5 ms·

Not really "wrong" but at some point in the last couple years I was using my microwave, putting something in for a minute, and for that I've always input 1:00 b

by hbn 4y ago

Not really "wrong" but at some point in the last couple years I was using my microwave, putting something in for a minute, and for that I've always input 1:00 but suddenly I realized how obvious it was that I can just be inputting 60. As long as you can easily modulo the time, this works for the range 1 minute (60) to 1 minute 39 seconds (99). Technically you could also do this for times like 2:65 instead of 3:05 but at that point you're not saving a keystroke. And on most microwaves they have an annoying delay between when you can do another keystoke after doing the last one, so I've appreciated the little bit of time saving I get with this knowledge.

coldpie 4y ago
66 is close enough to 60, and lets you just mash the one key :) Though I just mash the +30 seconds button until it gets in the ballpark, and it turns on the microwave immediately with the first press. 15 seconds either way isn't going to make a difference, and I usually pull it early anyway once it starts to smell/sound/look cooked.
mhb 4y ago
Hmm. Maybe there's more opportunity for you to optimize even a bit more. On my (cheap) microwave, I can push 1 through 6 and it just goes for that number of minutes. And pushing Start adds 30 seconds. More resolution is seldom needed.
mabbo 4y ago
The bigger "Why wasn't I doing this sooner" with microwaves is using lower power modes. They don't actually reduce the 'power' of the microwave, but they turn it on and then back off again for a proportion of time, over and over. It takes longer to reheat stuff this way, but it comes out much more evenly heated, I find.
- throwanem 4y ago
  Stir or otherwise rearrange what you're heating every so often, too. Microwaves deliver energy mostly to the outside of what they're bombarding, so it improves heat distribution to mechanically move the heated parts toward the center and vice versa - this helps prevent the "burnt outside and still cold in the middle" problem.
  - wruza 4y ago
    Can confirm. I make omelet in a microwave sometimes and the center is always last to cook compared to an outside ring. I simply rearrange contents when it’s half-ready.
- haswell 4y ago
  And on many microwaves, the “reheat” button is just a guided version of a low power mode. The newer microwaves with a sensor reheat button are pretty great.
- derbOac 4y ago
  Some do operate in a "true" lower power mode (or at least in some mode that's indistinguishable to us). Ours does and it's great. But it's the first one I've had that actually does that; the rest have operated in lower power mode in the way you're describing.
  - hammock 4y ago
    The ones that have a true low power mode are called inverter microwaves and cost like twice as much. They may be worth it if you like to defrost food in the micro as it prevents the food from cooking
    - ansgri 4y ago
      They are absolutely worth it! Easy defrosting, uniform reheating, less noise, especially if it’s a rotation-free model like Panasonic NN-DS596B.
- kbuck 4y ago
  Panasonic "inverter" microwaves actually do reduce the power output. It's one of my favorite features. On power level 1 you can actually soften butter without melting random pits into it. Unfortunately, at least on my current model, the UX to access this feature is very bad: repeatedly pressing the "power" button until it reaches the desired level. I've had other microwaves where you just key in the desired power after pressing "power", and much prefer that method. I don't know whether Panasonic has licensed this to any other manufacturer.
  - balfirevic 4y ago
    I also have the one from Panasonic, but I'm seeing other manufacturers advertise inverter technology on their microwaves recently.
  - hammock 4y ago
    >you can actually soften butter Ooh that's a good use case. What else do you do with it?
    - kbuck 4y ago
      Anything dense (e.g. lasagna, meatloaf, etc.) is good for a lower power level / more time trade-off. It will end up more evenly warm without the edges exploding. I usually use power 3 or 4 for these dense dishes.
  - fomine3 4y ago
    Inverter microwave is not complex system so many microwaves in Japan supports it.
- com2kid 4y ago
  > They don't actually reduce the 'power' of the microwave, Depends on the microwave, you can get models that do adjust the power and they are very nice to use. Being able to slowly and evenly heat up food in the microwave is a huge game changer when it comes to how you use your microwave.
- OJFord 4y ago
  Pretty crucial for defrosting. You really don't want to try to defrost a slab of lasagne say on 100%, 1kW or whatever, it's going to come out both just as frozen as when it went in and steaming hot ready to eat. (I agree it applies just as well generally - but defrosting makes it more apparent/visible.)
Dunedan 4y ago
I prefer simpler microwaves with just two knobs: one for amount of power and one for the time. No buttons to press and no ambiguous user interface either. Just turn the knobs to the desired values and you're done. No buttons to press at all.
- mechanicalpulse 4y ago
  Yes! I once had a cheap microwave that only had a timer knob on it and I found myself twisting it indiscriminately because all I wanted was for it to be on. Being a mechanical timer, the resolution wasn't good enough that precise cook times were achievable. The power level on that unit was not very good, anyway. I grew to prefer that method of interfacing with a microwave. "Just go! I don't care about the cook time!" When my wife and I bought our first house and purchased our appliance set, I wanted a microwave that did not force me to go through a timer workflow. Having such a workflow was good, but I also wanted some sort of "on" button on it. We picked out a GE Profile unit that had two user-assignable functions on the main interface. I assigned a "30s cook" function to one of the buttons. This is my "on" button. Additional presses of the button append 30s to the timer. This satisfies most of my needs. Unfortunately, when I want to reduce power, the buttons that I have to press to do so are not as simple. I start the cook via the normal quick 30s button, but then I have to press the power button, then have to press the down button several times to lower the default power level of 10 to something more reasonable like 5 or 3, then I have to press to confirm that level. This takes precious seconds -- if it's a sensitive item like a small dipping bowl of marinara or something, the adjustment may be too late. Sure, I guess I could go through the full cook workflow, but that's not how I want to interact with it. And you know, if I am expending the time and energy to lower the power level from 10, it is highly unlikely that 9 will be my desired power level. Instead, I wish there was a "halve power level" button on the cook screen that cut the active duty cycle in half. So one press takes me from PL10 to PL5, another press goes to PL2.5, and so forth. Then I'd be happy. I don't use any of the other features buried in the menus. It's all superfluous.
- thomastjeffery 4y ago
  I sincerely wish I could get a new microwave with a good quality digital dial/knob for setting the timer, and a popcorn button. Buttons suck.
xyzelement 4y ago
It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s just as the first digital controls for home appliances were being introduced. If I recall correctly - 60 imperial seconds are equivalent to 100 metric seconds a sort of inverse to the 100 kph being equivalent to 60 mph (metric units were mandated on American speedometers at the same time) Of course on the speedometer you can just display both units where as on the microwave entry it's more the intention of the user that drives interpretation. So they got stuck at 100=60 and since everyone just interpreted 100 metric seconds as 1:00, minute it never caught on but never went away either.
- causi 4y ago
  It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s just as the first digital controls for home appliances were being introduced. This sounds like complete nonsense and I can't find any evidence of such a "mandated by the government metric time" with Google.
  - gpderetta 4y ago
    I think "imperial second" kind of gives it away.
- dragonwriter 4y ago
  > It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s [...] (metric units were mandated on American speedometers at the same time) The Metric Conversion Act was in 1975, not the 1960s, and I am fairly sure that a decimalized minute was never part of any plans for US metrication anyhow. This seems like an urban legend where the more likely reason is that its a practical design to treat the last two digits as seconds abd everything before as minutes, irrespective of whether the last two digits are greater than one minute, when making a keypad entry system. It bith does what is likely intended and avoids needing validation/error reporting since every possible numerical entry becomes correct.
IgorPartola 4y ago
I do 55 or 66 seconds. Or the +30 button. Related: hold down 2 on the microwave for a couple of seconds to silence all chirps.
didgeoridoo 4y ago
Alongside this point, just discovered using the “sensor cook” mode on my microwave a few days ago. Apparently it measures the humidity coming off the food and adjusts the cooking power and time accordingly. One button push and you can walk away, confident the food will be heated through but not overcooked. Game changer.
hammock 4y ago
Even easier than typing 60 for one minute is to type 55. I often type 33, 111, 222, etc for the time saving benefit
peeters 4y ago
In must microwaves just pressing 1 (and correspondingly 1-5ish) and nothing else will start the microwave on high for 1 minute at full power. Rather than having to press <timed-cook + 6 + 0 + start>.
yboris 4y ago
Microwaves are getting better UX these days. The cheap one I bought from Walmart about a year ago lets me press `1` and it auto-starts a one-minute heating process.
timerol 4y ago
I (almost) exclusively use the "Start (+30 s)" button to set time. It's very rare for me to microwave things more than 3 minutes (6 rapid button presses), I normally do 60 or 90 s. The microwave starts going as soon as the first button is hit.
- OJFord 4y ago
  I assume everyone talking about button presses has simply never used one with a knob, and so doesn't know what they're missing - it's a vastly superior time-setting UI for a microwave I think.
wruza 4y ago
You all won’t believe me, but I just turn the knob to 1 minute, turn the power setting and close the door (in any order). No “input” required. It’s amazing how they manage to sell that touch nonsense for $$$$.

by hbn 4y ago

coldpie 4y ago

66 is close enough to 60, and lets you just mash the one key :) Though I just mash the +30 seconds button until it gets in the ballpark, and it turns on the microwave immediately with the first press. 15 seconds either way isn't going to make a difference, and I usually pull it early anyway once it starts to smell/sound/look cooked.

mhb 4y ago

Hmm. Maybe there's more opportunity for you to optimize even a bit more. On my (cheap) microwave, I can push 1 through 6 and it just goes for that number of minutes. And pushing Start adds 30 seconds. More resolution is seldom needed.

mabbo 4y ago

The bigger "Why wasn't I doing this sooner" with microwaves is using lower power modes. They don't actually reduce the 'power' of the microwave, but they turn it on and then back off again for a proportion of time, over and over. It takes longer to reheat stuff this way, but it comes out much more evenly heated, I find.

throwanem 4y ago
Stir or otherwise rearrange what you're heating every so often, too. Microwaves deliver energy mostly to the outside of what they're bombarding, so it improves heat distribution to mechanically move the heated parts toward the center and vice versa - this helps prevent the "burnt outside and still cold in the middle" problem.
- wruza 4y ago
  Can confirm. I make omelet in a microwave sometimes and the center is always last to cook compared to an outside ring. I simply rearrange contents when it’s half-ready.
haswell 4y ago
And on many microwaves, the “reheat” button is just a guided version of a low power mode. The newer microwaves with a sensor reheat button are pretty great.
derbOac 4y ago
Some do operate in a "true" lower power mode (or at least in some mode that's indistinguishable to us). Ours does and it's great. But it's the first one I've had that actually does that; the rest have operated in lower power mode in the way you're describing.
- hammock 4y ago
  The ones that have a true low power mode are called inverter microwaves and cost like twice as much. They may be worth it if you like to defrost food in the micro as it prevents the food from cooking
  - ansgri 4y ago
    They are absolutely worth it! Easy defrosting, uniform reheating, less noise, especially if it’s a rotation-free model like Panasonic NN-DS596B.
kbuck 4y ago
Panasonic "inverter" microwaves actually do reduce the power output. It's one of my favorite features. On power level 1 you can actually soften butter without melting random pits into it. Unfortunately, at least on my current model, the UX to access this feature is very bad: repeatedly pressing the "power" button until it reaches the desired level. I've had other microwaves where you just key in the desired power after pressing "power", and much prefer that method. I don't know whether Panasonic has licensed this to any other manufacturer.
- balfirevic 4y ago
  I also have the one from Panasonic, but I'm seeing other manufacturers advertise inverter technology on their microwaves recently.
- hammock 4y ago
  >you can actually soften butter Ooh that's a good use case. What else do you do with it?
  - kbuck 4y ago
    Anything dense (e.g. lasagna, meatloaf, etc.) is good for a lower power level / more time trade-off. It will end up more evenly warm without the edges exploding. I usually use power 3 or 4 for these dense dishes.
- fomine3 4y ago
  Inverter microwave is not complex system so many microwaves in Japan supports it.
com2kid 4y ago
> They don't actually reduce the 'power' of the microwave, Depends on the microwave, you can get models that do adjust the power and they are very nice to use. Being able to slowly and evenly heat up food in the microwave is a huge game changer when it comes to how you use your microwave.
OJFord 4y ago
Pretty crucial for defrosting. You really don't want to try to defrost a slab of lasagne say on 100%, 1kW or whatever, it's going to come out both just as frozen as when it went in and steaming hot ready to eat. (I agree it applies just as well generally - but defrosting makes it more apparent/visible.)

Dunedan 4y ago

I prefer simpler microwaves with just two knobs: one for amount of power and one for the time. No buttons to press and no ambiguous user interface either. Just turn the knobs to the desired values and you're done. No buttons to press at all.

mechanicalpulse 4y ago
Yes! I once had a cheap microwave that only had a timer knob on it and I found myself twisting it indiscriminately because all I wanted was for it to be on. Being a mechanical timer, the resolution wasn't good enough that precise cook times were achievable. The power level on that unit was not very good, anyway. I grew to prefer that method of interfacing with a microwave. "Just go! I don't care about the cook time!" When my wife and I bought our first house and purchased our appliance set, I wanted a microwave that did not force me to go through a timer workflow. Having such a workflow was good, but I also wanted some sort of "on" button on it. We picked out a GE Profile unit that had two user-assignable functions on the main interface. I assigned a "30s cook" function to one of the buttons. This is my "on" button. Additional presses of the button append 30s to the timer. This satisfies most of my needs. Unfortunately, when I want to reduce power, the buttons that I have to press to do so are not as simple. I start the cook via the normal quick 30s button, but then I have to press the power button, then have to press the down button several times to lower the default power level of 10 to something more reasonable like 5 or 3, then I have to press to confirm that level. This takes precious seconds -- if it's a sensitive item like a small dipping bowl of marinara or something, the adjustment may be too late. Sure, I guess I could go through the full cook workflow, but that's not how I want to interact with it. And you know, if I am expending the time and energy to lower the power level from 10, it is highly unlikely that 9 will be my desired power level. Instead, I wish there was a "halve power level" button on the cook screen that cut the active duty cycle in half. So one press takes me from PL10 to PL5, another press goes to PL2.5, and so forth. Then I'd be happy. I don't use any of the other features buried in the menus. It's all superfluous.
thomastjeffery 4y ago
I sincerely wish I could get a new microwave with a good quality digital dial/knob for setting the timer, and a popcorn button. Buttons suck.

xyzelement 4y ago

It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s just as the first digital controls for home appliances were being introduced. If I recall correctly - 60 imperial seconds are equivalent to 100 metric seconds a sort of inverse to the 100 kph being equivalent to 60 mph (metric units were mandated on American speedometers at the same time) Of course on the speedometer you can just display both units where as on the microwave entry it's more the intention of the user that drives interpretation. So they got stuck at 100=60 and since everyone just interpreted 100 metric seconds as 1:00, minute it never caught on but never went away either.

causi 4y ago
It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s just as the first digital controls for home appliances were being introduced. This sounds like complete nonsense and I can't find any evidence of such a "mandated by the government metric time" with Google.
- gpderetta 4y ago
  I think "imperial second" kind of gives it away.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> It's a fun fact that the reason for this was for preparation for the introduction of a metric minute composed of 100 seconds that was mandated by the government in the 1960s [...] (metric units were mandated on American speedometers at the same time) The Metric Conversion Act was in 1975, not the 1960s, and I am fairly sure that a decimalized minute was never part of any plans for US metrication anyhow. This seems like an urban legend where the more likely reason is that its a practical design to treat the last two digits as seconds abd everything before as minutes, irrespective of whether the last two digits are greater than one minute, when making a keypad entry system. It bith does what is likely intended and avoids needing validation/error reporting since every possible numerical entry becomes correct.

IgorPartola 4y ago

I do 55 or 66 seconds. Or the +30 button. Related: hold down 2 on the microwave for a couple of seconds to silence all chirps.

didgeoridoo 4y ago

Alongside this point, just discovered using the “sensor cook” mode on my microwave a few days ago. Apparently it measures the humidity coming off the food and adjusts the cooking power and time accordingly. One button push and you can walk away, confident the food will be heated through but not overcooked. Game changer.

hammock 4y ago

Even easier than typing 60 for one minute is to type 55. I often type 33, 111, 222, etc for the time saving benefit

peeters 4y ago

In must microwaves just pressing 1 (and correspondingly 1-5ish) and nothing else will start the microwave on high for 1 minute at full power. Rather than having to press <timed-cook + 6 + 0 + start>.

yboris 4y ago

Microwaves are getting better UX these days. The cheap one I bought from Walmart about a year ago lets me press `1` and it auto-starts a one-minute heating process.

timerol 4y ago

I (almost) exclusively use the "Start (+30 s)" button to set time. It's very rare for me to microwave things more than 3 minutes (6 rapid button presses), I normally do 60 or 90 s. The microwave starts going as soon as the first button is hit.

OJFord 4y ago
I assume everyone talking about button presses has simply never used one with a knob, and so doesn't know what they're missing - it's a vastly superior time-setting UI for a microwave I think.

wruza 4y ago

You all won’t believe me, but I just turn the knob to 1 minute, turn the power setting and close the door (in any order). No “input” required. It’s amazing how they manage to sell that touch nonsense for $$$$.