why can't i put aluminum foil in the microwave oven?

Question

god, that scared me half out of my wits.

for those who called me a dumb assss, is that really necessary? this is the first microwave i've owned.

Answer 1

There's that show on the Discovery Channel, Myth Busters? They put a bunch of stuff like that in a microwave, but nothing really happened, they just had some arcs. I suppose it could mess up your microwave and cause a fire on any paper products in the microwave, but I don't think anything really dangerous would happen. And to the person above that said it would explode, I highly doubt that.

Answer 2

The aluminum foil reflects the microwave energy and causes it to concentrate in areas or reflect back to the source where the unit was not designed to handle as much energy. Arcing is usually the result of this phenomenon or excessively heating of the magnetron's antenna.

There is nothing in a microwave's construction that would explode when this happens.

The arcing could cause things to start on fire such as fats from the food which would also cause any paper to burn if it were in contact with the foil or saturated or partially saturated with the fats.

It is permissible to put small amounts of aluminum foil in the microwave for instance when making a chicken or small turkey the tips of the wings and ends of the legs would normally be burned to a crisp by putting small pieces of foil on these areas you will reflect the microwave energy away and prevent them from burning. The mass of the poultry being heated is enough to absorb the reflected energy without any arcing or anything catching fire. This can also be done when making a beef roast or meat loaf where an area of the meat would burn excessively during cooking.

Answer 3

Why is it dangerous to warm up metal by microwave? (from the manufacturer point of view)
The following are the reasons from the manufacturer point of view why we ask users not to put metal in the microwave:

1.

If a metallic container is heated up in a microwave, many reflected waves are generated by the metal. The reflected waves return to the antenna of a magnetron, causing an increase in temperature. This causes the deterioration of the magnetron and generates electronic discharge easily, resulting in microwave failure.

2.

If a metallic container is close to the wall of a microwave, electronic discharge occurs between the wall and the metallic container, causing microwave to develop problems. Also, if this happens, users are surprised at the noise and the light, then they complain to the manufacturer. And so, we manufacturers prohibit the use of metallic containers in microwaves.

Answer 4

Because the microwaves bounce off of the metal and the electric energy "arcs" or causes like an electric short that can burn paper or make the light in there flicker. It's designed to shoot microwaves through things to heat them up and the metal disrupts this flow of heat energy.

Answer 5

Because the aluminum metal will deflect the microwave radiations...this will create sparks, burn the aluminum/microwave walls, and damage the magnetron in your microwave.

Answer 6

Very simple! Metal and Microwaves equals SPARK CITY! Also good for inflicting HEART ATACKS! (know what I mean?) Usually, "M & M's" are a GOOD thing! But in THIS case, "M & M's" are a definite BAD thing! "Metal & Microwaves"....BAD! BAD! BAD ! Think about it: METAL (ie ALUMINUM FOIL) makes a GREAT conductor of ELECTRICITY! Understand girl???

Answer 7

because its metal. energy is naturaly atracted to metal so when the readiation begins, it automatically wants to be atracted to the metal causing it to overheat. microwaves tend to heat everything up starting from the inside out. conventional fire heats from the outside in. put an egg in the microwave and you can see that it will crack open as it heats from the inside out causing the steam to crack it open rather quickly. so in short, the energy just builds up around the metal and super heats it displaying sparks and scaring the wits out of you ;)

Answer 8

Any steel with edges will act as a wave handbook concentrating the potential until eventually it reaches a factor on the tip the place it is going to spark. around steel like a around pot pie pan is advantageous.

Answer 9

it absorbs the energy then starts sparking, just put some in and turn it on for literally 2 seconds, and watch what happens, it shouldnt do it any harm. dont do it for any longer tho, it could break your microwave.

Answer 10

This just happened to me the other day and my "brilliant" spouse said cause the waves cant get absorbed by the metal, I dont think thats exactly correct though, scary experiance aint it?