I just bought premade lamb kebobs here in China. Do you think I can microwave them? I assume you can, but want to know what you think. Yes, the wood is already inside the meat and their ready to go.
Make that “they’re” ready to go.
you could but why would you? your not going to get any browning and whats going to come out will resemble dry, boiled lamb on a stick. Either cook it properly or justbuy them pre-cooked.
Wood is made up of cellulose, which is chemically the same as starch which is found abundantly in many foods. So, yeah, it is OK to microwave it.
If it’s raw lamb, I seriously wouldn’t microwave it. Microwaved raw meat tastes awful and its texture becomes weird. Maybe you won’t mind it, but I cannot stand it. If you have any options other than microwaving, use them. Heck, if you can’t grill them or stick 'em in an oven, pan fry them. It’s a much better alternative.
I would think that microwaving wood, which typically has a fairly low moisture content is a good way to start a fire. Beyond this if the wood has any resins it is likely they will be polymerized by the microwaving. Ummmm-Umh!
Nah. The very lack of water or other polar molecules, like fats and sugars, won’t generally let it get hot enough to catch fire. It’s the water content of foods, along with fats and sugars, that absorb the microwave radiation and produce the heat. Wood isn’t very good at absorbing microwaves, so it doesn’t heat well, either.
Placing burning wood in the oven, however, produces spectacular results. It can also do a great deal of damage to the inside of the oven, so don’t do that.
Why would anyone put wood that’s already on fire in the microwave?
Wood is a polysaccharide. I think astro’s point is well taken, wood would probably burn if you left it in there long enough. I’m not sure how long it would take though.
To observe the aforementioned spectacular effects. It produces a very hot, bright ball of glowing plasma which is similar to ball lightning.
You might be right. I put a chopstick (not sure what kind of wood) in mine and let it run for a few minutes, and it did get rather warm. I don’t know how long it would take to reach ignition temperature, but it could, possibly. I think it would only be a problem if the wood is the only think in the oven, since water-bearing food will absorb most of the energy.
For the same reason that people put light bulbs, steel wool, CDs, twinkies, marshmellows, LEDs, cut grapes, and many other objects in the microwave.
I talked to a couple at a wood-carving show about drying wood for carving. They said, for a rush job of a dozen eagles, they had resorted to microwaving. It took some experiments to find out how long they could cook a block of wood without charring it.
Interesting! I’d been flipping through my husband’s wood and woodworking library to see if I could find mention of something like that.
Yes, microwaving wood is fine. I’ve microwaved plenty of corn dogs with sticks in them.