Microwave Incidents

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Here is where you can post stories about your experiences with using microwaves.


For example, I have heard if you microwave an egg, it will explode.

It's also obvious to note that plastic melts...

Does anyone ever microwave paper towels? (Like say you wrap a burrito for 1:30 seconds...) ... ofcourse, paper towels can actually catch on fire if heated long enough, I think....? (Not sure how long it takes.)


http://askville.amazon.com/leave-paper-towel-microwave-catch-fire/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=63263601 = Some answers say no.. but I've experienced sparks one time when I heated something for five minutes. (Ofcourse, I had to open the paper towel up, to see them... ) - I suppose liquid could have been the culprit.

[Kioll]

I microwave paper towels all the time.  Never had issues.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Cool, thanks for your input.

I think it was from wrapping a moist paper towel around something relatively small. (Moist because I tried to put a little sauce on this small item, heh.)

[Thunder-squall]

I microwave paper towels all the time.  Never had issues.

I.e. with hotpockets.

How long should one microwave donuts for?  30 seconds seem a bit too long if they've got chocolate frosting.  The frosting basically stuck to the plate, and it's pretty tough to clean.

[Wolf]

If you microwave an egg for a certain amount of time it will explode or become volatile.  (Don't remember exactly how long, not planning on finding out again.)  Microwaving eggs out of their shells can have a similar, less explosive effect.  Scrambling them and taking the eggs out to be stirred periodically reduces the risk.

Microwaving metallic material is a bad idea.  Accidentally tried that myself a long time ago by leaving a fork in a bowl being heated.  Have you ever seen lightning and sparks in a transparent box?  It looked a lot like that.

Microwaving food with a paper towel is safe unless something goes wrong.  Keeping an eye on the status of the food in the microwave while it is cooking is a wise idea.  Same thing applies to any food being cooked.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Also, don't heat a microwave with nothing in it. Some sources say newer microwaves have protections for this, however.

@Shell-less egg: Well, that's nice to know, but I doubt I'd ever cook eggs in the microwave, anyway. (Unless maybe I'm following a recipe that says so--which is unlikely.)

- Not only just keeping an eye. But also smell can be a bit of a sign, if you're paying attention. (Assuming you can smell a problem sooner than see one, sometimes. Especially with some spoiled foods)


In the end, it's probably always better to use a conventional oven or stove when you can. (Microwaves = radiation , and I'm sure you could easily get microscopic particles of your container in your food as well.)

[Knight of Purgatory]

But doesnt the microwave have protection against the radiation coming out?

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

I would think so, but I was talking about those things that are unable to absorb into food because no food is there. (Therefore, absorbing into something it shouldn't, overheating, and therefore messing up your microwave.)

[Thunder-squall]

weren't food-utility for microwaves "discovered" when a chocolate bar melted in someone's pocket?

[Thunder-squall]

Microwave Thread: I posted that because the time I caught a paper towel on fire (well, burnt w/ sparks) was in fact sooner than what I made it sound like. ;) And I threw it in the fireplace because I got scared.

This would be the first time I'm hearing about something like this happening.  Normally there's moisture from the food that makes the paper/wooden stuff soggy...

Do we have any volunteers out there who're willing to test when/whether you can get paper towels to catch fire in the microwave?  I suppose there's circulating air in there, so it is possible...  But I kind of don't believe (no willing to test it myself though... But maybe tomorrow, if I'm curious enough).

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

I had some pasta thingy I put sauce on. I wrapped the towel around this, and it ofcourse got the paper towel all soggy. I believe I folded the dry ends down or something, but don't remember exactly. I had heated it for about 5 minutes.

I don't think I noticed a problem until I got the thing out, I believe? It was hot...

[Thunder-squall]

o, actually, I believe microwaves work by heating up water molecules, so maybe getting the paper towel wet was *exactly* what enabled the burning.

[Wolf]

I had some pasta thingy I put sauce on.   I wrapped the towel around this , and it of course got the paper towel all soggy. I believe I folded the dry ends down or something, but don't remember exactly. I had heated it for about 5 minutes.

I don't think I noticed a problem until I got the thing out, I believe? It was hot...

It didn't come in a container?

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Ofcourse it came packaged in a plastic bag.

*Checks package, since I still have it* They are Stuffed Shells.

Derp. I wasn't planning on revealing the food item. But oh well, you made me. :O (Actually, that's okay.)

[Thunder-squall]

We're now closer to solving the mystery...

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

What mystery? Are you looking for an answer that simply isn't there?

[Wolf]

Of course it came packaged in a plastic bag.

*Checks package, since I still have it* They are Stuffed Shells.

So you wrapped the food that was in a bag with... a paper towel?  Mystery solved, case closed.

[Thunder-squall]

What mystery? Are you looking for an answer that simply isn't there?

I'm making fun of the fact that there is no mystery.  Why didn't you want to tell us they type of food you were cooking when the napkin caught fire?

^ what Wolf said.  Information is power.  If we had the information, we could have better understood the issue.  You were being secretive and leaving out info for no reason.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Because I wanted to make everyone curious. (Ex: Would anyone ask?)  I had nothing to hide.

@Information is power: I call it Knowledge is freedom, a metaphor I heard about back in 11th grade.


Also, what wrapper? It was one bag bought from the store.... It's not like anything was packaged separately in wrapping inside the bag. It was just 12(?) Stuffed Shells.

[Thunder-squall]

@Information is power: I call it Knowledge is freedom, a metaphor I heard about back in 11th grade.

I think curiosity is freedom.  Isn't knowledge responsibility?

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Ah. Explain?

If I were curious about something, it doesn't give me any freedom to use whatever it is I'm using... For all I know, you could fall in a dead man's trap.

The idea of having knowledge of all things enables you to do what you please as to how you want to do it because you know what you're doing. This even means that you could go undetected by the Government if you did a crime. All because you have the knowledge on avoiding being caught. Knowledge could also be used for finding a way to live life. (Like hunting and fishing, as well as get the perfect job.)


What would an ant do if you had it trapped in a paper cup? It certainly doesn't have strength/power to bust out.... or does it? What you do to survive, is play dead and hope they mistaken you for a crumb. :) Although, I doubt you mean power in physical strength terms.

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/325795-knowledge-is-freedom-and-ignorance-is-slavery


P.S. In some ways, I want to say wealth/assets is responsibility, but I'm not so sure on that one.

[Thunder-squall]

Ah. Explain?

When people are curious they search and explore.  I associate those things with freedom.

When people are aware of things, they respond to things.  I associate that with responsibility.

The idea of having knowledge of all things enables you to do what you please as to how you want to do it because you know what you're doing.

But knowledge is the result of curiosity.  Knowledge vs. Curiosity is like 'giving a man a fish, vs. teaching a man to fish.'

The idea of having knowledge of all things enables you to do what you please ...

What you're saying here is that Knowledge is power.  And then saying that power is freedom.   Spider Man would argue with the second claim.

What would an ant do if you had it trapped in a paper cup? It certainly doesn't have strength/power to bust out.... or does it? What you do to survive, is play dead and hope they mistaken you for a crumb. :) Although, I doubt you mean power in physical strength terms.

I'm not sure what this is in response to, or what it's trying to communicate.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Yes, but what if you search and explore, but find nothing? Or what if you search and explore, and find misleading content that could, for example, bring you to your death? No more freedom obtained there. ; Imagine a note used as a set-up to bring someone to a warehouse where it's all quiet and no one will hear their screams.

But knowledge is the result of curiosity.

Usually it is, but then it is possible to gain knowledge because someone force-fed it to you.

Knowledge vs. Curiosity is like 'giving a man a fish, vs. teaching a man to fish.'

Knowledge means that you'd already know how to fish. and curiosity is when you don't know yet, but "getting there"... or something.

I'm not sure what this is in response to, or what it's trying to communicate.

Information is power.

[Thunder-squall]

Yes, but what if you search and explore, but find nothing? Or what if you search and explore, and find misleading content that could, for example, bring you to your death? No more freedom obtained there. ; Imagine a note used as a set-up to bring someone to a warehouse where it's all quiet and no one will hear your screams.

That raises an interesting situation.  So basically, if you had a way of doing something, you wouldn't risk trying an unproven alternative?  So would having knowledge actually *prevent* you from seeking knowledge?

What would an ant do if you had it trapped in a paper cup? It certainly doesn't have strength/power to bust out.... or does it? What you do to survive, is play dead and hope they mistaken you for a crumb. :) Although, I doubt you mean power in physical strength terms.

I'm not sure what this is in response to, or what it's trying to communicate.

Information is power.

[/quote]

O, ok.  To counter, I'll start with physics to establish a definition of "power," and then expand that as a metaphor to other uses.

Power = Work x Time.
And Work = Force * Displacement.
But the key term here is Displacement, not Force.

In the example you give, the ant's power is the ant's ability to bring about a certain outcome.  The outcome you're talking about is survival.  The ant's ability to bring about the outcome of survival is that ant's power.  Whether it does this by strength, intellect or magic is not the key factor here.

And likewise, the ant's ability to move the paper cup is also power, but a different kind of power. And whether it does this by strength, intellect or magic is not of consequence to whether or not we call that thing power.

For example, when people say "this is a powerful algorithm," the thing that makes the algorithm "powerful" is the economic cost of the alternative.  So if normally you'd need one-hundred man-hours to do something that the algorithm can do in a few moments, the algorithm has the power of a hundred men.  But that doesn't mean that the algorithm can do *everything* that 100 people can do.  It has a very specific kind of power.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

That raises an interesting situation.  So basically, if you had a way of doing something, you wouldn't risk trying an unproven alternative?  So would having knowledge actually *prevent* you from seeking knowledge?

Would it be alright to say that there is no boundary of how much knowledge you can obtain? If time is infinite, and you can always gain knowledge of the future, then knowledge must be infinite too. So I can't see where you would be unable to seek knowledge, given our humanly circumstances. My guess is that you would still go to the warehouse if you wanted to, but you'd take some help, body armor,  perhaps a knife, and whatever. (If you were willing to risk you life.)

And that ant thing, I thought maybe you meant something different about power, but just checking to make sure. Edit: Similar to my power topics... I never said I disagreed with Information being Power (And I don't disagree), but was rather questioning it in replacement of a better quote. (One that I didn't make up myself.) I suppose I couldn't think of anything good enough to say, and sadly, didn't put much thought into it. (A.k.a: I should have left the ant story out.)  Freedom and power are practically the same in theory, so...

Freedom = 3. the power to determine action without restraint.
Power = 1. ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.


Also, information and knowledge are practically synonyms, but they are still different.  (Just because you have the information doesn't mean you understand it.) (Note that understanding is knowledge.) Imagine this information being in a foreign language.

But anyway, given the numerous meanings of words, and their context clues, I guess I can say (Information is Power) and (Knowledge is Freedom) mean pretty much the same thing.

I think curiosity is freedom.  Isn't knowledge responsibility?
I think curiosity is power.  Isn't information responsibility?

[Wolf]

Also, what wrapper? It was one bag bought from the store.... It's not like anything was packaged separately in wrapping inside the bag. It was just 12(?) Stuffed Shells.

I meant to say bag.  Rush posted yesterday.

[Parloo]

So back to microwave topic i just hard boiled my egg in it. Took me several eggs to get a perfect hard boiled one. The correct time it took me was 7 minutes.

[Thunder-squall]

Was there a pre-setting for an egg?  I never actually use those settings, but perhaps I don't know what I'm missing.