The microwave oven is a truly revolutionary household appliance that has changed how people heat and even cook food at home. It scores huge points for convenience as well as for efficiency in doing what it is designed to do—which is to cook food quickly. Microwave ovens use special electromagnetic radiation, which heats objects from within, thus making the device most convenient to use for otherwise time-consuming heating tasks like melting butter and heating water. Originally built for and used in commercial kitchens, microwave ovens are now a common sight in households and workplaces.
There are different types of microwave ovens, including counter-top, over the range, and cabinet-mounted microwave ovens. These variations are mainly categorized based on the way they are configured in kitchen spaces. The cheapest and most common of these are countertop ovens. They are also the most popular choice in many homes and office settings because they are the most mobile.
When it comes to energy efficiency, microwave ovens also offer significant benefits because while it takes 25 percent more energy to bring a cup of water to a boil in a microwave than in an electric stove, it uses 80 percent less energy to reheat food than in a conventional oven. In addition to faster reheating and cooking of smaller portions of food, there are many other benefits to using a microwave oven. Vitamins and nutrients, for instance, are better retained when food is cooked in a microwave oven compared to when it is heated in a regular oven. This is because it takes a microwave oven less time to cook food, thus preventing it from destroying the beneficial nutrients in them. Microwave also uses electricity instead of charcoal, oil, or gas, thus reducing your overall carbon footprint and eliminating the usual pollution created by conventional heating methods.