Home Bread-Bakers v006.n049.10
[Advanced]

Re: Milk in microwave

ephraim@stonewire.com (Ephraim Vishniac)
Mon, 20 Nov 1995 12:23:13 -0500
v006.n049.10
   From: Marianne Hu <hu@satchmo.virtualprototypes.ca>
   Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 12:24:54 -0500 (EST)

   I once read that it's not advisable to microwave milk in the microwave.  
   Something about retaining some radioactivity!?  Has anyone else heard 
   anything about this?

There is no radioactivity in your microwave, so that's certainly not
the reason. Microwaves are electromagnetic radiation, just like radio
or television signals. Radioactivity refers to nuclear radiation,
which is the emission of certain kinds of sub-atomic particles. (And
as all netizens know, "flaming" refers to extremes of thermal
radiation :-) 

Liquids do tend to heat unevenly in the microwave, however, which can
cause a couple of different problems. For one, it's easy to misjudge
the temperature of something when some parts are much hotter or colder
than others. You could check a cold spot and then scald yourself on a
hot one. In the case of liquids which can be cooked, such as milk,
some parts could be scorched while others are still warming up. You
can mitigate these problems by frequent and vigorous stirring.

Ephraim Vishniac   ephraim@world.std.com   http://www.think.com/users/ephraim
     Allergic to corn?  See http://www.think.com/users/ephraim/corn.html