"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
Bluesea wrote:
It's a dangerous possibility and it happened to me in 2003 when I was
microwaving 24 oz of water in a 32 oz Pyrex glass measuring cup (wide
opening) on a turntable (moving, not still). Maybe the water remained too
stable despite the movement of the turntable, a manual wind-up model that
I
had used without incident many times before under similar conditions to
"boil" water for tea. Anyway, the water went from stillness straight to
BLAM! and nearly all the water was blown out of the cup.

If you do this regularly, get a diamond engraver and put a couple lines
down the side of the cup on the inside. This will provide nucleation
points to start boiling.

You can also buy a "boil over preventer" or "pot watcher" made of
acid-etched glass. They used to be free handouts at the Corning museum.
Problem is that you can't leave one in a measuring cup all the time
because
it's displacing some of whatever you're measuring.

Thanks, that's good to know.

I don't do it anymore, however. My tastebuds are improving . I got a
Mini-Ibis electric kettle earlier this year while I was in LA on a road
trip, dying for something good to drink at night in my room, and now use it
instead of a microwave. I have to let it cool, of course, but I just pour
the water into an open container, currently a large polycarbonate mug, and
let the water sit while I go do something else.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

On Dec 8, 11:57 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Fran wrote:


No, the reasons are _very_ important. Once we know the reasons, we can
prevent it from happening.
--scott


We can prevent it from happening by not using a microwave to make
tea. G

Bluesea wrote:
"SN" wrote in message
...
i did a double blind test on myself - heating water itself in the mw,
without any nucleation enablers,
and the microwaved water tasted different, and the tea infused tasted
different,
not major
but distinctly different and to me somewhat un-enjoyable


http://tgfop.wordpress.com/2007/03/0...ling-electric/.

"Flat" is a good description and I agree.

Okay, now try making tea this way, putting it into a thermos, and shaking
it for 20 seconds or so. Pour it into a cup and try it. Is it less flat?

This is a quick way to re-introduce some dissolved oxygen.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Fran wrote:
On Dec 8, 11:57 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Fran wrote:

No, the reasons are _very_ important. Once we know the reasons, we can
prevent it from happening.

We can prevent it from happening by not using a microwave to make
tea. G

I wish I could, but I am often on the road working in offices and facilities
where the microwave is the only solution. People look at me strangely enough
for using loose tea and an infuser.

I have on occasion made green tea from the near-boiling water that comes
out of Continental water-cooled radio transmitters, though.

I agree that microwaved water is a little flatter, and I think it is indeed
because of the dissolved oxygen issue, but I'd like a solution. I pour tea
between cups a few times and I think that minimizes the differences, but
I'd like to hear other experiences.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I'm always amazed at how some people seem insistent on building a
better mousetrap when it comes to preparing tea. I don't understand
the need to make it in the microwave or the coffee maker or pod
machine, when all that is really needed is a kettle and some fresh
cold water. Keep it simple and don't fix what ain't broke.

While I don't prepare water in the microwave, something about your opinion
strikes me as needlessly emotional and reactionary. I doubt very much that
heating with microwaves vs heating with electricity or gas conductively
through metal is going to "impart" flavor into the water.

The theory here rests on the fact that someone would excessively boil the
water in the microwave and therefore "deoxygenate" it. Assuming they didn't
do this, nobody here has posited a scientific reason (with any empirical
proof or at the very least evidence) as to why the water would taste any
different.

On Dec 10, 9:54 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Okay, now try making tea this way, putting it into a thermos, and shaking
it for 20 seconds or so. Pour it into a cup and try it. Is it less flat?

This is a quick way to re-introduce some dissolved oxygen.
--scott

well i think that would be very inefficient in re-introducing a fair
amount of 'air' into the liquid.
as i see it it would only create lots of frothing from the splashing
and collision of liquid and the walls. i personally dont like frothy
tea.
also thinking about liquids with bubbles in them, shaking it wont put
more bubbles in, but just excite them out of the liquid.

Slint Flig wrote:
The theory here rests on the fact that someone would excessively boil the
water in the microwave and therefore "deoxygenate" it. Assuming they didn't
do this, nobody here has posited a scientific reason (with any empirical
proof or at the very least evidence) as to why the water would taste any
different.

I think the issue is that it's impossible _not_ to excessively boil the
water in the microwave, because it comes to a fast boil so abruptly.

Remember a typical microwave is throwing a kilowatt of forward power out,
and it's all going directly into your one cup of water. That's a hell of
a lot of heat in a small place.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Dec 11, 4:52 am, "Slint Flig" wrote:
I'm always amazed at how some people seem insistent on building a
better mousetrap when it comes to preparing tea. I don't understand
the need to make it in the microwave or the coffee maker or pod
machine, when all that is really needed is a kettle and some fresh
cold water. Keep it simple and don't fix what ain't broke.

While I don't prepare water in the microwave, something about your opinion
strikes me as needlessly emotional and reactionary. I doubt very much that
heating with microwaves vs heating with electricity or gas conductively
through metal is going to "impart" flavor into the water.


If you say so ....

On Dec 8, 8:42 pm, Fran wrote:

We can prevent it from happening by not using a microwave to make
tea. G


As I posted on Sept 25th 2007 (see archives) "During my Unilever
Research
days my team spent a few months trying to make a decent cup of tea
using a range of microwave ovens, waters and containers. Commercial
confidentiality and a fast failing memory preclude my giving details
but suffice to say the microwave method was never included on the
pack
instructions (in the UK at least)."

Various teas made in various ways with a range of waters in a series
of microwave oven types and powers (clean not with kitchen smells
included) all failed to match the quality of control teas brewed in
the traditional British way. While Marketing Dept dearly wanted a
microwave "claim" we could not deliver. This was sharp end not blue
sky so we never homed in on the science, nor yet have I subsequently
heard anything that convinces me of the real reason(s) for the failure
of the microwave oven to produce a good cuppa - it just don't.

Nigel at Teacraft

On Dec 13, 12:11 pm, Nigel wrote:

As I posted on Sept 25th 2007 (see archives) "During my Unilever
Research
days my team spent a few months trying to make a decent cup of tea
using a range of microwave ovens, waters and containers. Commercial
confidentiality and a fast failing memory preclude my giving details
but suffice to say the microwave method was never included on the
pack
instructions (in the UK at least)."

Various teas made in various ways with a range of waters in a series
of microwave oven types and powers (clean not with kitchen smells
included) all failed to match the quality of control teas brewed in
the traditional British way. While Marketing Dept dearly wanted a
microwave "claim" we could not deliver. This was sharp end not blue
sky so we never homed in on the science, nor yet have I subsequently
heard anything that convinces me of the real reason(s) for the failure
of the microwave oven to produce a good cuppa - it just don't.

Nigel at Teacraft

Thanks, Nigel.