Having a little debate with my Mom about microwave turntables

Drax · 12-23-2007, 03:01 PM

I took the turntable out of my microwave because I kept bumping it which knocked it off it track, and it was hard for me to get it back on track. I simply put my hard plastic bowls and plates on the center of the track, and it rotates my food. I think it works just as well, and I don't worry about bumping stuff.

She says microwave manufactures put the turntable in there for a reason, yet she cannot give me a reason.

So, besides catching a few messes, which isn't that biga deal with me anyway, is there any other logical reason to use the turntable?

classicman · 12-23-2007, 03:09 PM

I believe its there for convenience and evenly cooking food. Also good when you have more than two things in there at once (not that frequent), but it would take an engineer ... properly designed.... Hence - I'm not interested in getting into a debate on it. Sorry.

Drax · 12-23-2007, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicman

I believe its there for convenience and evenly cooking food. Also good when you have more than two things in there at once (not that frequent)

Neither of those is a problem for me.

I don't cook, I heat.
Mine has a triangle track with a sufficently sized center circle. I place my stuff on the center, and it rotates,heating evenly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cm

... properly designed....

N other words, an attached and secured turntable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cm

I'm not interested in getting into a debate on it. Sorry.

Understood. I'm not asking to start a debate.

Happy Monkey · 12-23-2007, 03:30 PM

In addition to the reasons given (easier to clean, giving more platform space), the food gets raised a bit higher. Depending on the make of the microwave, there might be a slight advantage there, but not a particularly strong one, I wouldn't think.

Undertoad · 12-23-2007, 03:34 PM

Early microwaves didn't heat so evenly, to the point where food prep directions suggested they give their food a quarter turn halfway through cooking it.

Most frozen food doesn't heat evenly anyway -- where it thaws first cooks faster, because water heats faster than ice in a microwave. Thus people came to believe that all microwaves heated unevenly, and all would benefit from turntable.

Correctly designed non-M.B.A.-driven microwaves can cook without the turntable. Utterly cheap ones, though, may cook better by moving the food during cooking. What is really needed, though, is some sort of orbital thing like the sanders and waxers. I've cooked foods on a turntable where the food was heated in a circular pattern. An orbital pattern would solve that. Innovators and patriots take note.

Happy Monkey · 12-23-2007, 03:37 PM

A bit of movement can help prevent boiling-water-explosions as well.

Griff · 12-23-2007, 03:39 PM

Also, if you insist on using MBA style microwaves use a GFCI outlet in a lead lined concrete home.

Cloud · 12-23-2007, 03:58 PM

besides helping the food to cook evenly, as has been mentioned (helped along with stirring or rearranging the contents, if necessary, midway); it's easier to keep the oven clean.

Are you cleaning the oven?

Stop bumping the turntable, use the turntable tray thingy, and make your mom happy by stopping arguing about it.

Drax · 12-23-2007, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

A bit of movement can help prevent boiling-water-explosions as well.

As I keep saying, my food rotates fine on the track alone.

Drax · 12-23-2007, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud

Stop bumping the turntable

H E L L O??? Unsteady hands...DUH.

Clodfobble · 12-23-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff

Also, if you insist on using MBA style microwaves use a GFCI outlet in a lead lined concrete home.

And make sure the power lines going to your house are buried, it is the only patriotic way to install utilities.

Drax · 12-23-2007, 04:22 PM

Forget all 'at noise!

Look, just tell me where I can find one with an attached turntable.

Cloud · 12-23-2007, 04:37 PM

just do your best. I don't think you'll find an attached one, because it would be too hard to clean.

Happy Monkey · 12-23-2007, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drax

As I keep saying, my food rotates fine on the track alone.

Yeah, I was responding to UT, who was talking about the need for rotating at all.

glatt · 12-23-2007, 04:44 PM

Putting a plate or bowl slightly off center on a turntable will in theory heat it more evenly than if you center it perfectly on the turntable. Every microwave has "hot spots" depending on how the microwaves bounce around withing the reflective walls of the oven. The waves are emitted from one source and create a pattern the way they bounce off the walls. Sometimes they are in phase and create a hot spot, sometimes they are out of phase and kind of cancel each other out. The very middle of a microwave may be a hot spot or a cool spot. Probably varies by oven.

I've seen physics experiments done in microwave ovens without turntables where a glass casserole dish is packed tight with marshmallows and the marshmallows are cooked under close observation. As soon as they start to melt, the oven is turned off. You can clearly see where the hot spots are because the surface of the marshmallows is melted in those spots and nowhere else, and you can even measure the wavelength of your oven by measuring the distance between those spots.

Having said this, there's probably no noticeable difference centering your food rather than putting it slightly to the side on the turntable.

12-23-2007, 03:01 PM	#1
Drax Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gallman, MS, USA Posts: 1,933	Having a little debate with my Mom about microwave turntables I took the turntable out of my microwave because I kept bumping it which knocked it off it track, and it was hard for me to get it back on track. I simply put my hard plastic bowls and plates on the center of the track, and it rotates my food. I think it works just as well, and I don't worry about bumping stuff. She says microwave manufactures put the turntable in there for a reason, yet she cannot give me a reason. So, besides catching a few messes, which isn't that biga deal with me anyway, is there any other logical reason to use the turntable?

12-23-2007, 03:09 PM	#2
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	I believe its there for convenience and evenly cooking food. Also good when you have more than two things in there at once (not that frequent), but it would take an engineer ... properly designed.... Hence - I'm not interested in getting into a debate on it. Sorry. __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

12-23-2007, 03:30 PM	#4
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	In addition to the reasons given (easier to clean, giving more platform space), the food gets raised a bit higher. Depending on the make of the microwave, there might be a slight advantage there, but not a particularly strong one, I wouldn't think. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

12-23-2007, 03:37 PM	#6
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	A bit of movement can help prevent boiling-water-explosions as well. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

12-23-2007, 03:39 PM	#7
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Also, if you insist on using MBA style microwaves use a GFCI outlet in a lead lined concrete home. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

12-23-2007, 03:34 PM	#5
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Early microwaves didn't heat so evenly, to the point where food prep directions suggested they give their food a quarter turn halfway through cooking it. Most frozen food doesn't heat evenly anyway -- where it thaws first cooks faster, because water heats faster than ice in a microwave. Thus people came to believe that all microwaves heated unevenly, and all would benefit from turntable. Correctly designed non-M.B.A.-driven microwaves can cook without the turntable. Utterly cheap ones, though, may cook better by moving the food during cooking. What is really needed, though, is some sort of orbital thing like the sanders and waxers. I've cooked foods on a turntable where the food was heated in a circular pattern. An orbital pattern would solve that. Innovators and patriots take note.

12-23-2007, 03:58 PM	#8
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	besides helping the food to cook evenly, as has been mentioned (helped along with stirring or rearranging the contents, if necessary, midway); it's easier to keep the oven clean. Are you cleaning the oven? Stop bumping the turntable, use the turntable tray thingy, and make your mom happy by stopping arguing about it. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

12-23-2007, 04:22 PM	#12
Drax Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gallman, MS, USA Posts: 1,933	Forget all 'at noise! Look, just tell me where I can find one with an attached turntable.

12-23-2007, 04:37 PM	#13
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	just do your best. I don't think you'll find an attached one, because it would be too hard to clean. __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

12-23-2007, 04:44 PM	#15
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Putting a plate or bowl slightly off center on a turntable will in theory heat it more evenly than if you center it perfectly on the turntable. Every microwave has "hot spots" depending on how the microwaves bounce around withing the reflective walls of the oven. The waves are emitted from one source and create a pattern the way they bounce off the walls. Sometimes they are in phase and create a hot spot, sometimes they are out of phase and kind of cancel each other out. The very middle of a microwave may be a hot spot or a cool spot. Probably varies by oven. I've seen physics experiments done in microwave ovens without turntables where a glass casserole dish is packed tight with marshmallows and the marshmallows are cooked under close observation. As soon as they start to melt, the oven is turned off. You can clearly see where the hot spots are because the surface of the marshmallows is melted in those spots and nowhere else, and you can even measure the wavelength of your oven by measuring the distance between those spots. Having said this, there's probably no noticeable difference centering your food rather than putting it slightly to the side on the turntable.

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