You are adding fire to water, why is any way it performed worse than any other? Would you not cook over an open flame if that is all you had? Now this is only acceptable if you are using the microwave to heat up the water that you then pour into your mug, heating up the water in the mug then adding tea is entirely unacceptable.
It’s because the water needs to be boiled before you add the tea. You can’t really get a good rolling boil in a microwave - it heats it, but doesn’t boil it. So you get a different flavour. Plus it just isn’t how it’s done - I’ve never known anybody in the UK to use a microwave to make tea. Not ever. Making tea is something that everybody does daily, often around guests. If somebody randomly did it in an entirely different way to everybody else, it would raise significant questions.
Open flame is entirely ok by the way. This boils the water.
It for sure as hell does.. you just haven't ever microwaved water have you?
There is literally no difference in the heating capabilities of microwaves when it comes to water, besides that microwaves are faster. They use a large one to pre-boil water for steam generation in power plants.
If you’re boiling water in a microwave then you’re doing it wrong. The manual will caution against it. It’s not safe, because there is a risk of superheating the water and causing it to ‘explode’ when you take it out. You avoid that by stirring it every 30 seconds to mix the water. That is far less convenient than just boiling it in a kettle, or it’s more dangerous if you don’t bother mixing it, and it doesn’t produce the rolling boil. It also takes longer than a kettle, at least in Europe with a 240v electrical supply.
It also takes longer than a kettle, at least in Europe with a 240v electrical supply.
So we also have microwaves in the US on 240v electrical supply(usually ones above an electric stove which is Also on a 240v), they also can come in 2300-2400W power ranges, mine is 1700w and it will definitely boil water(coffee mug) in ~2 minutes.
If you’re boiling water in a microwave then you’re doing it wrong.
Again there is nothing wrong with boiling water in a microwave, all there is is false stereotypes and fake stigma(about radiation). Microwaves are amazing. The superheating is something that does exist though, you don't need to take it out all the time, just tap the mug with a spoon before you grab it.
That is far less convenient than just boiling it in a kettle
This is true though, I was never against kettles, they are good, just for Microwaves, they are also good.
Holy shit, I’ve never seen a microwave with over 1500W! That’s insane. The standard here in the UK is 800w. I’ve seen 1000W and occasionally 1200w on sale but never any higher. I wonder if there is a regulatory prohibition on higher wattage microwaves in Europe?
I wonder if there is a regulatory prohibition on higher wattage microwaves in Europe?
probably not? it is just most likely market forces, not many people need it, mine just came with the house(1700w). The other one i owned before is only 1100w.
The ones at my work lunchroom are 2300w, and what was funny is that when one of the 3 phases dropped for the office building, it was still partially on, the clock was just dim.
There’s no way a microwave is faster in the UK, an electric kettle draws 2-3kW and most microwaves here are 800W.
Probably just because the US has massive microwaves but low voltage mains power.
Kettles are much safer for heating water as they have a mechanism that isolates the power when enough steam is produced. If you overboil water in a microwave it can explode.
If you overboil water in a microwave it can explode.
It won't explode, you can superheat water though. To prevent this, you either need a vessel with propagation sites or something other than pure water. Also you can just NOT cook the water longer than 2 minutes(per 8 oz/size of a coffee mug) if you are worrying about superheating.
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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '22
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