Method Of Treating Foodstuffs – aka Microwave Cooking – Turns 60
Posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2010
Another milestone in the “I didn’t have that when I was a kid” items to dwell on. On January 24, 1950, P. L. Spencer, a Raytheon engineer, was granted a patent for his “method of treating foodstuffs” invention. He discovered a way of cooking food by bombarding it with radar-like microwaves. Who would want food cooked like that? Apparently, lots of folks.
During two decades of fascination with space exploration and all things lunar, the public was sold the dream of cooking just like the astronauts, and won’t that be keen?! Hey, we drank Tang by the gallons because the astronauts did… you youngsters just don’t get it.
Once this space age method of cooking started to catch on, there was no stopping it. By the mid 1970’s microwave ovens, first sold as the Radarange, were outselling traditional gas ovens. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. Is the microwave oven handy? I guess so. Can you cook a meal in a microwave oven that looks like the pictures on the cookbooks? The jury is still out. Don’t get me wrong; I have a microwave and I’ve been known to use it. Still…
I understand that there is a lot of evidence by scientists and nutritionists that microwaving our food may not leave all the food intact, nutritionally speaking. Take, for example, broccoli.
A study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture investigated the effects of various methods of cooking broccoli. Of all the methods of preparation, microwaving caused the greatest loss in nutrients. Quoting from the study “Clear disadvantages were detected when broccoli was microwaved, namely high losses of flavonoids (97%), sinapic acid derivatives (74%) and caffeoyl-quinic acid derivatives (87%).” These elements are most recognizable as the things that are considered antioxidants, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral. But microwaving our vegetables has become standard procedure.
And who can forget blissfully warming our baby’s bottles in the good old microwave back in the ’70’s and ’80’s? Today? Good Lord! No one would dare!
The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is again so true. I’m sure Mr. Spencer did a good thing when he figured out how to bombard our food with microwaves. There are probably many “spin off” inventions that really do benefit humankind – perhaps in the field of medicine.
As for me, when I have a plate of food to heat up, a cup of coffee to reheat, or some vegetables to cook, I’ll choose the old fashioned way once again. There’s nothing wrong with using real heat to make food hot.
Call me crazy, but I want to eat food that hasn’t been bombarded, thank you very much.
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Wow! I’ve been microwaving my veggies since my hand arthritis got bad. The pots are lighter and easier to handle while cooking and washing them, and it takes less watching than boiling. But I need those antioxidants!
I know what you mean, Deb. I used to really like to microwave broccoli. The color stayed so nice and the texture was perfect. Now since I heard ALL the nutrients in broccoli disappear when microwaved, I’m steaming it or blanching it. It’s okay, but honestly, not as good as the microwave. 🙁
I never thought of the weight of pots and pans versus a plate or other container without all that water when folks can’t trust the strength of their hands. I wish there was a really good solution. {{sigh}} Thank you so much for visiting me here in cyberspace and giving me something to research. I sure appreciate the time you took to comment. It means a lot to me.