Microwaves Revisited

I posted about our microwave woes earlier this week.  Since then I've had several of you asking questions.  I decided to share a few tips on what to do if you decide to keep your microwave.  

As I said, I've been wanting to go without a microwave for a while now, but my husband was pretty sure I was crazy.  I must admit it does sound rather strange to be without a microwave.  Just about everyone in the U.S. has one.  It's kinda like going against our culture.  :)

  

photo credit

If you wish to keep your microwave {or your husband thinks you should} there are a few tips that might help you in staying safe.  Most of these are no-brainers.  :)

1. Never stand close to it as it heats your food.  The microwaves it emits are dangerous for your eyes, kidneys, liver, and stomach.  
2. Never put plastic or Styrofoam in the microwave.  These products emit chemicals when heated that will leach into your food.  
3. Don't use your microwave to cook.  Just use it for re-heating.
4. Don't use it to cook or reheat big chunks of meat.
5. Never heat a baby's bottle in a microwave as it won't heat it uniformly.  Some parts may end up cold and others hot.  The baby may be burned.
6. NEVER use a microwave that is broken.  If the door doesn't shut all the way, get rid of it!  It will emit radiation into the room and we all know that radiation isn't a good thing. 

The most harmful thing in my opinion about microwave ovens is that they just aren't natural.  I try to feed my family healthy, NATURAL foods; free from chemicals and preservatives.  Cooking those foods in the microwave oven simply undoes all the time and effort I put into healthy food.

Microwaves ovens heat water molecules.  These water molecules get hot, start bouncing around, bump into each other and cause friction.  The friction is what warms the food.  Microwaves also cook our food from the outside in, sometimes leaving the center cold.  There is a very good reason we are supposed to cook our food.  All of it.  Not just the outside inch and a half.  

Food needs to be cooked to a certain temperature depending on the food, and for a certain length of time to kill bacteria.  Microwaves cook food very quickly, but not thoroughly.  {You might consider a toaster oven over your microwave oven.}

I hope this helps with some of the questions.  I don't know all there is to know about this topic and to be quite honest, the scientific measuring of radiation in mega-hurts and all the other hurts were more than a bit confusing at times.  I do hope this helps.

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