Tag: kitchen

Posted in Simple Pleasures of Life

Simple Pleasures of Life #5

Posted on by Jinavie

Having some experimental fun in the kitchen.

(Doing tomorrow’s tonight instead just because of my kitchen adventure)

Today I had my third go at baking (brownies again lol) because it’s my turn to bake for the team this week for O&G. See, I’ve always treated cooking like a bit of an…artistic science experiment. Baking more so because of the more precise measurements etc. In the process, I managed to:

  • Have 200g of butter explode in the microwave. Literally. The mug completely flipped out inside with a loud clatter and spilled all the butter…EVERYWHERE. Took a freaking hour to clean it all up… Luckily I had just enough butter left.
  • Guess (rightly) which setting to put the oven on. Seriously, those symbols might as well be hieroglyphs.
  • Improperly cool the brownie. I didn’t know I was supposed to take it straight out and put it on a cooling tray. Instead, I left it in the tin to “cool”, leading to the bottom being gooey and the top being cookie-hard OTL 
  • Creatively rebaked the brownie by flipping it over, re-molding the gooey brownie to fill the spaces left on the “bottom” (now top) of the brownie, then sticking in the oven with top heat.
  • Ultimately make a pretty tasty Oreo brownie! Not nearly as good as the one I made last time but this’ll do…

Anyway, baking is fun lol. But I think I’ll stick with cooking for now… And pancakes.

(Basically what would happen if I tried baking it)

Posted in Science & Nature

Microwave

Posted on by Jinavie

The following are some strange things that happen when certain objects are placed in a microwave (and then turned on).

  • Never put metallic objects in a microwave. Metals act as an antenna, collecting the microwave and creating an electric current. This causes the metal to heat up, burning the food or melting plastic containers. Also, if the metal is pointy, it may cause an electric arc (sparks) which can be very dangerous. 
  • Ice alone does not melt in a microwave. This is because microwaves cause vibrations of particles to generate heat, but in ice the water molecules are tightly bonded and so vibration does not occur. 
  • Microwaves can cause something called superheating of liquids. This means that the liquid is heated to beyond its boiling temperature without boiling. A superheated liquid can spontaneously begin to boil in an explosive manner when disturbed. This is dangerous as it can mean that a cup of boiling hot water may suddenly explode in your face.
  • Certain foods are known to generate sparks in a microwave. For example, when two oblique slices of chilli pepper are placed near each other point-to-point, a flame sparks between the two points from the arcing electricity. Grapes do the same thing.
  • Some foods such as grapes and eggs explode in a microwave. This is because of the pressure building up within it from all the steam being released all at once. This is amplified with something like an ostrich egg where the shell is strong enough to contain an immense pressure. But when a certain pressure is reached, the egg will literally explode and send shrapnels of microwave pieces flying out like a bombshell.
  • A piece of garlic will spin rapidly in a microwave as garlic has a thin tube running on one side. As water evaporates, the vapours rush towards both ends causing the garlic to spin. Also, if you cut the bottom of a clove of garlic then microwave it for about 15 seconds, the pieces of garlic will pop out easily.
  • As explained above, metal conducts microwaves and generates a current. This is most obvious when a CD is placed in a microwave, where sparks dance on the surface (assuming the reflective surface is facing up). Similarly, a fluorescent tube will light up in a microwave from the electricity generated.
  • Placing an open flame, such as a lit candle, inside a microwave produces a very strange phenomenon. The naked flame will become ionised plasma and shoot up to the ceiling of the microwave. This is observed as a ball of light floating around. Note that this is extremely dangerous and most likely will destroy the microwave.

image