A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 12, 2016 19:05 UTC (Fri) by bronson (subscriber, #4806)
In reply to: A Linux-powered microwave oven by johill
Parent article: A Linux-powered microwave oven

Microwaves already have stirrers: http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/104_spring2004.web.dir/arts_m...

It's about as good as you can reasonably get... If microwaves were spherical and had multiple entry horns (not sure the correct term) then they could cook a little better but, of course, they'd be much harder to package and produce. And there would still be hot and cold spots -- uneven heating is as much a feature of the food as the oven.

Maybe one day we'll have variable-frequency phased array microwaves that use feedback to direct heat right to the cool spots. (dibs on the patent!)

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 12, 2016 20:32 UTC (Fri) by boog (subscriber, #30882) [Link] (1 responses)

Another problem is that hot water absorbs microwaves better than cold, so small initial variations in temperature tend to run away.

A Linux-powered microwave oven

Posted Feb 13, 2016 16:05 UTC (Sat) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link]

Thanks, I learned something new today. That explains why things instruct you to thoroughly defrost them using conventional methods before microwaving; the still-frozen parts will never be heated up. (I had an unfortunate experience once that corroborates this)