Think twice before warming up your next late-night snack. Some Foods you should never put in the microwave!!
With a microwave oven, you can heat up frozen dinners or leftovers in minutes. Before understanding why certain foods shouldn’t be put in the microwave, it’s important to know how it works.
Its name comes from the electromagnetic microwaves generated inside the oven. These waves of energy bounce off the microwave oven’s walls, eventually moving through the food and heating it up. However, when these waves encounter some foods, it can lead to a mess, an explosion, or even damage your health — there are certain foods that you should never microwave.
Leafy Greens
Celery, kale, or spinach and even collard greens are great vegetables. But if you plan to reheat them, use a conventional oven rather than a microwave. When blasted in the microwave, naturally occurring nitrates (which are very good for you on their own) may convert to nitrosamines, which can be carcinogenic (cancer causings), studies show.
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The same holds true for reheating nitrate-rich beets and turnips! Good thing they’re just as delicious cold.
Chicken
The most important thing to realize about microwaves is that their heat does not always kill bacteria, because microwaves heat from the outside in instead of the inside out. As such, certain bacteria-prone foods will have higher risk of causing sickness when these bacterial cells survive. Bearing this in mind, you can see why chicken, which is at risk of salmonella contamination, could be a dangerous food to microwave.
Before eating chicken, you have to cook it thoroughly to eliminate all present bacteria. Since microwaves don’t fully or evenly cook all parts of the meat, you’re more likely to be left with surviving bacteria, such as salmonella. In one study, out of 30 participants who reheated raw meat, all 10 who used a microwave became ill, whereas the 20 who used a skillet were fine. This goes to show how much bacteria can survive in meat when microwaved, compared to other cooking methods.
Frozen Meat
We’ve all been there. You forgot to thaw the meat that’s in the freezer out for dinner, and resort to defrosting it in the microwave for a quick fix. It’s pretty easy to defrost frozen chicken breast in the microwave, and faster than thawing it in the fridge. However, microwaving frozen meats can allow bacteria to grow.
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Microwave ovens distribute heat unevenly, so some areas can wind up overcooked while others stay frozen, creating a breeding ground for food-borne diseases in the areas that remain cold. The best way to avoid this is by simply putting the meat you’d like to thaw in the fridge overnight, the hardest part is remembering to do so.
