Ah, microwave. This is an invention that we all know and love, and for some of us, it is something we cannot do without. This modern convenience uses high-power lamps to heat food in minutes, bringing those delicious holiday leftovers back to life. Seriously, what is the festive feast without eating in a few days?
When the first household microwave oven came out in 1955, Americans had been "using nuclear weapons" to make food for more than 50 years. Prior to this, it was a huge invention used to improve the British radar system to detect fighter jets during World War II.
One day, an engineer named Percy LeBaron Spencer thought: "Hey, this is a high-power heat source. Let's try to cook food with it!" He tried to use the microwave popcorn and boiled eggs called the magnetron at the time. And it worked.
Fast forward to 1970, and "microwave oven" has become a word on every American's mouth. More than 40,000 units were sold that year alone. Now, the microwave is a compact and user-friendly gadget that we know and love, not the size of the first refrigerator.
In other words, can microwave ovens be used even safely for food? During the cooking process, do we lose nutrients from turkey dinners and holiday ham? Harvard Health's doctors gave the answer. We have the skill of reheating.
Microwaves can use energy to cook like radio waves, but light waves are shorter. According to the Harvard Health Center, these waves only affect electrically asymmetric water and molecules. The energy of the microwave causes these molecules to vibrate and quickly accumulate heat.
The US Food and Drug Administration supervises microwave safety and updates these regulations every year. It states that if used properly, microwave ovens are generally safe-in other words, do not put aluminum foil or metal there).
As far as health is concerned, “microwave cooking is actually one of the most unlikely to destroy nutrition,” said Dr. Anthony Komarov, editor-in-chief of Harvard Health Letters.
No matter what heating method is used, the nutrients in the food will be decomposed due to heat. However, because the microwave cooking time is shorter, they can better preserve vitamins such as C, the fastest decomposing vitamin, and other nutrients that are usually decomposed when heated.
Steaming vegetables in the microwave may also be healthier than boiling vegetables because nutrients tend to leak into the cooking water. But for foods like raw meat, it is best to cook in the oven or fry it in a pan. Use the microwave oven only for defrosting and reheating.
Cook every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in liquids such as gravy and turn over solids, such as baked potatoes, to reheat evenly throughout the meal.
Add a little sauce, water or stock to your meal to prevent it from drying out. If you have leftover mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese from Thanksgiving, consider adding some milk to keep it moist before putting it in the microwave.
Cover your plate with a wet towel. This will help prevent food from drying out and keep your microwave oven free of debris.
Transfer the food to a microwave-safe dish. The USDA recommends staying away from paper bags, which may contain meltable glue, and away from plastic containers. Of course, there is no metal. Your best choice is a ceramic or glass plate, maybe even the one you cook a casserole for the first time.