These days, a microwave is one of the most important kitchen tools for every home. People did not pay much attention to it at first because it uses radiation, but after a few years, it became very famous. In recent times about 90% of American homes have microwave stoves in their kitchens.
A lot of us may know that the microwave was created after World War II but we may not fully know who invented it and what was the process. It was Percy LeBaron Spencer who first came up with the idea for the microwave, and now it’s one of the most important cooking tools. We will talk about everything about it in this blog.
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Origins of Microwave Technology:
The market for magnetron tubes, which were used to make microwaves for short-range military radar, dried up when World War II ended. Companies that made magnetrons, like Raytheon, were eager to find new uses for their technology.
It was known that radio waves could heat dielectric materials, and it was common to use dielectric heating in medicine and industry. It wasn’t a new idea either to use radio waves to heat food. For a while, Bell Labs, General Electric, and RCA had all been working on different versions of this technology. Western Electric did show off a 10-kilowatt shortwave radio device that cooked steaks and potatoes between two metal plates at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. But these food adventures didn’t lead to anything.
Percy LeBaron Spencer: The Inventor’s Journey:
In October 1945 Spencer went to a lab where magnetrons, which are the power tubes in radars, were being tried. He felt a peanut butter bar start to melt in his pocket all of a sudden. This event had been seen by other experts, but Spencer was eager to learn more about it.
Percy LeBaron Spencer came up with the idea for the microwave oven and taught himself how to work as an engineer. Seeing a chocolate bar melt gave him the idea to make a microwave. As part of his job at Raytheon Corp, Percy LeBaron Spencer tried magnetrons, which are vacuum tubes that can make microwave radiation. When he took a bite of the chocolate bar in his pocket, he realised it had melted. He chose to test this with an egg and popcorn after seeing this. He knew that the food was hot because he had put it in low-density conditions and seen the egg pop and the popcorn pop up.
The Unveiling of Microwave Cooking:
Spencer then put the same microwave power inside a metal box that he had made. He quickly realised that microwaves could cook or warm up food much faster than gas ovens once he realised that the energy could go into the box but not come out of it. Percy LeBaron Spencer has been known as the guy who made microwaves ever since.
If you know who invented the microwave, you should know how to use it and what it can do for you. Let’s talk about some of its uses below.
How to Make Food in a Microwave?
To use a microwave oven, you just need to press a few buttons or move a valve around. Follow our step-by-step guide below, though, if you don’t know how to use a microwave oven:
- There may not have been a guidebook for microwave ovens when they were first made. Today, though, every gadget comes with a book. As a first step, we recommend that you carefully read the user’s guide that comes with the gadget. It tells you about the pre-set programmes, how to clean, how much power it uses, and other things if you read it properly.
- Many people might think that the microwave oven’s size is very important and that it changes what it does based on its size. But that’s not true. Every size of microwave can be used in the same way. To use the microwave, you must first read the instructions and then connect it to the wall.
- The food needs to be put in the right basket, whether it’s a microwave cooker or microwave oven. The dish that comes with a microwave oven can be used.
- Cover the food with a thick lid. The food stays put better.
- Leave the food to heat up once everything is done. While the programme is still running, don’t touch the package or the microwave. When you’re ready to touch something, either stop running or press the pause button. To stay safe around microwaves, you should follow this and other important rules.
- There are many ways to use a microwave. But the microwave can’t heat up all kinds of food. When the microwave oven heats food, it does things in a certain way. You can’t heat food that is three to four days old in the microwave because it could get the fresh food sick.
- In order to clean a Microwave you need to follow a perfect cleaning process. Use a wet towel to wipe off the food marks and clean your microwave often. Never use a chemical or water spray.
In conclusion
Every family has a microwave these days, but they don’t know how it came to be or who to thank for making their lives so easy. Microwave stoves have come a long way in the past few years. They used to be labelled as “not acceptable” but now everyone loves them. So, learning how to use a microwave and what it can do can help you learn a lot of new things about this very useful machine. Now that you know more, you can make the best choice when you buy a microwave for your kitchen.