microwave mistake!

[Dinghy]

My sister gave me a bunch of hot peppers the other day. One kind I'm going to can today, the other I wanted to dehydrate. My dehydrater isn't in real good shape any more, and I don't want to tie up the oven. So I decided to try drying them in the microwave. I put a few on a paper plate, put it in for 30 seconds, and walked out to the other room to check the laundry. I heard a really strange noise and thought it was the refrigerator, so I went running back to the kitchen. The paper plate in the microwave was on fire!!! I don't know what the noise was, but there was smoke all over the kitchen! I have had paper plates in there for a lot longer than 30 seconds before and never had them catch on fire. The only thing I could think of was maybe the oil in the peppers helped it catch. Now I'm scared to use the darn thing!! I put a bowl with water in and tested it and it works ok, but I'm going to be really leary of paper plates!

 

[AnniePutin]

Oh, that's so scary!! I use paper plates all the time! I set bowls on them or put food on them. I'd sure like to get the facts on the safety rules re-using paper plates or paper towels in the microwave. Thanks for sharing Dinghy!

 

[Lynques]

Generally speaking, if you put paper or cloth, such as rice bags, into the microwave, it is a very good idea to also put in a cup of water. Just put it in the middle of the plate and put food around it, or arrange the bag around it. But if you don't, be sure you stay in the kitchen to make sure it doesn't catch fire. Glad you weren't hurt.

Lynques

 

[Lynn]

Only 30 seconds..wow, that would scare me. We used to get that microwave popcorn and, one caught on fire. I have no idea why, as we did it all the time and it never happened again. Being the chicken I am, I would have got a new micro, but DH just kept using it, so finally I did too. It is a mystery to this day why it happened. Getting the smell out was a bear, we put baking soda in it and left the door open in the day time. Good news was the smoke detector worked.

 

[Dinghy]

I was totally shocked because we've used paper plates hundreds of times. I'm just glad I was close enough to put the fire out right away. That was something different too. I found I couldn't keep blowing on it. Every time I inhaled I got a bunch of smoke and couldn't blow back out right, I kept coughing. It took quite a few times to get it beaten down, then I pulled it out before it was completely extinguished. My lungs burned and both the kids that were in the living room were coughing like crazy. The smoke from this was worse than when we had a real fire years ago. But then they broke out a window, so that probably helped a lot!

 

[Lynn]

You must have great lungs if you could blow the fire part way out. I took my kitchen hand towel, got it wet and, threw it on top of the flames. It did the job.

 

[Dinghy]

You know, I was in such a panic I never would have thought of a wet towel. Thanks for the idea!! I don't know about the good lungs, I just quit smoking about 3 months ago. I think it was more desperation!!

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Those must have been some HOT peppers!



Seriously, I think burning capsacium would tear your lungs up! Think what hot peppers just do to your mouth.

 

[Caplock50]

Walrus Whisperer, I was thinking along those same lines...Homemade pepper spray.

Seroiusly though, I'm glad nothing really bad happened.

 

[Dennis Olson]

What causes paper plates to heat to ignition is moisture content. A dry paper plate will not burn, but get it wet, and look out! Microwave ovens heat by exciting the water molecules in food. That's why moist/wet foods heat so much faster than dryer foods. I would never use a paper plate in a nuke. I use plastic microwave-safe plates or bowls.

 

[Dinghy]

That's good info to know, thanks Dennis!

 

[dieseltrooper]

For some real fun, put a 18" flourescent bulb in the RF cooker and light it up! Warning: I've never let it go more than a few seconds after it lit....

 

[occupant]

Been waiting for proper thread to post my EXPLOSIVE micro -drying experience.
I thought I'd quick dry some fresh herbs in a paper towel in the micro. 30 seconds and BOOM explosion and fire. Argggh, in my new micro. O.K maybe it was the type of paper towel. Bought micro safe paper towels. tried again..30 seconds and Boom and fire AGAIN ! S**t. maybe Dennis' theory is right.. but Dennis, do ya really wanna cook your food in FOAM plates and then eat it??

 

[Synap]

hehe..ya don't wanna warm peanut butter in a MW either. BTDT...WHOOSH!

'Fraid I have to disagree with ya Dennis if by moisture you mean water. The wood or other oils added or embedded yep, plain water no. A (water) wet paper towel is actually safer than a dry one...providing ya don't over cook it to beyond dryness.

Paper towels are made from trees that are processed into pulpwood. Long fibers from softwood trees, such as pine and spruce, are most commonly used.

This wood and it's flammable oil, plus the resins incorporated in the mfr process to 'glue' the fibers together, is what can ignite under some circumstances. Not having something in there that can more readily absorb the energy is one such circumstance.

That said I've never in 20yrs had a paper towel or plate catch fire in a MW unless heated/ignited by some other object in the oven. Also I watch the timer setting and tend to work up to proper heating rather than trusting object 'suggested' timer labelling, or just programming just any whatever seconds/minutes and walking away. Over heating is the biggest fire danger in any oven process.

hehe..CDroms are fun fireworks..gives new meaning to AOLHell. But I've done 'em on a paper plate with no fire. Was only 10 seconds tho. The disk melted in spots nicely. A longer cook would have ignited the paper plate no question.

Those of you that wanna cook your RFID tags. Wet the garment first. Just well dampened is good. Zap for 5 secs. The water will absorb excess energy. No more RFID and depending on the garment size/volume and the amount of water moisture in it, it prolly won't even get warm. NOTE! DO NOT MW CLOTHING/OBJECTS WITH METAL ZIPPERS! They will heat very rapidly from MW energy arcs and start a fire!

 

[Dennis Olson]

Actually, the arcing is kind-of a myth. Sparking/arcing is only generated by REFLECTIVE metallic surfaces. The heating issue is still valid. But you CAN use tinfoil in a microwave IF you have the "dull side" facing outward. The issue with water in the paper towel is that the moisture allows the towel to get MUCH hotter than it otherwise would. Once enough water has evaporated, it can thus ignite. (But it cannot ignite JUST by being wet..)

 

[Synap]

OK I take your point about the paper's temp rise. The vaporization temp of water would seem to be to low to ignite paper. But I suppose it would be a contributor. I've never seen it happen tho. I've dried wet paperback books in my MW for ages..even too hot to touch at times. I'll have to experiment and see if cooking longer has the results you say..

Yes metal does reflect microwaves..sorta. As it does with any Radio Frequency energy. Metal, unless it is grounded or otherwise is provided a method to become a path to 'conduct' the energy, absorbs a bit (field potential change IIRC) and reflects the rest. But it can also absorb/conduct RF energy.

Yes, it's quite alright to use foil in the MW oven to cover those food parts you don't want to cook, or to reduce cooking those parts at some point.

But don't let the foil touch the metal oven sides or it will arc, produce a lot of instant heat, and burn the paint on the metal sides. The collected energy release (current flow) is enabled because the oven sides provide a path for current to flow. The foil becomes an antenna collecting the RF energy and conducts it to the oven side...at the speed of light no less.

However, the foil edge/point being very thin will actually vaporize somewhat until the space between the two is enlarged to the point where the RF energy (at that frequency) cannot maintain an arc. Usually you'll hear a SNAP! and that it..all over. Also you usually don't want to use two or more foil pieces touching each other. There's likely to be arcing if you do but prolly won't hurt anything other than add a minute bit of aluminum to your food and air.

A common MW oven (2.4ghz) can create an arc at around or below 1/10" spacing IIRC. (Might be a little more or less) BTW, that's what makes 'metal oxide embedded' surfaces heat up. MW 'browners' for instance have metal oxide embedded. Ceramics usually have some metal oxides so they will heat up too. Did you know you can smelt gold in a microwave? Heating the 'metal oxided', usually ceramic, container of course. Works quite well, albeit very smelly as is all smelting.

 

[mzkitty]

Once a friend of mine made some microwave brownies. They didn't seem done in the time specified, so she nuked it for an extra minute. She opened the door, and we (us and all our kids) almost keeled over. The plastic tray holding the brownies had begun to burn and melt. You never want to smell that. It was so horrifying, I can't even convey...... burning plastic could kill you.