Is this plastic disposable bowl safe to use in microwave?

[micky]

Is this plastic disposable bowl safe to use in microwave?

I'm staying with two guys, both of whom are away. I want to cook something and their oven doesn't work, only the microwave.

They had a package of disposable plastic plates marked Safe for Microwave, and I used two of them to make fried eggs and scrambled eggs.

But it was hard to stir the eggs with the low rim of a plate, so I bought disposable plastic bowls. I forgot to look for the word microwave, and these were the only bowls the store had. The word is not there.

A different brand but the plastic seems of the same nature in every way.

So I heated some water in one. The bottom of the bowl that was next to the hot water is wrinkled now a little bit, just like the plates were after I used them. The rest of the bowl above the water line is in pristine condition. Doesn't that mean the bowl is microwave safe, that it didn't melt or catch fire. Or are there poisons in some plastic that heating releases?

-- I googled are there poisons in some plastic that heating releases? These articles make me think that "microwave safe" is not related to toxins as much as whether the bowl will melt or not. OTOH, why would they not label it microwave safe if it was the same material as the other brand? A single-use bottle on a hot summer day A study conducted by scientists at Arizona State University in 2008 looked at how heat sped up the release of antimony in PET bottles. Antimony is used to manufacture the plastic and can be toxic in high doses, the NIH reports.Jul 19, 2019

The kind of plastic is not embossed in the bowl or written on the package, but PET isn't used for plates or bowls, is it?

[invalid unparseable]

IMHO any plastic approved for food contact and that survives boiling water is safe to use.

In the case of PET it depends on crystallinity as uncrystallized will soften and deform. Don't worry about the antimony as it is only used at the ppm level and locked into the polymer.

[trader_4]

I guess one place to start is what does microwave safe actually mean? Is there some govt standard? An industry standard? Micky said that the plates that were marked with that actually deformed when used. So does it mean that it's safe to use to moderately reheat food or does it mean it's safe and OK to use to cook food? From what I've seen and do, any of the clear plastic food containers are OK to use for moderate reheating, anything more than that they deform. The black containers that frozen food comes in are OK to higher temperatures and will not deform, they typically can go in a regular oven too. So to me the essential difference is whether you're cooking or just warming it up, which I do at half power to make it less likely that the typical plastic container will deform. If I want to cook something in the microwave, like carrots, I use a ceramic or glass kitchen bowl.

[invalid unparseable]

I use ceramic or glass myself too. Maybe even a paper plate if reheating pizza. Deformed plastic would be OK but who wants to deal with that?

I also recall Campbell selling dual oven-able TV dinners in PET trays. They could be heated in microwave as well as regular oven.

[Karen]

There are likely more harmful chemicals in the factory farm food you're heating than the plastic plate.

Ever wonder why we have an epidemic of young people who are so confused about which sex they are?

[TimR]

When plastic shapes are formed, especially by injection molding, they have residual stresses locked in by the way they flow and cool.

When you heat them up, the material is no longer strong enough to maintain the stress, so the material reshapes to relieve itself.

I don't see any reason that would affect the food.

Mickey, fix the oven. I can't believe you didn't start there.

[invalid unparseable]

Depends on the plastic, forming method and crystalline or amorphous.

He should fix the oven. You don't fry eggs in a microwave.

[micky]

It's not my oven. They don't want me to touch it. And they're not here to modify what they said.

[invalid unparseable]

We did not know that you were homeless.

[micky]

I'm struggling to get off the floor into the chair, having gotten an almost lethal dose of antimony and who knows what else. But as I wait for the ambulance, I have time to reply.

Only the bottom, not the rim, and not too much. I think it was just the heat of the eggs that did it.

The fried eggs on the microwave pltes had come out well, but the scrambled eggs** were strange in that they cooked around the circumference, an inch to an inch and a half in and left the middle liquid. So I ate the cooked part, and put it back in. Same thing happened although this time the center was smaller. I put it in a third time to cook that.

OTOH, when I did scrambled eggs, mushroom stems and pieces, and hot dog pieces in the bowl, it cooked on TOP and the bottom remained liquid. I ate the top and I think I only had to put it in one more time.

The bottom of the bowl deformed too, but nothing else. I think it swelled and is a bit too big for the circumference.

Really, both the plate and the bowl acted exactly alike, though one was marked for the microwave and the other wasn't.

**The plate got soft and I used a china plate to hold the plastic plate flat when carrying 2 beaten eggs and some mushroom pieces. The first time I came close to spilling some of it. I wasn't allowed to actually cook off the china plate. Their rules. I don't question them. I'm lucky to have this place. (Good location, cheap, off-street parking, and until they both went away, good roommates, but one will be back in two weeks.)

I heard the siren and the ambulance people are stomping up the stairs. Now they're knocking. I have to go now. I hope they don't pump my stomach.

[micky]

Yes, it's sad, and I try not to talk about it.

[Jock]

There is no such epidemic and it isnt due to chemicals in food either.

[Ed Pawlowski]

If you are going to be there for a while, invest in this. Available on eBay used and cheaper.

or a more sophisticated version.

In the second one I crack and egg and scramble it. Add some cheese chunks. In the top I put pre-cooked sausage patties from a previous breakfast. Nuke for 75 seconds and breakfast is ready. I toast and English muffin to make the sandwich.

[TimR]

Considering the questions you ask here about DIY projects.............. and you seem to be on the fearless side.........

..............

Did you burn your house down?

Don't fix the oven.

[micky]

Do you mean stupid? Yeah, I have a lot of that. Some people think my sleeping in the car is stupid. For 48 nights.

Once I took a pan off the stove and put it on a hot pad (Is that the word? Oven mitt without the mitt.)

Then I put the pan back on the burner and sat down. I was facing the sliding glass door or I might not have seen the flames. It seems the hot pad stuck to the pan when I put it back on the burner and it was burning.

I took the pan off the electric burner and the pad fell in pieces on the floor, and damaged the embossed vinyl floor a little bit.