The microwave oven has become such an essential part of our daily lives that we can’t imagine life without it. With its help, you can very easily and quickly heat up (and sometimes even cook) a huge number of dishes, while the microwave takes up little space in the kitchen. Despite all its versatility and usefulness, there are several rules that we must follow to keep it properly working and to keep your entire kitchen safe from going up in flames.
So, here’s a short list of things you should never microwave.
1. Sauce without a lid
Let’s start off with a “non-lethal” product that won’t blow up your microwave. If you heat up any sauce in an open container, it will explode on the inside, requiring hours of cleanup!
2. Sponge
You may have heard that heating a dirty sponge in the microwave for 30 seconds kills all its germs. However, this method has a huge drawback—your kitchen will stink so much that you will not care if the germs are dead. Just throw away the old sponge and put a new one by the sink.
3. Styrofoam containers
If you order takeout in Styrofoam containers, it is better to plop it on a plate or into a microwave-safe container. Since Styrofoam is a type of plastic, it should not be heated in a microwave oven.
4. Fruits
Fruit is definitely not something you should microwave. Grapes explode, and raisins can catch fire or smear the microwave surface so much that you can’t save it.
5. Hot pepper
Hot peppers, especially dried ones, are also unsuitable for microwave heating. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers, evaporates under high temperatures, and the resulting vapor is very harmful.
6. Eggs
Everyone has thought about boiling an egg in the microwave at least once. However, before you start experimenting, we’d advise you to rethink it. Inside the shell, the egg will heat up to such incredible temperatures, which will eventually cause a strong explosion right inside the microwave. If you don’t want to spend the rest of the day scrubbing off the dried yolk, it’s better not to do this.
7. Metal utensils and aluminum foil
It’s commonly known that heating metal objects in the microwave is not recommended and could be very dangerous. Usually, this reaction is accompanied by strong sparks, and if the dishes are also made of aluminum, then they can catch fire. Remember to always use special dishes for the microwave oven.
8. Water
Do not try to boil water in a microwave oven. Due to certain thermophysical peculiarities, nuking water will not make it look like it’s boiling. However, when disturbed, that cup of hot water may pretty much explode in your face, so it’s crucial to stir the water every now and then. But just to be safe, don’t even try it.
9. Bread
Unlike water, it’s not dangerous to microwave bread, but if you think it’s going to make it crunchy, you’ll be extremely disappointed. If the bread is in there for more than 10 seconds, it’ll get soft and soggy almost instantly. If you want to dry out stale bread, using the oven rather than the microwave is still better.
10. Plastic
Some plastic items are microwave-safe, but they should have a label that says so. If you can’t find anything like that, the plastic will simply melt inside the oven and be very difficult to clean afterward. As mentioned before, very thin plastic, like baggies, may even catch on fire.
