Everyday at lunchtime, it's the same thing.
We get in line to heat up our meals in the microwave.
And the conversation that never ends
is to know whether there is any benefit in heating two dishes simultaneously.
And does it change anything if we stack them up or put them side by side?
We're going to test this and I will let you be the judge of the results.
All I can tell you is that they have changed the way I use the microwave!
I will take advantage of my sister's presence to carry out the experiment.
This is definitely a 2 man job.
We'll have to make sure our experimental conditions stay the same each time.
For that purpose, we used a plastic container filled with exactly 200 grams of water.
The container is at room temperature,
the water is at tap temperature,
and its temperature is measured each time.
We will do four tests.
1: One container in the center;
2: One container on the side;
3: Two containers stacked;
4: Two containers side by side.
In each case, we will heat the water in each container for 30 sec, 1 min, and 1 min 30 sec.
Once heated, we will measure the temperature of the water again.
We'll then subtract this measurement from the one we took before.
That way, we know how much the temperature of the water has increased.
This is the evolution of the temperature over time for each of the scenarios.
Overall, we get linear curves with about the same slope.
But it becomes interesting when we put the curves together and look at the figures.
The container gets the warmest when placed by itself in the center.
Tied first is the two stacked-up containers scenario
which heats up the bottom one very well.
But the top container isn't so well off.
In second position, the container placed by itself and off to the side.
The two containers placed side by side come in third place.
Alright.
The main takeaway is that if you stack up 2 containers, the bottom one warms up as if by itself.
So if you don't want to waste your time, but you still feel uncomfortable
refusing to heat up your coworker's meal at the same time as yours,
you can always stack them up...
... making sure yours is at the bottom!
But the person whose dish is on top will have to put it back in the microwave.
Now here's an important question.
If we choose to put two containers side by side to heat them up together,
do we have to use double the amount of time we'd need for one?
According to the graphs, if you put two containers side by side for 90 seconds,
we reach about the same temperature as if there was only one in the center for 60 seconds.
The additional time for two containers is 50%.
So if you really want to be nice, put the containers side by side for 50% longer.
If you've conducted experiments before, you'll know that the results I just gave you
are not a sacred truth.
This is just one experiment carried out with one type of container - and a single container size -
with a single microwave and only three durations.
We also used water to simplify the experiment (although a change in phase is near),
but it does not accurately reflect the behavior of your lasagna.
So you need to take this experiment for what it is:
an experiment that seems to indicate that you can share microwave space
by using it 1.5x longer than you would have to for your single dish -
if you put your containers side by side.
So now I hope that you can tell me in the comments
once you've tried the different tests,
whether those rules of thumb I found with my own microwave also work for you.
And I really count on your feedback! I really want to know if it works better
to have two containers side by side, one above the other... Anything you take away.
[Excerpt from the previous video]