# Water must be Boiled, Not Nuked **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039 "2004-11-04T20:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/21 "2004-11-05T16:21:44Z")
I am here to tell you that boiling water in the microwave can indeed explode as it happened to me a few weeks ago. I boil 8 cups of water in a large Pyrex measuring cup about once per week to refill my hummingbird feeders. I’ve been doing this for about ten years with nary a problem until last month. The explosion was very loud and it scared the crap out of me. I was fortunate in that I did not get burned as I was delayed in opening the microwave door. I was boiling 1/2 cup of water in a 2 cup Pyrex measurer for a cobbler that I was making. It had only been in the oven on high for just under 2 minutes and had just started to boil. I stopped the oven but (thank goodness) did not open the door yet. _BOOM_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/22 "2004-11-06T02:24:33Z")
Unless scrubbed totally clean and completely rebuilt, water boiled in [Winston Smith](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255472&highlight=microwave+nuke)’s microwave oven would proably taste shitty. OK, most of you debunked, poo-poohed or otherwise shot down the OP’s conventional heating preference - Have any of you heard why some pets (my dogs-for example) won’t eat their food if it’s warmed in the microwave? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/23 "2004-11-06T03:49:39Z")
Well… I mean… If you put hot cocoa or a tea bag into your hot water, shouldn’t it taste like the cocoa or tea? I never noticed a difference on how you heat the water. (kettle, microwave or hot water dispenser) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/24 "2004-11-06T04:00:46Z")
> [@siberia](#): > > I am here to tell you that boiling water in the microwave can indeed explode as it happened to me a few weeks ago. I boil 8 cups of water in a large Pyrex measuring cup about once per week to refill my hummingbird feeders. I’ve been doing this for about ten years with nary a problem until last month. > > The explosion was very loud and it scared the crap out of me. I was fortunate in that I did not get burned as I was delayed in opening the microwave door. I was boiling 1/2 cup of water in a 2 cup Pyrex measurer for a cobbler that I was making. It had only been in the oven on high for just under 2 minutes and had just started to boil. I stopped the oven but (thank goodness) did not open the door yet. _BOOM_ Interesting. I was lead to believe that the water would explode only after something else, like sugar, was put into it after it was superheated. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/25 "2004-11-06T04:58:13Z")
The OP is totally correct. And, yes, the government did plant mind-control-beam receivers in your fillings, too, since you were going to ask. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![NorwegianBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NorwegianBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorwegianBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/26 "2004-11-06T15:26:29Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > You are crazy in the head. There is no difference whatsoever. > > Or - wait! Did you forget to make sure your tinfoil hat was on securely before you tried the nuked water?!?! tinfoil? When will you people learn…it has to be ferrite to keep the evil mind control frequencies out of your head. :smack: I personally think there is no difference in microwaved vs kettled water. We use both and either works just fine in our opinion I support the blind taste test idea - although I would sure like to know how you plan to ascertain the difference accurately on the “double blind” test. (?) ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/27 "2004-11-06T15:39:04Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Interesting. I was lead to believe that the water would explode only after something else, like sugar, was put into it after it was superheated. The water itself just needs to be disturbed in some way. When their is no nucleation point, the water won’t boil around something, and thus it can become superheated. Adding sugar or stirring or something would have the same effect, but possibly so could bumping it and causing a disturbance that way. It’s why you’re supposed to scratch the bottom of a new beaker before boiling something in it in chem labs. ---
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/28 "2004-11-06T15:54:53Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Interesting. I was lead to believe that the water would explode only after something else, like sugar, was put into it after it was superheated. Me too! I suppose that what why it was so shocking…that and fact that the explosion was so loud. ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/29 "2004-11-06T17:03:49Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > The water itself just needs to be disturbed in some way. When their is no nucleation point, the water won’t boil around something, and thus it can become superheated. Adding sugar or stirring or something would have the same effect, but possibly so could bumping it and causing a disturbance that way. It’s why you’re supposed to scratch the bottom of a new beaker before boiling something in it in chem labs. My experience with exploding water occured with a kitchen stove- picking the lid up off the pot was what set it off with a big “whoosh”. The lid shielded my hand, but my wrist got nicely burned. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/30 "2004-11-07T01:06:07Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > This is my most likely culprit. > > Following that, I’m going to point out that in traditional heating in a kettle, the water has the hottest point that it is being exposed to is at the bottom of the volume of water, which is the point that the coolest water in the volume will be moving towards because of density changing as a function of temperature. In nuked water, the hottest point in volume is supposed to be the center of the volume, which may result in uneven and unequal heating. Of course, those of us who use the ‘nuke it til it glows’ method of microwave heating won’t really notice a difference, since after enough time the ineffeciency of the thermal mixing of the water is compensated by the extra energy being added to the volume of water. 😃 center of the volume? 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/31 "2004-11-07T01:58:32Z")
I’m also convinced that there’s something about pouring boiling water over a tea bag as opposed to dipping a tea bag into very hot water. The former tastes better to me. Maybe it’s the tradition, or the ritual, or maybe I just need an updated tinfoil hat. > [@](#): > > If the water is nuked in a glazed ceramic mug, I find it can take on a chemical taste. I don’t know if it’s the fact that ceramic is porous and therefore absorbs things (including dishwashing soap) that leach back into the water, or if it’s the glazing itself, but it’s there. There’s also an omnipresent layer of scummy foam on the top of tea made in water that’s been nuked in a ceramic mug. Seeing as how most ceramics used for food are fired at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and the glaze is fused glass at that point, the ceramic cup should be completely vitreous and impermeable to water. If you are well and truly picking up funny tastes from your mug, check for hairline cracks in the glaze, and make sure you don’t have Fiestaware or something like it that used lead in the glaze, which can leach out over time when exposed to acidic foods. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039/32 "2004-11-07T03:41:20Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Seeing as how most ceramics used for food are fired at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and the glaze is fused glass at that point, the ceramic cup should be completely vitreous and impermeable to water. You’re right. And I did a little research on this topic after I posted, and realized that it’s not something leaching out of the ceramic at all, it’s almost certainly nasty residue from the dishwasher. Water nuked in a mug pulled straight from the cabinet had the nasty scum situation, water nuked in a mug that was well-rinsed with hot water before it was filled and put into the microwave was fine. In a word, ewwwwwwwwwwwww. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-must-be-boiled-not-nuked/273039.md?page=1)