Does anyone else use power levels on a microwave?

[Dave Perkins]

I'm the only person I know who doesn't just use the highest power level setting on a microwave to heat things. I am mocked (and it hurts my soul) when I spend an extra few seconds setting the power level. Mocked by such comments as,

"Beep beep beeep beep beeeeep"

and

"Just cook it on high and do it for less time!"

Does anyone have a reasonable response to this last criticism?

[WarrenM]

I just use high. What's the advantage to lower settings?

[Dave Perkins]

Because they must be there for a reason, and I feel good when I make use of them. That's the best I've got (so far).

[Kraaze]

I use lower settings for defrosting and a few other things. It depends on how evenly your microwave heats and whether you are cooking or warming. For a frozen pre-cooked entree of some sort that just needs warming, high is probably okay. For defrosting meat or quickly warming something then I use lower power levels because it prevents the food from being underdone/cold in a few spots while overdone/superhot in other spots.

[Kalle]

Because slower heating means the food I'm heating won't be as prone to cooking dry on the outside while being cold in the middle?

[Angie Gallant]

I use the power settings frequently, as well as the sensor reheat where the microwave magically adjusts the power level for me.

[Dave Perkins]

I did try the approaches Kalle and Kraaze suggest, but the people I'm talking to simply deny that the High setting results in cold or dry spots. Then we stare at each other until one of them says, "Beeeeeeep".

[WarrenM]

Oh, I guess I should clarify that when defrosting I use the automated defrosting buttons on my machine and I'm sure that's not using high power. So I guess I don't use it when defrosting. Everything else though, I'm generally just heating something up and high works well enough for that.

[nutsak]

You're not alone, Dave. I do it for reheating meals when I know that they're smaller than what the default "reheat plate" button thinks I'm doing. And for soup.

[Talisker]

Originally Posted by Angie Gallant

I use the power settings frequently, as well as the sensor reheat where the microwave magically adjusts the power level for me.

The sensor on our new microwave turned me into my grandfather -- "When I tell it I'm reheating pizza, how does it know how much pizza is there? It just knows -- such technology!"

I mean, seriously, I just punch a button that tells it "I'm heating up soup", and it heats it up perfectly -- I'm a software developer, goddammit, there's got to be more variables than just [pizza|dinner plate|soup|casserole]. They're solving a single equation with two unknowns (time and quantity)!

My voodoo magic microwave scares me.

My wife, who can barely check her own email, just looks at me like I'm an idiot when I marvel about this amazing technology.

[Brian Rubin]

I use high unless the directions tell me otherwise <shrug> To each their own, though...

[Zylon]

Originally Posted by Talisker

The sensor on our new microwave turned me into my grandfather -- "When I tell it I'm reheating pizza, how does it know how much pizza is there? It just knows -- such technology!"

I'm pretty sure tachyons are involved.

From my perspective, the perfect microwave is the kind that has an actual, factual, timer knob on the front... and nothing else. And when it's done, it goes DING.

[wisefool]

You should just serve them a Hungry Man meal and have them eat the still-frozen corn, along with the burnt brownie and the toasted chicken.

You could also challenge the roadrunenners to a bet, but I can't think of something cute enough that would make it obvious that you are right, and more importantly, that they are wrong.

[Dave Perkins]

This was all worth it for Talisker's story alone. But I appreciate the suggestions, especially wisefool's, although I doubt I could get anyone I know, let alone anyone I know who only uses the High setting, to eat a Hungry Man meal.

I might be able to convince them to sniff it, however, and observe the brownie.

[AaronSofaer]

The only time I don't use the highest power setting is for defrosting meat.

[Bahimiron]

Originally Posted by Dave Perkins

I did try the approaches Kalle and Kraaze suggest, but the people I'm talking to simply deny that the High setting results in cold or dry spots.

Here's my suggested response. Look them in the eye and say, "Hey, I've got an idea. Fuck you." Then smile and go back to doing what you're doing.

[Hans Lauring]

Or you could just ask them if they only play music turned to 11, wash dishes at 70 degrees celcius or cook at the highest setting on their stove/oven (allthough, they probably can't use anything but the microwave by now) and then politely suggest that perhaps the people who build the devices know a bit more about their operation than them and that every setting is there for a reason.
... basically a variation on bahimiron's suggestion, I know.

(I use max setting 99% of the time because my microwave is a device only for reheating and for the very rare batch of microwave popcorn... on the extremely rare occasion that I defrost in the microwave I use the lowest (defrost) setting for the very reason I'd rather not defrost in the microwave - I prefer not ruining whatever I'm deforsting)

[Bahimiron]

Seriously though, here's a variation on the Hungry Man idea above.

Bagel Bites.

Fixed on Medium, they're soft, chewy and delicious. Just like the pizza bagels that Jesus Christ Himself would make were he to exist and decide to make snackfood for some buddies who were coming over for a game. (If Jesus was real, he'd be a Sox fan. Red, not White.)

Now fix them some on High. If they refuse to eat them, you can always stuff two of the Bites in a sock and then use them as a flail with which to dispense angry vengeance on those who would question your microwave decisions. This is because Bagel Bites microwaved on high become weaponized hockey pucks of tooth shattering horror.

[Robert Sharp]

Originally Posted by Angie Gallant

I use the power settings frequently, as well as the sensor reheat where the microwave magically adjusts the power level for me.

I have one of these, a sensor in my microwave that apparently does something with the levels while zapping. Before that, I just used high for everything. The microwave tends to dry things out either way unless you cover them and/or put some water in there with it. So I cook as fast as possible.

[Enidigm]

I think most people don't use power settings (excepting the handful of esteemed qt3 citizens) because there it's "scaleless". How much more or less does the power setting increase or decrease? Is power 5 better than power 4? By how much? And different microwave brands and models have different power scales anyway. What power 6 is on one might not exist on another.

If it actually gave out some kind of power "number" than over the years people could learn what worked best, like an oven (cook brisket at 300, cookies at 375, ect). I've never heard anyone tell someone to cook anything other than just "high" or "low".

It doesn't help that, really, nothing cooks well in a microwave aside from some canned vegetables and rice. Reheat, sure. But cook?

[WarrenM]

It doesn't help that, really, nothing cooks well in a microwave aside from some canned vegetables and rice. Reheat, sure. But cook?

Yeah, we don't cook anything in the micro. It's mainly a reheating and defrosting machine.

[greywind]

I thought microwave power levels only controlled how long they were on during a given cycle. On mine, power level 5 means it's on for 5 seconds and then off for 5 seconds. Level 8 is on for 8 seconds, off for 2 seconds. They still nuke a full power, just give a rest period in between.

I use it on low for reheating a lot of foods. For warming rolls I'll do on level 2 for two or three minutes, so they don't turn into hockey pucks. And I use it a lot for thawing ground beef, anything higher than level 3 and it's cooked on the outside instead of thawed.

[Lunch of Kong]

The water in most food absorbs microwaves rapidly so that in a container, about only the first half inch of food gets heated. The rest of the food is only warmed by convection of this heat to the remainder.

To warm food up evenly, you can either sculpt the food up the edges of the container, or you can use the power setting.

The power setting toggles the magnetron in cycles. During the active cycle, the outer layer of food is heated up. During the inactive cycle, the outer layer of food dissipates its energy to the remainder of the food.

This prevents the outer layer of food from absorbing too much energy too quickly and burning.

[Lunch of Kong]

Originally Posted by greywind

I thought microwave power levels only controlled how long they were on during a given cycle.

Most of them do exactly that. However, some models do actually modulate the microwave output from the magnetron instead.

[Lunch of Kong]

Originally Posted by TheSelfishGene

I think most people don't use power settings (excepting the handful of esteemed qt3 citizens) because there it's "scaleless".

For the majority of microwaves, the power setting is the % of the time the magnetron will be on for the cooking time. So 50% power means that during a 1 minute cooking period, the magnetron will be active for only 30 seconds. It might cycle 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off. It might cycle 5 seconds on, 5 seconds off.

[Lunch of Kong]

I can't believe i just made 4 posts about microwave ovens.

[Dave Perkins]

Originally Posted by Lunch of Kong

I can't believe i just made 4 posts about microwave ovens.

But now I am armed with words like "magnetron" and concepts like "cycles" and "heating from the outside to the inside" that will win the day for me.

[John E. Motion]

I think reeser's red hot burritos taste best at medium high for a minute. Preferably when drunk in a 7-11 at 3 in the morning.

[Dave Perkins]

Originally Posted by John E. Motion

I think reeser's red hot burritos taste best at medium high for a minute. Preferably when drunk in a 7-11 at [quarter to] 3 in the morning.

suggested edit

[Adree]