The Future of the Microwave

Description

The microwave oven. The microwave oven will still be called the microwave as long as it uses microwave radiation to cook food. The zapping oven will still be in most North American homes, offices and schools. Its portability and convenience will still its’ main selling point. People will be able to cook decadent meals by placing the dish inside, closing the lid and simply inputting the pre-programmed code for that dish. The cook can then walk away, allowing the meal to be cooked unattended. Busy families and workers can get a hot meal quickly and conveniently.

Development

The microwave is headed towards becoming the ultimate all in one cooking appliance. The microwave has gained the ability to prepare, cook and even preserve food. The microwave will become two ovens in one, one being a microwave oven and the other being a miniature convection oven. In addition to being two ovens other models have double functions such as being a hood range and an electric range. With the new features, the microwave allows people to cook complex dishes quickly and conveniently. Say for a pot roast. The traditional way to cook it would be to marinate it, render the fat in a frying pan and finish the cooking in an oven. The roasting process would take several hours. With a hybrid microwave oven, the roasting time can be dramatically reduced due to microwave radiation cooking and the oven’s built in broiler will give the roast the same flavourful crust as in a traditional convection oven. With a microwave, it is easier to control portions as the oven is small. With full sized ovens it doesn’t matter how small the portions are, the entire oven has to be turned on. It would be costly to turn on the oven just to bake a small single serving pie.

The microwave has advanced from being just an oven. With the built in water trays, it has become a steamer. Foods requiring steam no longer have to be cooked in a steamer. The beauty of the new hybrid microwave is, anyone can cook spectacular dishes with it. With pre-programmed codes creating a turkey dinner is as pressing a button, literally. Just simply place the dish inside, input the code and the microwave will adjust cooking times based on the weight and volume of the dish. The days during the sixties when even dad can make a roast turkey dinner are making a comeback.

A new aspect of the microwave is the ability to select the cooking temperature manually. Unlike before where only the power levels were selectable, the new microwaves with have all the characteristics of a convection oven. This simple feature allows the microwave to bake, broil and roast. Breads, roasts, fish and steaks can now be cooked or finished in the microwave. One new feature that is created from selecting the temperature is the ability to dehydrate foods. Fruits and meals can now be preserved in a matter of minutes. No longer do dried foods have to be bought and the users will save money as the food won’t spoil in a few weeks.

Rationale

As previously stated in my first Techpost, microwaves are gaining more features that separate them from traditional microwave ovens. The built in broilers are used to simulate convection ovens. Hood range microwaves are for small apartments and built in steamers allow the microwave to cook foods previously not plausible. It all points to the desire to make the microwave oven more than just an appliance for reheating food. The microwave is turning to become part of the kitchen as shown by the full sized microwaves that are built into the walls. Those full sized microwave ovens sometimes are ued to replace or are a part of a convection oven. All my ideas are based off of the hybrid microwaves available today. I keep close to this era because I don’t see the microwave advancing much further than what I proposed by 2025. Even though microwave can gain many features, it will always cook with microwave radiation and that limits to what is can do and how fast it can cook. So bite sized dehydrated meals like the pizza from Back to The Future II will still be out of reach, for now at least.

LJWorld.com

(2009, Janurary 28),  Faster, cheaper microwaves working better than ever.

Retrieved Apr. 4, 2009, from:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jan/28/faster-cheaper-microwaves-working-better-ever/