Microwave ovens are a common kitchen appliance present in all our homes and which are used to heat and cook food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiations in the form of microwaves. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating. Microwave ovens heat foods quickly and efficiently because excitation is fairly uniform of a homogenous (high water content) food item; in such a way that food is more evenly heated throughout.
They became common in all modern kitchens starting from the late ’80s but after the initial enthusiasm, with the publication of hundreds of cooking books and manuals, all cooks and housewives had abandoned them, going back to traditional electric and gas ovens, thus neglecting them. They are used only to re-heat vegetables and frozen meat.
But I am here proposing a smart use of them. Being them very quick and practical, they may be used for sanitary purposes – a thing that no housewife has been aware of – as very effective germs killers. They may in fact be used periodically to disinfect all non-metal items which are used in the kitchen: cups (with no gold rims); dishes; drinking glasses; bowls; chopsticks; all ceramic and wooden items. What we have to do is just to wet them with some water, then insert them into the oven and let them turn at a maximum power for about 5 minutes. Microbes and bacteria will be wiped out completely by the heat.
Microwave oves were invented after WWII, as a by-product of Radar technology but because at the beginning were cumbersome and expensive they were not easily sold. This modern technology is also used in several industrial sectors, like textile mills, used to dry cone of yarns after the dyeing machine.