# Micro-wav as opposed to conventional cooking

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/micro-wav-as-opposed-to-conventional-cooking/136875>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 15, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/micro-wav-as-opposed-to-conventional-cooking/136875 "2002-11-15T14:23:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![poppyp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@poppyp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poppyp)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/micro-wav-as-opposed-to-conventional-cooking/136875/1 "2002-11-15T14:23:54Z")

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Why do things heated in a micro-wav not stay hot as long as when heated in a more conventional way?

Thanks, I’m a little new at this.

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/micro-wav-as-opposed-to-conventional-cooking/136875/2 "2002-11-15T14:32:42Z")

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> [@](#):
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> Why do things heated in a micro-wav not stay hot as long as when heated in a more conventional way?

They do. Temperature is temperature.

The only phenomenon you could possibly be experiencing is that if the food is still cold in the middle, it will tend to even out, cooling the outside while heating the inside.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/micro-wav-as-opposed-to-conventional-cooking/136875/3 "2002-11-15T14:34:50Z")

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Microwaves, contrary to popular myth, do not ‘cook from the inside outwards’ (although the microwaves do penetrate the food to an extent) - the microwaves are absorbed by water and fat molecules in the food and the microwave energy is converted into heat; it’s quite possible to heat something (say a large, deep-filled pie) up in a microwave and have the outside scalding hot, but the centre still quite cool; when left to stand, the temperature gradually equalises, the outer parts losing heat not only to the environment, but to the cool inner parts too.

if we were talking about a beaker of water brought to the boil in a microwave vs a similar one boiled in a kettle, I’d be very surprised to find that there really is any difference.