Mythbusting the microwave

If you put anything metal in a microwave, sparks fly and it may blow up. That's a truth the whole world knows. Or is it? In the comments to the podcast on microwaved bread, Peter Hertzmann elaborates:

It’s not wise to put small pieces of metal in a microwave, such as the twist-tie on a plastic bag. Large pieces are another issue. I’ve been putting large stainless-steel bowls in my microwave ever since I worked in a restaurant in Switzerland in 2002 where we regularly warmed items in 2-liter metal bowls. The metal actually acts as a reflector, reflecting radiant energy from the magnetron tube into the food in the bowl.

As I keep saying, I don't have a microwave to try this sort of thing. Or to experiment with re-heating bread, which everyone agrees is best done by controlling the on-off cycle of the microwave, giving a chance for the heat generated to spread slowly by conduction through the bread. That could also help to reduce hot-spots.

Ken Albala, subject of the podcast, is quick to defend dissing the bread machine:

The only reason I dismissed the bread machine is that it really doesn’t do anything else and takes up space. I’m very much against single purpose gadgets, or giving people a recipe and making them buy another machine.

And he says he's going to continue to experiment on the recipe for microwavable bread -- "a little fat in the dough might really make a difference".

And William Rubel, author of a great little global history of bread, really gets what Ken is trying to do:

The point that I take away from Ken’s experiment is that with essentially no fiddling he baked a credible loaf. ... I think we need to let go and ask not whether a microwave bread is “as good as” or “the same as” in flavor, crust, and crumb than a loaf baked in a bath of hot air but rather, can we transform bread dough in a microwave into something wonderful. I think it is pretty clear from Ken’s comments that that is more of the direction of his experimenting.

Finally, there's this thing called The Podcast Awards, now in it's 9th year, nominations for which opened last week. There are many, many (22?) categories, including both Food and Drink and Science. I don't think Eat This Podcast fits squarely into either of those, though it could be wedged into both at a push. I think it is more about how our food and drink comes into being, which sometimes involves a bit of science. It definitely is not about the latest hot restaurant, chef or cocktailista. Anyway, if you felt minded to go and nominate Eat This Podcast, and any other podcasts you like, and ultimately to vote, I would count it a singular honour; win, lose or draw. Nominations close on 23 October, and voting opens on 1 November. Fear not, I'll remind you.