Apparently we’re all microwaving food wrong – here’s how you should do it

If we’re too hungry to wait for an oven-baked meal or merely heat some food, we use the microwave for instant gratification.

We may set the time to one minute and 30 seconds, two minutes or more to get the desired heat, which all seems fairly normal.

But apparently, we’ve been microwaving our food all wrong.

According to one TikToker, there is a specific technique to getting the most out of the kitchen appliance. And millions of onlookers are flabbergasted that they’ve been heating their food incorrectly for this long.

Isabella Avila, the TikToker in question, who goes by @onlyjayuson on the platform, uploaded a video that gave viewers some tips.

“Do you know when you reheat food in the microwave and some parts of it are hot enough to burn your mouth, and the other part of it is frozen?” Avila said in the video.

Yes, we all know that particular scenario. So what is the way to avoid this?

Food shouldn’t be in the middle of the rotating plate, apparently.

“It should be on the edge so it can actually rotate around and cook evenly,” Avila continued.

Microwaveable bowl on the edge of the rotating plate.Photo courtesy of @onlyjayus/TikTok

Makes sense.

She also said if you want to cook two things simultaneously in the microwave, add a coffee mug for height distribution.

Avila also gave hacks for reheating pizza and pasta—place a cup of water in the microwave to keep the food "moisturized" and prevent it from being "too chewy."

Add a mug for height distribution.Photo courtesy of @onlyjayus/TikTok

tiktok.com/@onlyjayus/video/6995655826325163269?">Check out the full video here.

Naturally, people in the comments didn’t hesitate to admit that they’ve been using the microwave ineffectively.

“Clearly, I have been using my microwave wrong this whole time,” someone wrote.

“I have been wanting to know this for forever but was too lazy to Google it,” another added.

“Why don’t they teach us this in school?” a third person wondered.

Someone else asked a specific question about microwaves. “What if I have a microwave without a rotating plate,” they said as Avila jokingly responded with one word: “Panic.”

According to an article by The Food Network, to reheat foods such as macaroni and cheese, you can “add a splash of water, stock or sauce” to the meal before it heads to the microwave.

The article also noted that a damp towel could be placed over the food to “create steam,” which can help prevent the sauce from making a big mess inside the microwave.