How Microwaves Work

microwave

Microwave ovens are a great way to make meals quickly. They save you time and energy by cooking food more evenly and without waiting for the oven to heat up first.

The microwave was invented by Percy Spencer in 1946, according to a Wikipedia article on the topic. The story goes that while testing a military magnetron at Raytheon, Spencer placed a candy bar near it and watched as it melted.

A microwave oven works by sending tiny, high-powered radio waves through food to cook it more rapidly than a conventional oven. It does this by energizing the water molecules in the food, so it cooks from the inside out.

However, how much the microwaves penetrate into the food depends on the size and shape of the item. If you’re cooking something small and thin (such as a fruit pie) the microwave will be able to heat the liquids more efficiently, so the pie will cook from the inside out.

When you’re cooking a larger, heavier item (such as a joint of meat), the microwave can’t reach as far into the food and the waves will have to cook it from the outside in by conduction.

As long as you don’t cook things that are sensitive to microwaves — such as the eye or testes — you won’t get any serious health problems from using a microwave oven. It’s also important to know that microwave radiation is non-ionizing, which means it doesn’t change the chemical makeup of your food and doesn’t cause cancer or other health issues.