Microwave Wattages and How to Choose the Correct Microwave
Mar 9th 2012
Commercial microwaves come in many different wattages and configurations. That said, it is sometimes confusing to try and determine which microwave would be best for your application.
Here are a few tips on making the right decision
Often, people do not like cooking in a microwave because of the “microwaved food” taste that it gives to the product. The reason that dried out flavor occurs is because the items have been exposed to the microwaves for an extended period of time. In very simplistic terms, microwaves heat products by exciting water molecules and creating steam which will heat the product around the water. If you are able to get the products heated in a shorter time and eliminating time in the microwave, your food will come out fresher and tasting better.
Take the example of cooking a piece of chicken on a grill. If your grill is not hot, and you put a piece of chicken on the grates, it can take 10 minutes time cook thru, and will probably dry out the meat. If you put the chicken on a searing hot grill, you can have that item plated within 3-4 minutes and the meat will still be juicy.
The same applies for a microwave. The faster you can get the food in and out, the better the texture and flavor will be. The higher the wattage of the microwave, the faster the cooking time.
See the chart below that illustrates how cooking times vary depending on the wattage of the unit:
