Tips for microwave cooking | What the Tech?

Tips for microwave cooking | What the Tech?

Mushy veggies, pizza crust that is hard as a brick, it happens when you microwave food. Here are some tech tips to perfect microwave cooking.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — If you’ve ever cooked a frozen microwave dinner, you may have noticed the veggies get a little mushy while the meat is still cold in the middle.

I was today year’s old when I heard that it makes a difference where you put the food in the microwave. Food on the outside of the rotating plate gets the most heat. It’s sort of counterintuitive to how we think that, like a traditional oven, the center of the rack gets the most heat.

Microwaves generate electromagnetic waves that excite water molecules creating heat. But, the waves lead to uneven heating and the center of the microwave is often a ‘cold spot’.

Food placed on the outside of the tray receives more consistent energy. That’s the science.

To test it out, I popped in some frozen pizza rolls, arranging them per the directions on the package. After a minute and 15 seconds, I checked the temperature using a digital thermometer. The rolls on the outside were cooked to 195°. The two in the middle were 183°.

It makes the biggest difference when heating up a frozen meal with a meat and vegetables. By putting the meat on the outside with vegetables in the center, you’ll get a more even cook
without drying out the meat.

It might not seem like a lot, but for some food, 2° is the difference between cooked and unsafe to eat. It really does make a difference to put the meat on the outside of the rotating plate.

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