I had never heard of that before but it looks like that is the case. With no liquid to absorb the microwaves, the mechanism in the oven ends up absorbing them and it can get damaged.
I’ve been doing it for like three years though and our microwave oven is still fine. I only nuke plates (a stack of 2) for 30 seconds and a single cup for 15 seconds. But I think I’ll reduce the plates to 20.
Longer time and less power is the secret!
Another thing I’ve started doing is nuking my cup before pouring coffee or tea in it and nuking our dinner plates before putting food on them.
Is that okay for the microwave? I had heard that it wasn’t good to run a microwave empty…
I had never heard of that before but it looks like that is the case. With no liquid to absorb the microwaves, the mechanism in the oven ends up absorbing them and it can get damaged.
I’ve been doing it for like three years though and our microwave oven is still fine. I only nuke plates (a stack of 2) for 30 seconds and a single cup for 15 seconds. But I think I’ll reduce the plates to 20.
If you want to save energy and reduce risk: put the things you want warm in wet. Microwaves get absorbed much better by liquids. Like a lot better.
Just run the plates under the tap quickly and wipe them down after heating. Some of the water will have steamed off anyway, so this is super quick.
For cups, just put the liquid you want them to hold in before.
Interesting. Do you put the dishes in clean/dry?
Yeah, you’re just pre-heating them. Just make sure they’re microwave safe
Yes and yes. It’s so food/liquid doesn’t get cold fast like it would if the cup or dish wasn’t warmed up.