What is microwave
Some call it magic
It’s been called the wave of the future — today. Some call it magic. But everyone who has had a close encounter with a microwave thinks it is the greatest thing since the discovery of fire — and a whole lot cleaner.
To set the record straight right from the beginning, the microwave oven is not intended to totally replace conventional cooking means. It will, however, cook anywhere from 75-90% of foods prepared by conventional cooking methods — more, in fact, depending on personal preference as to how one might like something cooked.
What is microwave cooking?
First, you must realize how totally different cooking with microwaves is. Heat is not used as in the conventional meaning of cooking — still, we were raised associating cooking with heat. In microwave cooking, heat and temperature are replaced by energy and time.
Microwave energy is a unique type of high-frequency radio energy. It is generated in the microwave oven from electrical energy, in a vacuum tube called a magnetron. The energy enters the oven and normally is distributed by a rotating blade inside the oven.
Microwaves are not like X-rays, cosmic rays or nuclear radiation. A non-ionizing form of energy, microwaves are located between radio waves and infrared waves on the electromagnetic spectrum. Non-ionizing means foods cooked in the microwave will not become radioactive.
Once transmitted, microwaves have three significant characteristics. First, they pass through glass, paper, plastic and ceramics, without affecting the substances’ structure or the course of the waves. Secondly, microwaves are reflected by metal; therefore metal cannot be used. And third, microwaves are absorbed by food, water molecules in particular.
When microwaves come in contact with water molecules, the molecules are set into motion. The movement creates friction, which in turn produces heat, which cooks the food. In conventional cooking, we’re used to the food being surrounded by heat — which must penetrate the food in order to cook it.
