Not necessarily. A point that may be overlooked is that ice doesn't absorb the 'microwave' radiation as effectively as water. So more power may be reflected until such time as enough ice melts to increase the rate of heat input accepted by the peas.
And I'm far from sure the absorbtion is due to a resonant line of the water.
So experiment may be a better guide than some of the theories I've seen here.
Slainte,
Jim
I have eaten peas in pods from s'mkt, peas picked straight off the plant and frozen peas.
The worst is on pod in supermarkets. Tasteless.
The best is straight off the plants. Frozen are a good second best.
I experimented yesterday, using sprouts not peas. They actually took the same time without water as with. The problem doing them without water was that the heating was uneven. There were boiling bits and still frozen bits side by side.
Bill
I find a pocket calculator handy when I go in Sainsburys.
And a carrier bag for all the crappy bits of paper they shove at you at the till.
That's about all their feeble carrier bags can carry!
In message , Bill Wright writes
If you microwave fresh sprouts without water, you tend to fry the outer leaves, with the inside uncooked. Even when reheating cooked sprouts, you can fry the outer leaves if you blast them with full power.
I wonder whether they were frozen in the experiment? I imagine both have very different properties to peas.
Every uW oven I've seen has a defrost function - which usually just switches it on & off for the programmed duration.
IMO this damages the magnetron - the anode voltage is there instantly, but the heater takes a sec', the not quite hot heater has no space charge - so it strips the cathode coating.
I've seen a uW oven with a separate heater transformer - whether they used this to keep the heater on all the time during defrost is another matter.
I concur.
Used to use JS as a main source. Now go almost everywhere else and only use them for a few things only they do.
I object to having to walk from one end of the row of tills to the other to find one that is open. Finding open tills for their self-checkout totally unused and yet not a single basket till open. Etc. Plus their car park is horrible.
well why NOT ignore what most of us have been saying here, that EXPERIMENT shows the peas need no extra water, will defrost and cook in pure microwaves and take a couple of minutes at full power? And don't lose any flavour to the water, which is now nonexistent.
ALL veg cooks remarkably well in a microwave. There is enough water in veg to do the job, they get warmed from the inside out, and all you have to do to avoid drying out is use a covered dish. Only if you want a hot dry crust, do you need to use externally applied heat, like chips or roast potatoes or parsnips.
In short if you are boiling or streaming veg, don't. Microwave em instead for better results.
Hmm, I'm not sure our 33 year old microwave fits with your theory though. Mostly used for defrosting and not cooking and still going strong.
Tim
frozen peas.
+1. "Fresh" peas in the pod are anything but by the time they reach supermarket shelves. Either grow your own or buy frozen.Tim
The slice of bread trick demonstrates this - inside out toast!
Just don't do it with Eccles Cakes or Chocolate Bars (fire risk!).
Eggs are fun.
Oh yes you do (spoken as a true sprout lover)! [How many weeks to Christmas, BTW.]
then you didnt cover then with plastic sheet
I use small bowls, covered with pyrex lids.
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