Are you planning to buy a microwave? Are you wondering whether or not you should buy a microwave with or without a turntable?
Additionally, are you also wondering whether any kind of disadvantages can derive from using a microwave without a turntable?
Using a microwave without a turntable
You can use a microwave without a turntable but you should not do it. This is because the presence of a turntable helps to make your cooking experience more efficient, time-saving, and less damaging to the microwave. Moreover, it is also a safe option to use your turntable to reduce bacteria.
You should definitely use a microwave with a turntable especially if the microwave contains the option of a turntable.
However, if your microwave is a flatbed one or is a commercial one, then the turntable option may not be necessary.
In addition, nothing can be more sanitary than having your food cooked in such a way that any kind of harmful bacteria can not get attached to it.
Accordingly, when you use a microwave that does not offer the option of a turntable, then there is a high chance that your food may contain salmonella.
This is because when you are inserting food or frozen food in a microwave without a turntable, chances are that your food will not be cooked and this will lead to food poisoning or salmonella due to the harmful bacteria that are found in the cold spots of food.
Accordingly, it is just more convenient and time-saving if you use a microwave with a turntable because the foods cook more thoroughly.
Is it necessary?
A lot of microwaves come without the turntable option and a lot of microwaves cannot work without a turntable.
The main thing is that the microwaves which come with turntables should be used with a turntable otherwise your food will not be cooked thoroughly, so yes it is necessary.
In addition, a turntable is also very necessary for microwaves because it makes sure that the food is cooked evenly by distributing the heat thoroughly to every side.
Moreover, when you do not use a turntable in a microwave, the center portion of the food cooks fast but the middle portion stays raw.
Therefore, you may get foods that are raw, overcooked or burnt due to the uneven distribution of heat.
Additionally, you also have to manually shift the plate or bowl of the food yourself to make sure of even heat distribution which can be very tiring at times.
However, it’s not like you cannot at all use microwaves without a turntable because a lot of microwaves do not offer this option or have an option to turn off the turntable option.
Therefore, there are some advantages that show that not using a turntable in a microwave is not that uncommon if you are not focusing on the longevity of your microwave.
Accordingly, when you do not use a turntable in your microwave, it is less likely to have a higher electrical intake and it is flexible with different types of pots and pans.
In addition, the absence of a turntable can also make sure that you have a large area in your microwave to work with and it is rather easier to clean your microwave without a turntable.
The advantages of not using a turntable can be overshadowed by the pros of using a turntable in a microwave because it is just more convenient, safe, and sanitary.
“3” reasons why microwave oven does need turntable
There are myriads of reasons behind the fact why microwaves need a turntable and being aware of these reasons will help you to remove your confusion and to eradicate any unwanted accidents.
Equal distribution of heat:
A microwave oven needs a turntable because a turntable can really help cook your food thoroughly and efficiently.
In addition, when you have a turntable that rotates at 360 degrees, then it offers to distribute the microwaves around the food very evenly.
Accordingly, the food can thus absorb microwaves and thus can be cooked without developing any hot or cold spots.
In addition, some flatbed microwaves do not offer the option of rotating turntables but these flatbed microwaves sometimes are prone to having food prepared in an unhygienic and unsafe way.
A microwave without a turntable will most definitely let your food be uncooked in the middle which can lead to having harmful bacteria in the uncooked parts of the food. In addition, this can also cause the corner parts of the food to burn or to be overcooked.
Provides well-functioning magnetron:
Another huge benefit of using a turntable in a microwave is related to the microwave tube called a magnetron.
In addition, these microwave tubes are responsible for circulating microwaves to cook food in uniformity. It also helps to prevent any kind of damage from happening to your magnetron.
Moreover, this is because, without the presence of a turntable in a microwave, the microwaves coming from the magnetron will be reflected back to the magnetron which can cause potential damage to it.
The turntable thus lessens the intensity of the microwaves reflecting back to the magnetron and helps to provide your microwave with longevity.
Time efficient:
A turntable is sometimes necessary for microwaves because of the time-efficient parts that come with it.
In addition, this is because the rotating mechanism of a turntable helps rotate the food which cooks faster due to the equal distribution of heat, and thus you will have your food prepared in no time.
What happens when you use microwave without turntable?
Technically, microwaves can be used without a turntable. But, microwaves that come with turntables should never be used without a turntable as several kinds of negative consequences can happen due to the absence of a turntable.
In addition, when you use a microwave without a turntable, it can cause your food to have hot and cold spots.
This means that the turntable helps the food in the microwave to rotate so that the heat is distributed properly and food can be cooked thoroughly and effectively without any cold or hot spots.
The even cooking procedure will thus be hampered due to the lack of a turntable in a microwave. In this situation, you may have to rotate the food manually yourself to make sure of even cooking.
However, this isn’t really worth it due to the dangers and the exhaustion that come with this process.
In addition, when you use a microwave without a turntable, you also risk damaging the magnetron or the microwave tube.
Moreover, the work of the magnetron is basically to reflect microwaves throughout the oven and the usage of a turntable helps to not directly reflect all microwaves back to the magnetron.
Therefore, the absence of such a turntable for a microwave will cause the microwaves derived from the magnetron to be reflected back to the magnetron itself which can potentially be very damaging to the microwave.
How to use the microwave without a turntable?
As it is fine to use a microwave without the turntable, you have to be aware of the proper steps to use one. Therefore being knowledgeable about the steps will help you to mold your decisions accordingly.
Find out the best-heated spot:
One of the first things that you need to do to use a microwave without a turntable is related to finding out the place where heat is most evenly distributed.
Accordingly, to do this, you need to put a glass of water into the microwave to find out.
Once you take the water out of the microwave, you will see that the water in the middle part is hotter than the sides and the place where you got this kind of temperature is the spot that you need to find.
Distribute food evenly:
In the second step, you need to make sure that you do not put a lot of food in the center as this will not cook the food at all.
Rather, you need to make sure to evenly distribute the food to the sides so that the food can cook with proper heat to eliminate all germs and bacteria.
After that, you just need to put your food on the spot where there is a lot of heat inside of the microwave and set the recommended time for the food to cook it thoroughly.
Manually rotate food:
Despite evenly distributing your food and finding the best-heated spot in the microwave, you may not get your food cooked properly.
In such situations, you have to manually rotate your food to finish the cooking process but you need to be careful while doing it.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, there are tons of microwaves that do not offer the option of a turntable which means you can technically use a microwave without a turntable. But, it is advised not to because a turntable helps to circulate heat evenly to cook food effectively.