Your Microwave's Most Underrated Button | Techniquely with Lan Lam

Summary by Krater

This video explains how microwaves work scientifically and demonstrates how to use them effectively for cooking tasks like softening butter, cooking sweet potatoes, making fried capers, shallots, frico, compound butter, and caramel sauce.

From the video

Answers: How do you use a microwave like a pro and how does it work?

• how microwaves work
• magnetron function
• power level control
• softening butter in microwave
• cooking sweet potatoes
• microwave frying capers
• making fried shallots
• making frico
• orange almond compound butter
• microwave caramel sauce

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• sweet potatoes
• beets
• frozen creamy white bean soup
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup capers
• 3 shallots
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp hard cheese
• orange zest
• honey
• almond extract
• salt
• granulated sugar
• water
• corn syrup
• lemon juice
• heavy cream

What it concludes

• Microwaves only act on the surface of the food, heating the top quarter to half inch.
• Reducing the microwave power level gives heat time to move towards the center, resulting in more evenly heated food.
• Microwaves specifically heat water and to a lesser extent oils, sugars, and fats by causing their molecules to vibrate.
• Microwaves cannot interact with ice because water molecules are locked into place.
• Heat transfers through liquids much more efficiently than through solids.