Why you should never cook peppers in the microwave. The story of an entire apartment building evacuated because of peppers

The microwave is good, it can heat almost anything. But above all, I advise against directly heating a raw pepper , otherwise you will get a Molotov cocktail. Someone will certainly want to try it, the suggestion here is not necessary!

Why Do Peppers Become Firebombs?
There can be 2 reasons.

The first reason is that the heating time is too long.

If the heating time is too long, such as more than 5 minutes, some parts of the green pepper will dry out (especially the part with less water on the head and tail of the green pepper and the smaller diameter), and the temperature keeps rising and it will be easy to burn after reaching the ignition point.

For this reason, many foods can catch fire if left in the microwave long enough.

As long as the heating time is not long, it generally does not catch fire. In one recipe, green peppers were heated three times in the microwave, for 2 minutes each time, and vinegar was poured into the middle to give the green peppers time to cool.

The second reason is the high temperature plasma generated by the Mie resonance.

Mie resonance is a resonance phenomenon at microwave frequencies. In some cases (related to the shape and composition of the food), the energy of the electromagnetic waves of the microwave oven is thus accumulated to generate high-temperature plasma, i.e. an electric spark, and cause combustion.

Placing two grapes next to each other in the microwave can also catch fire from the discharge. Furthermore, it was also observed that when the beans were heated in the microwave oven, electrical sparks were also generated.

Peppers come in different shapes and sizes, so there is also the possibility of Mie resonance and thus electric sparks. It is not recommended to intentionally use a microwave oven to heat two grapes or various shapes of fruits and vegetables to look at the electric light, but if you accidentally see the food in the microwave oven crackling and sparkling, do not panic, turn off the microwave oven and take it out after the temperature drops (the food is still edible and not poisonous).

Why does chili pepper become pepper spray?
As can be seen from the above, there are many foods that can be transformed into “firebombs” through microwave ovens; but the only one that can be made into pepper spray via microwave ovens is probably just pepper.

Therefore, when you see a pepper discharge and catch fire in the microwave, don’t immediately go up to rescue it. Chili peppers are hot because they contain capsaicin . This substance makes us feel that our skin and mucous membranes are burned and worn out.

When the chili is heated, the vaporized water molecules will bind the capsaicin together and build up more and more in the poorly ventilated microwave oven, waiting for you to swarm when you open the oven door.

This does not need to be heated for a long time, just a few minutes is enough, especially for very hot raw peppers . You know, the feeling of meeting capsaicin with your airways and naked eyes is completely different from eating chili pepper with your mouth. Think about it, mildly spicy hot pot oil squirted into your eyes and choked down your throat is far more uncomfortable than eating it with your mouth.

Here is a piece of news that can prove how dangerous microwave pepper mist is. In August 2016, the New York City Fire Department was called to a possible dangerous object in an apartment building, according to news site Wham. When firefighters arrived in full gear, they found a resident had heated the peppers in a microwave oven. Residents had difficulty breathing after turning on the microwave.

Soon, microwave pepper mist filled the air and many residents began to feel uneasy and firefighters had to evacuate the residents of the entire building. “It doesn’t matter what kind of pepper, it’s awful to be atomized ,” said one firefighter, “if you accidentally get a pepper in your eye, you’ll know what it’s like.”

Of course, anyone with cooking experience knows that not only microwave ovens, but as long as it is at a high temperature, chili is easy to choke: pot-fried dry chili, dry-fried tiger skin green pepper, etc. These situations are the same as microwaving hot peppers, which also rapidly release a large amount of capsaicin into the air.

Besides peppers, there are some things you might not think of that aren’t recommended for microwave ovens (not to mention metal products , egg shells, and some plastic products). Some porcelain looks shimmery, which may be due to the addition of metallic components during firing, and electrical sparks will appear as metallic products when placed in a microwave oven.