isw wrote:
> In article >,
> "Pete C." > wrote:
>
>> Julie Bove wrote:
>>> Now I've seen it all! Just saw this commercial. Who in the world would
>>> need such a thing? And yet, I can see people who don't know how to cook
>>> buying this thing, thinking that it's a miracle like they said. If my
>>> grandma were alive, she would have bought it and probably raved about it!
>>>
>>> http://www.stonewave.com/
>>>
>>> I can remember buying microwave dishes when I first got my microwave, mainly
>>> because my grandma told me that I needed them. I quickly learned that I had
>>> wasted my money. My mom has a microwave but she uses hers in different ways
>>> than I do. For instance, if she is making instant mashed potatoes, she does
>>> the water in there. I find that it is much quicker and easier to do that on
>>> the stove! Then you don't have to deal with an unwieldy large bowl of
>>> boiling water. If I am heating canned vegetables, I put them in there.
>>> Angela and I generally eat them straight from the can but husband likes his
>>> hot. My mom always heats her canned veggies on the stove. I don't think
>>> she ever fell for the microwave dish thing. Maybe she bought the bacon
>>> cooker. I think I do remember seeing that.
>> I put stainless steel mixing bowls in my microwave, leave spoons in
>> stuff that needs periodic stirring, etc. and never have a single issue.
>> There was a lot of misinformation in the early days of microwaves, some
>> of it due to not thinking people could handle using metal properly in a
>> microwave, but now any microwave manual or cookbook gives the proper
>> directions for using metal in the microwave.
>
> The magnetron (thing that generates the microwaves) in early microwave
> ovens could be damaged by reflected energy from metal items in the oven
> cavity.
>
> Later on, the engineers figured out how to prevent that from happening.
> I think the change was made because the companies had better success
> making the devices idiot proof rather than trying to tell the idiots
> what not to do.
>
> In any case, metal is still a shield for microwave energy, so using a
> metal container may result in even more uneven heating than usual.
>
> Whether metal items work or not, or damage the unit or not, sticking a
> platinum or gold-rimmed china plate in there is a bad idea.
>
> Isaac

Tow or three years ago, I put a peanut butter jar in the microwave
to heat the contents a bit so it would be more spreadable. There
was a tiny bit of the metallic seal on the rim, and it arced.
That was frightening, and something I don't care to repeat, but it
didn't kill the mw.

--
Jean B.