7 ms·

Amazon referral link to the glass containers. The real question is: how many of these articles are complete BS just to sell a product? Definitely Do Not trust

Amazon referral link to the glass containers. The real question is: how many of these articles are complete BS just to sell a product? Definitely Do Not trust what you read when there is a referral link.

stjohnswarts 3y ago
you can find a slew of papers about not using plastic in the microwave, for a couple decades now. I mean you can believe what you want, but if you think microplastics in your food is bad then you should be able to find plenty articles in how they leach into your food, especially when they're hot.
93po 3y ago
Agree the potential bias is unfortunate
labster 3y ago
Yeah, this company does the same thing at Ars Technica, putting up long lists of Amazon affiliate links whenever it’s Prime Day.
dunham 3y ago
They're expensive, too. At least when epicurious ran a similar article, they also recommended wide-mouth ball jars. The biggest problem for me is cabinet space. The jars don't stack compactly, and the glass lock tend to live up to their name if you try to stack them.
- mauvehaus 3y ago
  I once got a brandy snifter wedged into a Pyrex measuring cup (don't ask, I don't remember what I could have possibly been doing to arrange this). I filled the brandy snifter with ice, water, and salt, and dunked the outside of the measuring cup in hot water. It loosened the assembly enough to get it apart without destroying the brandy glass.
- kagakuninja 3y ago
  I have a set of pyrex bowls that I bought in 1987, and still use today. I wouldn't bother with wide mouth jars, although I guess they have advantages when storing food in the fridge.
  - close04 3y ago
    I have a couple of these pyrex bowls that I took when I left home for Uni some decades ago and they were already some decades old. I have no lid for them so I cover them with regular plates or with a wooden chopping board (even when I microwave them), with the upside that with the board as a cover I can stack another bowl on top in the fridge. But for food heating I find it very easy to just take the food from whatever container it’s in and put it in a regular bowl which I can microwave covered by a plate to contain the inevitable food explosion. Every one of the few times I microwaved even in high quality plastic containers they became soft and harder to handle. Also I always had the (probably very subjective) feeling that it subtly changes the taste of the food. Kind of how bottled water tastes when the PET bottle is left in the sun for a while. Anyway, I find the bowl+plate as an infinitely reusable option, easy to clean, and just takes a bit of extra care handling when hot. Also bowls and plates stack very nicely in the cupboard and not too expensive in IKEA.
    - throwanem 3y ago
      > microwave covered by a plate to contain the inevitable food explosion The default (maximum) power setting dumps so much energy so fast into the water in your food that some of it boils, and the expanding steam spatters food everywhere. This is also what causes the "burned on the outside, still cold in the middle" effect with leftovers, which aren't engineered to be microwaved on high the way most frozen packaged meals are. Use a lower power setting for longer, and pause to stir if possible. That way there's more time for the heat to dissipate into the bulk of whatever you're microwaving, and few to no tiny, messy steam explosions.
      - close04 3y ago
        I actually use lower power in multiple shorter “sessions” with some minutes in between, which even without stirring lets the heat transfer more uniformly through the food - almost exclusively leftovers. I discovered this accidentally since usually I go about other stuff while heating the food in the microwave (not the stove) and more often than not I completely forget about it even with the “ding”. Putting it though another session at low power, I noticed, makes the food very uniformly heated. But ever so often after a while heating there’ll be the random drop of water under some fat or something like that, and without a lid it will paint the inside of the oven a lovely shade of splatter. No downside with covering the food.
sakawa 3y ago
> “Personally, I avoid heating food in any plastic with an automatic default to glassware.” Beyond never microwaving food in plastic, Vandenberg hopes people simply stop using it. She says, “The market will provide us with alternatives if we just don’t buy plastic.” I find really astonishing how the article demonizes plastic and ends recommending glassware use, placing a product referral that have PLASTIC lids. Shouldn't we stop using it?
- CrimsonRain 3y ago
  You should not be putting the food in microwave with lids, plastic or silicone. Glassware with those lids are fine for storage.
  - ghusbands 3y ago
    Plenty of things are microwaved with the lid loosened or gently placed on top. That's certainly not a general rule.
    - argiopetech 3y ago
      A paper or light cloth towel suffices in place of a lid in every circumstance I've run across. Barring almost ready to eat meals in plastic containers designed for microwaving (which I use exceedingly rarely), plastic never enters my microwave.
      - lucb1e 3y ago
        I typically put a plate on top. Wouldn't trust paper or cloth to not ignite in the microwave?! At least my gf thinks I'm crazy to put things in the microwave that contain cloth or paper at all, and I don't know that it's safe for more than a few seconds. Food that I store in the freezer in glass containers typically needs heating for at least five minutes, usually more depending on amount
        argiopetech 3y ago
darkclouds 3y ago
Various military's most notably the Russians experimented with body suits that microwaved their occupants to keep them warm in the polar regions. For some reason the idea didnt catch on, anyone know why not?
- GenerocUsername 3y ago
  This sounds fake on my because generating microwaves is not really something you could 'shrink and distribute' to cover a body. There is a reason microwaves are boxes. If I had to guess, the suits were actually infrared heating elements
  - iancmceachern 3y ago
    There are anecdotes of people getting exposed to radar and communications arrays. The results range from instant vaporization to minor burns and a warming sensation https://www.quora.com/Would-anything-happen-if-you-stand-in-front-of-a-powerful-military-radar-at-the-point-when-its-strength-is-the-greatest https://www.quora.com/Would-anything-happen-if-you-stand-in-...
    - throwanem 3y ago
      The translation isn't splendid, but that seems to describe someone being badly burned as a side effect of passing very high current, rather than by high-energy RF exposure. There's also an anecdote I think I once heard from an old Lockheed engineer, about the idea of microwave cooking having been sparked by the misfortunes of birds exposed by surprise to WWII aircraft radar being tested. No idea whether that one's true or not, though; I was quite young and very credulous, so wouldn't put it past him to have been pulling my leg for the hell of it.
      - iancmceachern 3y ago
        "ing For More Commercial Kitchen Equipment? Visit celco.ca! info@celcook.ca (866) 697-0103 The Accidental Invention of the Microwave THE ACCIDENTAL INVENTION OF THE MICROWAVE Home » The Accidental Invention of the Microwave The Accidental Invention of the Microwave The Accidental Invention of the Microwave December 29, 2017 Commercial Microwave Canada, commercial microwave Toronto Commercial Microwave Commercial microwaves in Canada are the mainstay of restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias across the country. But before commercial microwaves in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver restaurants became popular pieces of kitchen equipment, the common microwave was considered a luxury item! The microwave was invented accidentally in 1945 by a self-taught engineer named Percy Spencer, who was leading a radar project for the defence giant, Raytheon. While testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted from the heat. He decided to try another experiment by placing some popcorn kernels near the magnetron, and he watched as the kernels popped into fluffy popcorns. Next, Spencer placed an egg near the magnetron and the egg began to move from the heat creating pressure inside the egg. The egg exploded and Spencer saw that the yoke had become hot. He realised that the low-density energy from the magnetron could cook food quickly. He created a metal box with an opening through which he fed microwave power. The energy was trapped inside the box, which created a high-density magnetic field. He placed food inside the box, and the heat generated by the energy cooked the food. The first microwave oven was born." https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave/ https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave...
SZJX 3y ago
Or have you considered the more likely possibility that it’s simply their site policy to place ads wherever they can, which is not necessarily the original author’s intention? Most likely the site just wants to make whatever they can from possible places to insert affiliate links regardless of the article, and that’s it. For all we know it might well even be an automated process to some extent. Having an affiliate link is unfortunate and very much not smart on their end I would say, but automatically drawing the conclusion that the whole article must have the single purpose of serving as a Trojan horse for this one random link that they also know only a small amount of people will click on is another logical fallacy, and IMO resorting to attributing to malice when things can be explained otherwise.
diftraku 3y ago
I opted for Ikea glass containers partly for wanting to avoid plastics (except the lids) and partly to not have to deal with tomato sauces staining the pristine white plastic containers after a single use Micro/nanoplastics are a secondary consideration overall, primary was just to reduce my usage of plastics a bit, even how infinitesimal it really is. I only realized how much plastic packaging I go through once I moved to an apartment with plastic "recycling", I still separate out most plastics but not everything. I personally am not really swayed towards ditching whatever plastics I still have, given how ubiquitous it is and I am already happy with my Ikea glassware.

stjohnswarts 3y ago

you can find a slew of papers about not using plastic in the microwave, for a couple decades now. I mean you can believe what you want, but if you think microplastics in your food is bad then you should be able to find plenty articles in how they leach into your food, especially when they're hot.

93po 3y ago

Agree the potential bias is unfortunate

labster 3y ago

Yeah, this company does the same thing at Ars Technica, putting up long lists of Amazon affiliate links whenever it’s Prime Day.

dunham 3y ago

They're expensive, too. At least when epicurious ran a similar article, they also recommended wide-mouth ball jars. The biggest problem for me is cabinet space. The jars don't stack compactly, and the glass lock tend to live up to their name if you try to stack them.

mauvehaus 3y ago
I once got a brandy snifter wedged into a Pyrex measuring cup (don't ask, I don't remember what I could have possibly been doing to arrange this). I filled the brandy snifter with ice, water, and salt, and dunked the outside of the measuring cup in hot water. It loosened the assembly enough to get it apart without destroying the brandy glass.
kagakuninja 3y ago
I have a set of pyrex bowls that I bought in 1987, and still use today. I wouldn't bother with wide mouth jars, although I guess they have advantages when storing food in the fridge.
- close04 3y ago
  I have a couple of these pyrex bowls that I took when I left home for Uni some decades ago and they were already some decades old. I have no lid for them so I cover them with regular plates or with a wooden chopping board (even when I microwave them), with the upside that with the board as a cover I can stack another bowl on top in the fridge. But for food heating I find it very easy to just take the food from whatever container it’s in and put it in a regular bowl which I can microwave covered by a plate to contain the inevitable food explosion. Every one of the few times I microwaved even in high quality plastic containers they became soft and harder to handle. Also I always had the (probably very subjective) feeling that it subtly changes the taste of the food. Kind of how bottled water tastes when the PET bottle is left in the sun for a while. Anyway, I find the bowl+plate as an infinitely reusable option, easy to clean, and just takes a bit of extra care handling when hot. Also bowls and plates stack very nicely in the cupboard and not too expensive in IKEA.
  - throwanem 3y ago
    > microwave covered by a plate to contain the inevitable food explosion The default (maximum) power setting dumps so much energy so fast into the water in your food that some of it boils, and the expanding steam spatters food everywhere. This is also what causes the "burned on the outside, still cold in the middle" effect with leftovers, which aren't engineered to be microwaved on high the way most frozen packaged meals are. Use a lower power setting for longer, and pause to stir if possible. That way there's more time for the heat to dissipate into the bulk of whatever you're microwaving, and few to no tiny, messy steam explosions.
    - close04 3y ago
      I actually use lower power in multiple shorter “sessions” with some minutes in between, which even without stirring lets the heat transfer more uniformly through the food - almost exclusively leftovers. I discovered this accidentally since usually I go about other stuff while heating the food in the microwave (not the stove) and more often than not I completely forget about it even with the “ding”. Putting it though another session at low power, I noticed, makes the food very uniformly heated. But ever so often after a while heating there’ll be the random drop of water under some fat or something like that, and without a lid it will paint the inside of the oven a lovely shade of splatter. No downside with covering the food.

sakawa 3y ago

> “Personally, I avoid heating food in any plastic with an automatic default to glassware.” Beyond never microwaving food in plastic, Vandenberg hopes people simply stop using it. She says, “The market will provide us with alternatives if we just don’t buy plastic.” I find really astonishing how the article demonizes plastic and ends recommending glassware use, placing a product referral that have PLASTIC lids. Shouldn't we stop using it?

CrimsonRain 3y ago
You should not be putting the food in microwave with lids, plastic or silicone. Glassware with those lids are fine for storage.
- ghusbands 3y ago
  Plenty of things are microwaved with the lid loosened or gently placed on top. That's certainly not a general rule.
  - argiopetech 3y ago
    A paper or light cloth towel suffices in place of a lid in every circumstance I've run across. Barring almost ready to eat meals in plastic containers designed for microwaving (which I use exceedingly rarely), plastic never enters my microwave.
    - lucb1e 3y ago
      I typically put a plate on top. Wouldn't trust paper or cloth to not ignite in the microwave?! At least my gf thinks I'm crazy to put things in the microwave that contain cloth or paper at all, and I don't know that it's safe for more than a few seconds. Food that I store in the freezer in glass containers typically needs heating for at least five minutes, usually more depending on amount
      - argiopetech 3y ago

darkclouds 3y ago

Various military's most notably the Russians experimented with body suits that microwaved their occupants to keep them warm in the polar regions. For some reason the idea didnt catch on, anyone know why not?

GenerocUsername 3y ago
This sounds fake on my because generating microwaves is not really something you could 'shrink and distribute' to cover a body. There is a reason microwaves are boxes. If I had to guess, the suits were actually infrared heating elements
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  There are anecdotes of people getting exposed to radar and communications arrays. The results range from instant vaporization to minor burns and a warming sensation https://www.quora.com/Would-anything-happen-if-you-stand-in-front-of-a-powerful-military-radar-at-the-point-when-its-strength-is-the-greatest https://www.quora.com/Would-anything-happen-if-you-stand-in-...
  - throwanem 3y ago
    The translation isn't splendid, but that seems to describe someone being badly burned as a side effect of passing very high current, rather than by high-energy RF exposure. There's also an anecdote I think I once heard from an old Lockheed engineer, about the idea of microwave cooking having been sparked by the misfortunes of birds exposed by surprise to WWII aircraft radar being tested. No idea whether that one's true or not, though; I was quite young and very credulous, so wouldn't put it past him to have been pulling my leg for the hell of it.
    - iancmceachern 3y ago
      "ing For More Commercial Kitchen Equipment? Visit celco.ca! info@celcook.ca (866) 697-0103 The Accidental Invention of the Microwave THE ACCIDENTAL INVENTION OF THE MICROWAVE Home » The Accidental Invention of the Microwave The Accidental Invention of the Microwave The Accidental Invention of the Microwave December 29, 2017 Commercial Microwave Canada, commercial microwave Toronto Commercial Microwave Commercial microwaves in Canada are the mainstay of restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias across the country. But before commercial microwaves in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver restaurants became popular pieces of kitchen equipment, the common microwave was considered a luxury item! The microwave was invented accidentally in 1945 by a self-taught engineer named Percy Spencer, who was leading a radar project for the defence giant, Raytheon. While testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted from the heat. He decided to try another experiment by placing some popcorn kernels near the magnetron, and he watched as the kernels popped into fluffy popcorns. Next, Spencer placed an egg near the magnetron and the egg began to move from the heat creating pressure inside the egg. The egg exploded and Spencer saw that the yoke had become hot. He realised that the low-density energy from the magnetron could cook food quickly. He created a metal box with an opening through which he fed microwave power. The energy was trapped inside the box, which created a high-density magnetic field. He placed food inside the box, and the heat generated by the energy cooked the food. The first microwave oven was born." https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave/ https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave...

SZJX 3y ago

Or have you considered the more likely possibility that it’s simply their site policy to place ads wherever they can, which is not necessarily the original author’s intention? Most likely the site just wants to make whatever they can from possible places to insert affiliate links regardless of the article, and that’s it. For all we know it might well even be an automated process to some extent. Having an affiliate link is unfortunate and very much not smart on their end I would say, but automatically drawing the conclusion that the whole article must have the single purpose of serving as a Trojan horse for this one random link that they also know only a small amount of people will click on is another logical fallacy, and IMO resorting to attributing to malice when things can be explained otherwise.

diftraku 3y ago

I opted for Ikea glass containers partly for wanting to avoid plastics (except the lids) and partly to not have to deal with tomato sauces staining the pristine white plastic containers after a single use Micro/nanoplastics are a secondary consideration overall, primary was just to reduce my usage of plastics a bit, even how infinitesimal it really is. I only realized how much plastic packaging I go through once I moved to an apartment with plastic "recycling", I still separate out most plastics but not everything. I personally am not really swayed towards ditching whatever plastics I still have, given how ubiquitous it is and I am already happy with my Ikea glassware.