Why does reheated food cool down faster than freshly cooked food, even when it’s piping hot?
In: Physics
Microwaves (and ovens too, but those to a lesser extent) cook food from the *outside in*. This means that if you don’t have a good way to get all the heat to the center, it will all be on the surface, and will cool down quickly. When cooking the first time, you make sure that everything is actually cooked, so by definition of being cooked, you’ve heated it all the way through.
It doesn’t. Typically with reheated food, the plate is reheated as well and thus serves as a heatsink keeping your food hot longer.
Perhaps at a restaurant, you’re more excited to eat your newly served meal, and then in turn perceive time as slower waiting for it to cool.
Or maybe (depending on the food you’ve ordered) the original preparation of your dish was grilled or oven-cooked, warming the outside first and then gradually the inside. Whereas a microwave actually cooks from the inside out. If you put a 1 1/4″ steak on a 700° grill for 3.5mins per side, the outside will be seared yet the internal temperature will be around 135-140° F.
Go home and put that same steak in the microwave for a minute and you can easily get the inside to 180° F
Latest Answers