave I have been conditioned to never put anything metallic in to it. Obviously, having tried it for myself, I know what happens!
Last night, I was having a conversation with my stepson and he happened to mention that he had bought a new lunch container, made of stainless steel, which was microwave safe. He was a bit sceptical at first, but on trying it out, no sparks, no explosion, just heated food.
Can anyone please tell me what has happened to microwave ovens or stainless steel to allow this?
Thanks for all positive responses.
I don’t think anything has changed, it’s just good practice to not put metal objects in a microwave in general.
Metal both reflects and is excited by microwave energy. The internal casing and the shielding on the door will be metal, so intentionally, microwaves are bounced around inside the compartment in order to cook the food more evenly.
The shape of a metal bowl may have the effect of focusing microwave energy into the food, which could be seen as a beneficial feature. Test it and see how quickly it boils a litre of water compared to say, a glass container. It’s probably best not to have a metal bowl close to the sides of the microwave though, or you could get arcing between them.
The arcing effect is also dependent on the shape of the metal object. So you’ll likely get arcing between the tines of a fork for example, but not a unitary object like a knife. Either way they’ll get too hot to safely pick up very soon.
Metal both reflects and is excited by microwave energy. The internal casing and the shielding on the door will be metal, so intentionally, microwaves are bounced around inside the compartment in order to cook the food more evenly.
The shape of a metal bowl may have the effect of focusing microwave energy into the food, which could be seen as a beneficial feature. Test it and see how quickly it boils a litre of water compared to say, a glass container. It’s probably best not to have a metal bowl close to the sides of the microwave though, or you could get arcing between them.
The arcing effect is also dependent on the shape of the metal object. So you’ll likely get arcing between the tines of a fork for example, but not a unitary object like a knife. Either way they’ll get too hot to safely pick up very soon.
Only barely related but this is a great kid friendly experiment making plasma in a microwave with grapes.
https://youtu.be/wCrtk-pyP0I
https://youtu.be/wCrtk-pyP0I
This is quite interesting actually, my scenario; on the metal grill bits that are in the microwave to put the food containers on, it has rubber feet. However, one of these has worn away, and not when we use that grill there is the sparking etc that takes place around this exposed metal foot. It's obviously made of the same metal as the whole grill piece, just that the end where the rubber foot goes is exposed and resting on the metal turn table.
I'm guessing this sparking is a really bad thing, so we don't use that grill anymore.
Any thoughts from the brains in this corner of PH?
I'm guessing this sparking is a really bad thing, so we don't use that grill anymore.
Any thoughts from the brains in this corner of PH?
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