Heat food in the microwave: yes or no?

The arrival of the microwave at home was a before and after in the cooking and reheating of food. Although many resisted its use, today it is rare to find a kitchen that lacks this appliance. But, is it healthy to heat the food we drink in the microwave? , should we introduce the dishes that childre

The arrival of the microwave at home was a before and after in the cooking and reheating of food. Although many resisted its use, today it is rare to find a kitchen that lacks this appliance.

But, is it healthy to heat the food we drink in the microwave?, should we introduce the dishes that children take in this appliance? In Guiainfantil.com we clarify it to you.

Reasons that reject the detractors of the microwave

Microwave waves are high frequency electromagnetic waves. These waves affect molecules that carry asymmetric, negative and positive electric charges at opposite ends or poles, such as water. The microwave waves cause these molecules to vibrate and increase their thermal energy, and therefore they heat up. This means that, having more freedom of movement, the heating is more effective when the water in the food is in a liquid state.Another fact to keep in mind is that microwaves penetrate a maximum of 4 cm inside food, so when the portion is large, the center is cooked by the heat generated inside the oven and not by the waves microwave

per se.The main reasoning of the detractors of microwave ovens is that their waves alter the nutrients, when in fact it could be said that it is the opposite.

Microwaves do not alter the composition of the food , except for its amount of water, since, given its operation, the food dehydrates when the water evaporates from it.In fact, when cooking food in water, for example, when cooking, the loss of nutrients is much more evident.

The temperature and cooking time affect the nutrients, therefore, those that are not lost due to the cooking temperature, are lost through leaching. They are susceptible to being lost: vitamins, especially water-soluble, and minerals such as potassium, chlorine or sodium, highly water-soluble. All of them would be in the cooking water. A particular case is that of vitamin C present, for example, in vegetables, which is almost completely lost when cooking food, while it is retained mostly when cooked in the microwave or steamed. When to heat food in the microwave?

In general, practically all foods are susceptible to being cooked in the microwave,

provided: - They are placed in a suitable container. Se - Be careful to remove it frequently as not all layers of the food are heated equally. This is extremely important in the case of liquids, for example breast milk, since there may be areas much hotter than others and the risk of scalding is very high.

- Care must also be taken not to introduce metallic elements and not to start the empty microwave. No - Do not owe, put eggs in the microwave, neither raw nor cooked, although an omelette could curdle. Por - On the other hand, cooking meat in the microwave is not usually recommended, given that the loss of water during cooking makes its final texture quite hard. However, cooking it in sauce does not usually present this problem.

In general, the best cooking method, which best preserves the nutrients, is always

the one that uses the lowest temperature for the shortest possible time

, and use the least amount of liquid possible.