SILICON CHIP
Publisher & Editor-In-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke , B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Advertising Manager
Paul Buchtmann (02) 982 9553
Regular Contributors
Bryan Maher, M.E. B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
John Hill
Jennifer Bonnitcha, B.A.
Bob Young
Photography
Bob Donaldson
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E.
SILICON CHIP is published 1 2 times
a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. All material
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ISSN 1030-2662
2
SILICON CHIP
PUBLISHER'S LETTER
Myths and
•
microwave
ovens
One of the boon appliances in today's household is the microwave
oven. Not only does it do a much quicker job of cooking but it saves
quite a lot of energy in the process. Strangely enough though, there are
quite a few people who will have nothing to do with food cooked in a
microwave oven because it has been somehow "polluted" by the
process.
While it is easy enough to pour scorn on such attitudes, it is partly a
result of confusion and disillusion with science and technology. After
all, how many times in the past has a new technology been praised as
being a wonderful advance and then years later, we have learned that
it has some very nasty and long-lasting environmental side effects.
Some examples: atomic energy, supertankers, most pesticides and
weedicides, many drugs, asbestos, most mineral extraction and refining processes, PCBs (poly chlorinated biphenyls) - the list is endless.
However, just because many new technologies do have side-effects
which must be carefully controlled, we should not swear off them all;
particularly not such a benign product as a microwave oven. It is a
simple product with positive benefits for the environment and for personal health.
Food cooked in a microwave oven retains much more of its vitamins
than food cooked in any other way. This applies particularly to
vegetables. And cooking food in a microwave oven saves quite a lot of
energy since virtually only the food itself is heated, not the container,
or a large quantity of water, or the surrounding air and so on.
And there is another practical benefit to using a microwave oven a lot less washing up of pots and pans. That means you save time and
hot water - another saving in energy.
Does that mean that there are absolutely no side effects to
microwave ovens? Well, there are two that I can think of. Microwave
energy is dangerous if you are exposed to it. That is why there are
complex interlocks and a special microwave proof seal on the door.
That is also why the door glass has a fine metal mesh in it - to prevent
microwave energy from passing through. There is also a high voltage
power supply inside which could be quite lethal if it was touched.
But provided a microwave oven has not been tampered with in any
way, it is no more dangerous and in fact less dangerous than another
potentially lethal domestic appliance - your colour TV set. It too can
emit radiation if it's defective, and it also has a very high voltage
power supply inside. But nobody swears off watching television for
those reasons. Nor should anyone avoid eating food cooked in a
microwave oven because of vague fears about radiation or pollution.
Eat and enjoy.
Leo Simpson
