Vanilla 1.1.2 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
I was wondering if anyone could point me to instructions on the proper warm up procedure for a microwave. I couldn't find anything on it due to the general nature of the terms "warm up" and "microwave." Everything from cooking links to hospitals warming up blood for transfusions.
Thanks.
Somewhere on Panasonic's website one can find the proper instructions. But to save you the time of searching it out, I'll summarize them for you.
Put a small cup of water (Mini Dixie cups work well I've found) into the microwave and follow these steps
Start with the microwave on 1/5th of full power and run it for 15 seconds. Then bump up to 1/2 power and run it for 10 seconds. And finally run it on full power for 6 seconds.
Do these steps as quickly as possible to obtain the most efficiency.
And when finished, take the cup out and put your food in. Be careful because the water in the cup is likely to be hot.
Similar instructions are also in the manual for my GE microwave as well.
Most microwaves have a sequencing technique, so you can program in the warmup and let it run all at once, to eliminate pauses between the different power levels.
Like:
power = .2 time = 15
power = .5 time = 10
power = 1.0 time = 6
Start
As far as I can tell, it wont do any good to "warm up" your microwave. There is really not a such thing as thermal insulation in a microwave, the only insulation as far as I can tell is to shield the user from the rays emitted in the microwave itself, so if thermal insulation is non-existent, then what use is it to "warm up" your microwave?
you're correct in the fact that there is no thermal insulation on the microwave. However, it is extremely important to "warm up" your microwave, it can extend the life of your microwave by 4 years! When it is "warmed up" you are not actually warming up the microwave, but the water vapor in the air in the microwave. When it is properly heated it helps conduct heat and eases the workload of the microwave emitter.
And of course, if you don't believe the manufacturer's warm-up instructions, you can always try a quick little experiment yourself. (Though I'll tell you now that you'll be very surprised at what a difference it makes!)
Thanks for the insight.
I've often noticed that if I don't get something warm enough on the first try, when I put it back in to finish the cooking it takes less time and I often end up getting things too hot.
It all comes through so clearly now.
13
Be careful not to warm up too long, waves can reflect back into the microwave, this can destroy the main components.
Safety first!
14
Glad we could help!
15
I always thought you were #1 legat.
Hm... what's this on my nose? Anybody got a tissue? And some Purel?
I'm fine with keeping this place sycophant free.
16
I had a bad case of the sycophants in my nether regions last year, but a course of antibiotics cleared it right up.
i was listening to weebl and skoos podcast and heard a qeustion they said and was wondering if this is possible,
if u put plain paper in the microwave on it's own could it be possible to microwave out all the liquid so that it spontaeously combusts? (you have all the time in the world for this one)
As a note: I am a physics major and do in fact know what I am talking about.
A microwave is no different than a traditional radio transmitter (or transmitting portion of a two way radio) except in that it uses a much hight frequency and a different (more efficient, but requiring more voltage). Because of this, the environment around the antenna does not effect the ability of the antenna to transmit the energy. It is not possible to "warm" (with the intent of improving the efficiency, not necessarily raising the temperature) a microwave. Having warmer air does not reduce stress on the magnetron (the name of the antenna and frequency-generating element). The microwaves (not the instrument, but the waves) excite the atoms (make them move faster) in the food or object placed inside. This is not a thermal process, therefore warm air does not affect the process. The heated air does affect the food, but not enough to affect the microwave (as evidence of this claim: note the time to cook something in the microwave, as opposed to cooking in an oven).
It might also be worth noting the (extra?) stress on the microwave, as you are running it for an extra approximately 30 seconds with only a small cup of water (having such a small amount does affect the magnetron, as the waves do not do anything and do reflect and return to the antenna and mess up the internal processes) (the small cup is better than nothing, for the same reason).
The microwave cooks the things faster in the later part because the electrons are already excited (tho not to the extent you would like them to be).
Note: this is not intended as an argument, but rather an addition and calling of attention to facts that would affect the discussion.
Christopher Baker
1 to 16 of 16