How many times a day do you decide to use a microwave instead of an oven? It’s probably multiple times a day. A microwave can be your saving grace, especially if you’re reheating leftovers from the previous night. The best thing about microwaves is that they usually take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the food that you’re cooking.
Another good thing about the microwave is it’s a time saver. When you’re leaving for work or only have a few minutes to spare before an event, a microwave can heat up your water for your tea or a bowl of some food so quickly. If you’re cooking something complex in the microwave, then you might need to know how hot the microwave gets so that you know how long to cook it. Here’s more information about how hot a microwave gets inside when you’re using it.
What is a Microwave
In your home, what you refer to as a microwave is actually known as a microwave oven (View on Amazon). It’s an electric oven that heats and cooks food by using electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This causes polar molecules in the food to rotate and this movement produces thermal energy. The thermal energy and rotation process is known as dielectric heating. Your microwave oven heats food quickly and efficiently because the movement of these molecules can happen fairly quickly, especially in a homogeneous, high-water food item.
Microwave ovens are common in kitchens and they’re popular for reheating cooked foods and a variety of other different foods. They are also great for heating otherwise slowly prepared food like hot butter, fats, chocolate, or porridge. These are foods that if cooked on the stove would take an extended amount of time They’re very different from conventional ovens because they do not directly brown or caramelize the food. Although they aren’t used often in professional cooking, in your home with your family or for yourself, they’re perfectly acceptable.
How Hot Does a Microwave Get
How hot your microwave gets isn’t straightforward. What dictates how hot your microwave gets is the wattage. The wattage of your microwave is the most important thing because it’s very essential to any cooking that you will do in it. It’s similar to knowing the temperature that your oven needs to be at when you’re baking.
On average, the wattage of a microwave is 700 to 1200 watts. This is the basis for cooking times and most recipes that are cooked in the microwave unless their specified differently. This is very similar to the average oven temperature of 350 degrees in many recipes. What’s kind of difficult is that many people don’t know the wattage of their microwave and this may cause them to not cook things in the microwave correctly the first time.
If you want to find your oven wattage, look on the inside of the door, on the back of the oven, or underneath the oven so that you can see the number. If you want to know what to do with the watts, you should know that for each 100 Watts your microwave is over the average of 700, you should decrease the cooking time or power level by 10%. This means if your microwave is 900 watts, then you’ll need to decrease the cooking time by 20%.
Specifically, there are degrees in which each wattage of your microwave is associated with. For example if your microwave is 700 watt, this is like cooking at 350 degrees. If your microwave is 800 watts then this is like cooking at 450 degrees. At 900 watts your microwave will cook at 525 degrees and at 1000 Watts your microwave a cook at 575 degrees. At 1100 Watts, which is one of the highest wattage that your microwave comes in, this is like cooking at 625 degrees. The higher the wattage is, the less time you’ll need to cook your food, so keep this in mind so you don’t burn it.
There are few rules that you want to keep in mind when you’re cooking in the microwave because of the heat. If your food is denser then you’ll need to cook it for longer. For example potatoes will take longer than microwaves and broccoli. If you’re cooking a liquid, then this way heat up pretty fast especially if it has sugar or fat in it. You also want to keep in mind that you should dice up your food and small pieces so that it will cook faster.
Also not many people know this, but you should drain between batches the liquids that you use. And they will quickly accumulate in the food that you place in the microwave so you might want to drain it just to be safe. Also, if you’re cooking a casserole then you want the thickest parts of the food to be outside of the casserole so that the center doesn’t burn.
Overall, cooking in the microwave is super easy and convenient but you want to keep in mind the wattage of your microwave so that you don’t burn it. Once you know the wattage it will make your time cooking in the microwave a lot easier.
What Does Your Microwave Do When It Gets Too Hot
Because your microwave can get very hot, it’s important to know what it does if it gets too hot. Since your microwave oven works by producing energy waves that make the water molecules excited to warm the food from the inside out, you’ll definitely want to know what the heat does to the microwave and with the microwave does if the heat is too much. Microwaves are usually safe option because they don’t you met the heat into your kitchen, but it can still overheat unless it has safety features that prevent this.
Some of the safety features that you can have should be included in your manual which you should have. If you didn’t keep the manual then you can usually go on the manufacturer’s website and download a new one.
When are the safety features that are often included in your microwave is an automatic shut-off function. This shuts off controls when the temperature of the microwave source increases too high. This protects the microwave itself and prevents overheating that can lead to a mechanical or electrical failure. The microwave stores will reach a specified temperature that causes it to shut down and this feature still allows the timer on the clock to operate. Otherwise, your microwave will shut down to prevent any fires, which is a good thing to have in your kitchen.
Also, your microwave may still overheat food. If the heat from boiling water is overheated, the food item stuck in the microwave will then cause the sensors to detect this to trigger an automatic shutoff. You should always be aware of the heat settings on your microwave and handle what you take out of the microwave with care.
It’s also important that the microwave fan cools the microwave source, which emits the heat needed to cook the food. This is the sound that you hear when the microwave turns on. If the fan fails, the microwave might not run. This is a precaution so that it doesn’t overheat and light on fire. You might need to replace your microwave when this fan stops working because this isn’t something you can fix yourself.
You now know how hot your microwave can get depending on the wattage of the microwave that you own. Your food should be cooked better now and you should burn less things. Make sure that you have a working microwave so that it can take the proper safety precautions to ensure that it doesn’t overheat and be a danger to your home.
You Need to Know This About Your Microwave
Making sure that your microwave is working properly in your kitchen is important. There are a lot of other components in your kitchen that allows you to get your food make and be efficient as a home owner.
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