National Microwave Oven Day: History, Significance, What to do, Facts
Also, microwave ovens use up to 80% less energy than regular stoves. Microwaves definitely make our lives better.
National Microwave Oven Day: Every year on December 6, National Microwave Oven Day is held to honor one of the most important kitchen tools. For example, you can use a microwave to make popcorn, warm up leftovers, melt chocolate and butter, and even heat water. You can even make fudge or cake in the microwave these days! Also, microwave ovens use up to 80% less energy than regular stoves. Microwaves make our lives better. We have a day to celebrate how helpful the microwave is, which shouldn’t be a surprise.
National Microwave Oven Day: History
American expert Percy Spencer, who learned on his own, came up with a safe way to cook food in microwaves. He found out that the sweet bar in his pocket was melting in 1945 while he was working with active radar. Spencer was amazed when he found out that microwaves could be used to make popcorn. After that, he tried to cook an egg. There was a big surprise when the egg test did much worse than the popcorn test! In this day and age, we know that microwaves can cook food and even poach eggs.
Spencer, who worked at Raytheon, tried a lot of different safe ways to cook food in microwaves. He learned that the magnetron’s power could be sent into a metal box and held there. He also said that food put in the box cooked up quickly. On October 8, 1945, Raytheon put in an application for a microwave oven. The Radarange microwave was made by Raytheon in 1947. It was almost 6 feet tall and cost $5,000. In 1955, Raytheon gave Tappan its rights. Tappan then made a microwave that wasn’t good for home use yet and cost $1,295 at the time. In 1965, Raytheon bought Amana. In 1967, they put out a $495 tabletop microwave. Soon after, Litton made a microwave oven that looked a lot like the ones we use today. This helped spread the word about home microwaves even more. In 1971, there were about 40,000 microwaves in use in the US. By 1975, there were a million.
Even though some early models got out, which hurt their reputation, they became more famous. During the 1980s, there were a lot of microwaveable meal recipes and market goods like cupcake kits, but most of these were not very good. Still, about 25% of American homes had a microwave in 1986, and by 1997, that number had risen to 90%.
What’s the point of National Microwave Oven Day?
December 6 is Microwave Oven Day. Today is a celebration of the creation that has made it easier and faster for busy parents, single people, and college students to cook and reheat food. It’s easy to use a microwave. Even a child could use it to cook and heat food!
American expert Percy Spencer found a way to safely heat food in microwaves. He learned how to do it on his own. When he was working a busy radar in 1945, he saw a chocolate bar melting in his pocket. It was easy to cook with the strong microwave beams because they heated things. Spencer worked hard to cook popcorn in the microwave. After that, he tried to fry an egg. Both the egg and the popcorn had very interesting results. But the popcorn worked, while the egg didn’t. The egg blew up right in front of his fellow expert! Eggs, on the other hand, can be cooked in microwaves.
What to do
With a microwave cooker, you can warm up leftovers or make food from scratch. Today, give your gadget a special place in your life.
Do you not have a microwave oven? Should you get a better one? Today is a great day to buy that thing and make your new favorite gadget a part of your life.
Soon it will be the holidays, which means fancy meals. Before everyone starts dipping, why not melt the chocolate in the microwave?
Facts about National Microwave Oven Day
- You can even take the labels off of jars in the microwave.
- When spinach is cooked in a microwave, it keeps almost all of its folate. When cooked on a regular stove, it loses about 77% of its folate.
- There is a lot of pressure that can build up inside sealed packages or foods like eggs or squash when heated in a microwave oven.
- Over 3,800 microwave recipes are for sale on Amazon right now.