Can someone breakdown the appliance microwaves for me like I’m 5. I have a degree in biology I understand science yet somehow this concept escaped me. I know and understand the mesh pattern design on the door of a microwave is because the holes are too small for microwaves to escape. However I’m just not grasping how food gets hot and soooo fast. Especially the whole raw meat CANNOT go in a microwave but my microwave can burn the fuck out of things within 2 minutes, so why can’t we microwave meat? At this point you’re all probably questioning my understanding of science but somehow my education avoided microwaves and how they’re (what I’m assuming) is ineffective to killing microbes?
In: Physics
You could microwave meat in principle, but it won’t heat up uniformly – some parts will get cooked too well while others stay too cold. To cook meat you want a more uniform heat.
The microwave radiation is particularly good at jiggling water and oil molecules, which translates into heat. So the microwave heats the water/oil in the food, which is why some foods cook better/faster than others.
you can microwave meat. Microwaves are just another form of radiate heat, just like infrared. If anything they’re lower energy light.
But the problem is the microwaves cook to fast. Just like you can’t just blast your oven to finish a cake, or have your stove on ultra high, the microwave on full is a problem for dishes.
The light is absorbed very readily by water, and only water. And we push a thousand+ watts into just the meal. It’s like trying to cook a steak using a blow torch. You’ll ruin the part under the flame, but the part an inch away is barely warmed.
So you have to do ‘low power’. This turns the microwave on for a moment, then off. Lets the heat diffuse into the meal, then turns the microwave on again.
However we like to use the microwave for quick meals, so it’s not often a frequently used or convenient feature.
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