Page GB-11
Information on microwaves
Information on microwaves
What are microwaves?
Microwaves are electromagnetic waves such
as radio and television waves; just like these,
they are not visible or palpable.
Microwaves
– are reflected by all metals,
– penetrate glass, porcelain, plastic and pa-
per,
– are taken up by food.
How do microwaves affect food?
– Microwaves penetrate into food to a depth
of about 3 cm.
– They heat the water, fat and sugar mol-
ecules (food with a high water content is
heated most intensely).
– This heat then slowly permeates the entire
food and defrosts, heats up and cooks the
food.
– Stirring or turning is important for uniform
cooking as the individual components of
the food will otherwise be heated unevenly.
– Heating the liquid can cause so-called
‘delayed boiling’. In the process, the liquid
reaches a boiling temperature without a
visible sign that it is actually boiling. Even
a small vibration may cause the liquid to
suddenly spray out, for example when re-
moving it from the microwave oven.
– The cooking compartment and the air
in this compartment are not heated. The
food container is primarily heated by the
hot food.
– Every food needs a certain amount of ener-
gy to cook or defrost - according to the rule
of thumb ‘high power setting, less time’ or
‘low power setting, more time’.
How does a microwave oven
work?
– A microwave generator, the so-called ‘mag-
netron’, generates microwaves and passes
them into the cooking compartment.
– The cooking compartment walls and inner
pane reflect the microwaves so that they
cannot escape from the cooking compart-
ment.
– The rotary plate ensures that the micro-
waves are distributed evenly to the food.
– The microwave power can be adjusted us-
ing several power levels.
– The microwave switches itself off
– once the preselected time has expired,
– when opening the cooking compartment
door (5),
– by pushing the ‘ ‘ button (15).
