dont be silly, but it tastes goodVorago said:
unfortunately i dont even have a microwave anymore
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
from a foreigners perspective :-)
- Thread starter anonymous_111514
- Start date
unfortunately i dont even have a microwave anymore
My wife prefers pizza the morning after.
I love Kraft Dinner fried up in a frying pan the morning after. Sadly, you cannot buy it here. That and Aunt Jemima Lite. I travel fairly often to North America and stock up on it. And if I'm routing through Heathrow, I'll grab 3-4 packages of Minstrels.
I love Kraft Dinner fried up in a frying pan the morning after. Sadly, you cannot buy it here. That and Aunt Jemima Lite. I travel fairly often to North America and stock up on it. And if I'm routing through Heathrow, I'll grab 3-4 packages of Minstrels.
+1 A good stew is also better the second day. The flavors have time to mix.baba said:Add chili to the "better the second day" list. No microwave...pfff...insanity.
Leinad said:A 2 beer in Dublin? Man, you'd be lucky, Dublin is one of the most expensive cities in Europe, ESPECIALLY for drink. It's very disproportionate to the rest of the country too. Spent 60 on drink there last weekend when I was up for a concert, got mildy tipsy but not enough for the amount of money I spent... it's about 5 a pint, or 6 if you're a cider man like me. Same for shots.
Shoulda come down here to Cork or Limerick bud.
Nah, I was in spain, and it wasn't great beer, just omnipresent
. I'm thinking of spending a summer term at Trinity in dublin... so who knows.
4. The 'fanny pack' thing makes more sense if you know that in America, your fanny is your butt. The reason those things are called fanny packs is that when they were new, they were intended to be worn in the lower back while bicycling.Blavelle said:well I've come to America from my home in Switzerland for 1 month to this day to help my brother get his studio started and for the "culture experience"and I thought I'd share with you what I've learned:
1. you have no idea how cheap petrol is here (around $4.60 per gallon when I left) yet you still complain about it?
2. how much fast food, and how greasy it is here is amazing. we have mcdonalds in switzerland but its not at all as greasy as it is here
3. how cheap everything is here! not really a shock because i know how expensive switzerland is but it finally struck me after living somewhere else
4. what you guys call a fanny pack and what it is in england and even here is VERY VERY different, your "fanny" is a womens "private zone" and so a fanny pack would be...well use your imagination.
5. how god awfully humid it is here, maybe its just where I am?
6. how much bigger everything is here, I feel like an ant compared to your "walmarts" which brings me to
7. WALMART, its amazing, everything I could ever need in a store and a hundred things i wouldnt need.
8. and now I realize why you guys drive everywhere too! everything is so far apart from eachother! people in europe complain that americans use so much gas and should really walk more, but its a good 15 minute drive to everything around here.
EDIT:9. I remembered another one! everyone has microwaves, i am fairly well off back in switzerland and its never even crossed my mind to buyone
anyway I'm not really sure the point of this but I hope you find it entertaining. I guess its my way of letting out my home sickness, thank you for letting me in your country all you yankees out there, which reminds me, what exactly is a yankee? why do we call americans yankees?
In American-speak that would be right above your fanny.
Yes I know that it means something very different in England. I'm sure they call those butt-bags something else over there.
5. Spend an August afternoon in Houston and then ask me about humidity in Pennsylavania. I will probably laugh so hard I'll get an aneurysm. The three worst 'major' cities I have been in, as far as humidity goes, were Houston TX, Chicago IL (Actually Great Lakes Naval Station, north of Chicago), and Orlando FL. At all three, it was common to see people just spontaneously drop from heat exhaustion. Of course I just happened to be in two of them for the worst summers in recent memory, and in the other one for boot camp.
8. You want far apart? Come to West Texas.
mike_v_s said:
I cook what is needed to eat - I eat it - no "left overs" - as I say an alien concept - but anyway I just eat fresh food - I have no interest in re-heating stuff and as I said there are lots of health issues with that...
Bard2dbone said:
They're called "Bum Bags" over here, but basically went out of fashion in the 80s and it was still an inappropriate term, as most people seemed to wear them over their stomach...
Bruce Lindfield said:I cook what is needed to eat - I eat it - no "left overs" - as I say an alien concept - but anyway I just eat fresh food - I have no interest in re-heating stuff and as I said there are lots of health issues with that...
so?
DigMe said:Yeah, I'm sure there are, Bruce.
bc
Reheating food gives harmful bacteria the perfect environment - like growing a culture!!
Q.How many times can I reheat a meat-based meal? E.g. if I make a batch of chilli on day 1, reheat on day 2 but do not eat it all, can I reheat it again on day 3, 4 etc ?
A. Reheating foods is never a good idea, as apart from the safety issues you also lose food value. Regarding your chilli, heating and cooling must be controlled. The preparation and cooking of the chilli must ensure the product is safe, i.e. reach 75°C or above. Boiling achieves 100°C and is best. The chilli should be cooled as quickly as possible, and stored correctly at less than 8°C. The first re-heating of the product should reach the original cooking temperature, i.e. boiling point. In theory you can repeat this process, but with careful management to ensure that no spore-forming bacteria fill the food full of toxins between each re-heating process.
from [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Microwaves: Modern Menace Or Miracle?
October 25th, 2006
Editors Comment: Skeptics, as always, will pooh-pooh the idea of microwaving dangers and label them as being preposterous. But there’s enough credible research on the subject to convince me that this technology is outright dangerous.
In fact, any half-hearted study on radioactivity should lend compelling support to the arguement. The only purpose it serves is to be a convenience, and I’d rather not trade my long-term health for a shorter stay in the kitchen.
———————————-
Microwaves: Modern Miracle or Menace?
Questioning the safety of a favourite kitchen appliance.
North America’s obsession with the oh-so-quick and convenient microwave may be pushing us from the frying pan into the fire. An estimated one out of every two households has a microwave oven. Modern cookbooks abound with recipes for cooking with this handy device. Yet an increasing body of evidence is calling into question the safety of one of our favourite kitchen appliances.
History of the microwave
Microwave ovens were introduced into the market for domestic use in the early 1970s. At that time, they were considered relatively safe if properly cleaned and with door seals well maintained to prevent leakage. There was but a hint that their safety and the nutritional values of microwaved foods weren’t what the public believed. However, in 1989, Dr. Hans-Urich Hertel, a Swiss food scientist, and professor Bernard Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology began conducting extensive research on the effects of microwaved food on humans. Using a carefully controlled protocol, nine people, including Dr. Hertel, were alternately exposed to microwaved and conventionally cooked foods from organic sources. Samples of participants’ blood were taken right before eating and at certain intervals after eating.
Researchers found that after microwaved food consumption, there was significant reduction of all blood hemoglobin and cholesterol values (both good HDL cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol), and that bad cholesterol levels were elevated relative to good cholesterol levels.
Lymphocyte (white blood cell) activity decreased notably after ingestion of microwaved foods compared to that of non-treated foods. When exposed to blood from those who had eaten microwaved foods, bacteria that glow when examined under a special light glowed much brighter than when exposed to blood samples from those who had eaten nontreated food. This established an association that energy from microwaved foods may be passed on to those who consume the food.
Free radical effects
There were non-thermal effects that altered cell membrane permeability, making cells susceptible to invasion by bacteria, fungi and viruses. Other adverse effects included the change of cells from a healthy aerobic (oxidation) status to an unhealthy anaerobic (fermentation) condition. Anaerobic cells produce damaging free radicals such as hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide, which increase the need for neutralizing antioxidants in the body such as vitamins A, C, E and selenium.
Dr. Hertel holds that when food is microwaved, the oven exerts a massive power input that destroys and deforms food molecules and produces new “radiolytic” compounds unknown in nature. Exposing food to ionizing rays such as gamma or X-rays (irradiation) creates URPs (unique radiolytic products) in the food. URPs have free-radical capabilities that destroy healthy cells and contribute to abnormal growth, a cause of cancer. Conventional wisdom has contended that microwaves are non-ionizing. Dr. Hertel’s evidence would appear to contradict that notion.
Decreased nutritional value
Other problems reported with microwaved foods include the destruction of nutritional value of meat proteins, lowered metabolic activity of important plant substances such as alkaloids, glucosides, galctosides and nitrilosides, and reduced bioavailability of certain vitamins and minerals, which affects the body’s ability to absorb these nutrients.
Pediatrics (1992; 89: 667-9) reported heating or thawing human milk at low temperatures of 20 to 53 degrees Celsius reduces the level of infection-fighting factors in milk. Another study found microwaving milk at temperatures in excess of 72 C caused a significant decrease in all of its infection-fighting factors. The authors strongly objected to the use of microwaved human milk in hospitals.
The Journal of Natural Science (1998; 1: 2-7) reported a Tulsa, Oklahoma, patient who died of anaphylactic shock as a result of a transfusion of blood warmed in a microwave. Microwaves appeared to have altered the blood sufficiently to cause the death of the patient.
A study published in Lancet (1989; 913: 92-3) demonstrated high rates of change in microwaved food proteins not seen with conventional cooking. The authors warned that such effects on amino acids could be hazardous and “can lead to structural, functional and immunological changes.”
The Journal of the American College of Nutrition (1994; 13: 209-10) reported that although the quantity of proteins changed were small, microwaving infant formula can produce molecular changes in the amino acid components in milk proteins that cause toxicity and compromise the nutritional value of the formula. Another problem with microwaving food is the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food.
More research
Dr. Hans Urich Hertel was not the first to investigate the health effects of microwaved food. Scientists in the former Soviet Union had been doing so 30 years earlier. According to William Kopp in the Journal of Natural Science (1998; 1: 42-43), from 1957 to 1999, researchers experimenting with microwaves at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk in Byelorussia found that prepared meats, cereal grains, root vegetables and milk heated in a microwave created cancer-causing agents in these foods. Ingestion of microwaved foods caused a higher percentage of cancerous cells in blood. Disorders of the digestive system were associated with chemical changes in the ingested microwaved foods.
These chemical alterations were also associated with a statistically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers with degeneration of peripheral cellular tissues and a breakdown of digestive, urinary and bowel excretion among those who consumed such foods. Microwaved foods caused malfunctions in the lymphatic system’s capacity to protect itself against growing tumours. Such findings caused microwaves to be banned in Russia in 1976. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ban was lifted.
While microwave cooking has been demonstrated to cause significant decreases in nutritional value of all foods studied, what about reheating previously microwaved food? The practice of reheating leftover food further compromises nutrient quality and content. Microwaved foods also offer no better protection from food-borne illnesses than conventional cooking. Reheating food in a microwave is potentially dangerous, according to researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1994; 139: 903-9) investigating a salmonella outbreak among 30 picnickers who took home leftover meat. All 10 who used a microwave to reheat the meat became ill. None who used a skillet or regular oven to reheat the meat became ill.
Pass on the plastic
Another problem with microwaving food is the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food. The PVC (polyvinylchloride) plastic film that covers foods during microwaving has been shown to release plasticizers to such an extent that it has been recommended that PVC not be in direct contact with the food.
In microwaving breakfast cereals sold in convenient waxed packaging for heating, 60 per cent of the wax was transferred to the food in spite of strict adherence to instructions (Food Additives and Contaminants, 1994; 11: 79-89).
To enhance the appearance and flavour of prepared foods for microwaving, the food industry has developed specialized synthetic food additives. According to Australian researchers Ashton and Laura (The Perils of Progress, Zed Books, 1999): “An example of one new type of flavour-producing technology designed for use in microwave ovens is ‘susceptors.’ These devices are usually glued to the packaging of microwavable foods and are used to achieve local areas of high temperature.
This has the effect of browning the food during microwave cooking. A subtle side-effect of some of the pre-1992 susceptor devices involved the release of small amounts of a toxic chemical, bisphenol-a-diglycidyl ether (BADGE), into the food during microwaving. BADGE was a component of the adhesive used to fix susceptors to packaging.” The authors then cited a 1992 study that showed the chemical was found to migrate in the food when cooked according to instructions (Food Additives and Contaminants, 1995; 17: 79-87).
To the shame of Switzerland as a democracy, Dr. Hertel was essentially gagged by Swiss microwave oven manufacturers through the use of trade laws and the courts. In 1994, the Swiss Federal Court confirmed an earlier conviction against Dr. Hertel with the levy of a fine of 8,000 Swiss francs and the threat of imprisonment. In August 1998, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Swiss Court’s verdict was in contravention of the Human Rights Code and ordered Switzerland to pay Dr. Hertel 40,000 Swiss francs in compensation.
However, in spite of government and industry efforts to gag Dr. Hertel, other evidence concerning the hazards of microwaved foods has surfaced around the globe in peer-reviewed journals. Whether it’s concerning the chemical or nutritional changes in the food itself, or the apparent effects of microwaved foods on humans, there are yet more questions to ask about this popular technology.
When food is microwaved, the oven exerts a massive power input that destroys and deforms food molecules and produces new ‘radiolytic’ compounds unknown in nature.
Link Removed
October 25th, 2006
Editors Comment: Skeptics, as always, will pooh-pooh the idea of microwaving dangers and label them as being preposterous. But there’s enough credible research on the subject to convince me that this technology is outright dangerous.
In fact, any half-hearted study on radioactivity should lend compelling support to the arguement. The only purpose it serves is to be a convenience, and I’d rather not trade my long-term health for a shorter stay in the kitchen.
———————————-
Microwaves: Modern Miracle or Menace?
Questioning the safety of a favourite kitchen appliance.
North America’s obsession with the oh-so-quick and convenient microwave may be pushing us from the frying pan into the fire. An estimated one out of every two households has a microwave oven. Modern cookbooks abound with recipes for cooking with this handy device. Yet an increasing body of evidence is calling into question the safety of one of our favourite kitchen appliances.
History of the microwave
Microwave ovens were introduced into the market for domestic use in the early 1970s. At that time, they were considered relatively safe if properly cleaned and with door seals well maintained to prevent leakage. There was but a hint that their safety and the nutritional values of microwaved foods weren’t what the public believed. However, in 1989, Dr. Hans-Urich Hertel, a Swiss food scientist, and professor Bernard Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology began conducting extensive research on the effects of microwaved food on humans. Using a carefully controlled protocol, nine people, including Dr. Hertel, were alternately exposed to microwaved and conventionally cooked foods from organic sources. Samples of participants’ blood were taken right before eating and at certain intervals after eating.
Researchers found that after microwaved food consumption, there was significant reduction of all blood hemoglobin and cholesterol values (both good HDL cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol), and that bad cholesterol levels were elevated relative to good cholesterol levels.
Lymphocyte (white blood cell) activity decreased notably after ingestion of microwaved foods compared to that of non-treated foods. When exposed to blood from those who had eaten microwaved foods, bacteria that glow when examined under a special light glowed much brighter than when exposed to blood samples from those who had eaten nontreated food. This established an association that energy from microwaved foods may be passed on to those who consume the food.
Free radical effects
There were non-thermal effects that altered cell membrane permeability, making cells susceptible to invasion by bacteria, fungi and viruses. Other adverse effects included the change of cells from a healthy aerobic (oxidation) status to an unhealthy anaerobic (fermentation) condition. Anaerobic cells produce damaging free radicals such as hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide, which increase the need for neutralizing antioxidants in the body such as vitamins A, C, E and selenium.
Dr. Hertel holds that when food is microwaved, the oven exerts a massive power input that destroys and deforms food molecules and produces new “radiolytic” compounds unknown in nature. Exposing food to ionizing rays such as gamma or X-rays (irradiation) creates URPs (unique radiolytic products) in the food. URPs have free-radical capabilities that destroy healthy cells and contribute to abnormal growth, a cause of cancer. Conventional wisdom has contended that microwaves are non-ionizing. Dr. Hertel’s evidence would appear to contradict that notion.
Decreased nutritional value
Other problems reported with microwaved foods include the destruction of nutritional value of meat proteins, lowered metabolic activity of important plant substances such as alkaloids, glucosides, galctosides and nitrilosides, and reduced bioavailability of certain vitamins and minerals, which affects the body’s ability to absorb these nutrients.
Pediatrics (1992; 89: 667-9) reported heating or thawing human milk at low temperatures of 20 to 53 degrees Celsius reduces the level of infection-fighting factors in milk. Another study found microwaving milk at temperatures in excess of 72 C caused a significant decrease in all of its infection-fighting factors. The authors strongly objected to the use of microwaved human milk in hospitals.
The Journal of Natural Science (1998; 1: 2-7) reported a Tulsa, Oklahoma, patient who died of anaphylactic shock as a result of a transfusion of blood warmed in a microwave. Microwaves appeared to have altered the blood sufficiently to cause the death of the patient.
A study published in Lancet (1989; 913: 92-3) demonstrated high rates of change in microwaved food proteins not seen with conventional cooking. The authors warned that such effects on amino acids could be hazardous and “can lead to structural, functional and immunological changes.”
The Journal of the American College of Nutrition (1994; 13: 209-10) reported that although the quantity of proteins changed were small, microwaving infant formula can produce molecular changes in the amino acid components in milk proteins that cause toxicity and compromise the nutritional value of the formula. Another problem with microwaving food is the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food.
More research
Dr. Hans Urich Hertel was not the first to investigate the health effects of microwaved food. Scientists in the former Soviet Union had been doing so 30 years earlier. According to William Kopp in the Journal of Natural Science (1998; 1: 42-43), from 1957 to 1999, researchers experimenting with microwaves at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk in Byelorussia found that prepared meats, cereal grains, root vegetables and milk heated in a microwave created cancer-causing agents in these foods. Ingestion of microwaved foods caused a higher percentage of cancerous cells in blood. Disorders of the digestive system were associated with chemical changes in the ingested microwaved foods.
These chemical alterations were also associated with a statistically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers with degeneration of peripheral cellular tissues and a breakdown of digestive, urinary and bowel excretion among those who consumed such foods. Microwaved foods caused malfunctions in the lymphatic system’s capacity to protect itself against growing tumours. Such findings caused microwaves to be banned in Russia in 1976. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ban was lifted.
While microwave cooking has been demonstrated to cause significant decreases in nutritional value of all foods studied, what about reheating previously microwaved food? The practice of reheating leftover food further compromises nutrient quality and content. Microwaved foods also offer no better protection from food-borne illnesses than conventional cooking. Reheating food in a microwave is potentially dangerous, according to researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1994; 139: 903-9) investigating a salmonella outbreak among 30 picnickers who took home leftover meat. All 10 who used a microwave to reheat the meat became ill. None who used a skillet or regular oven to reheat the meat became ill.
Pass on the plastic
Another problem with microwaving food is the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food. The PVC (polyvinylchloride) plastic film that covers foods during microwaving has been shown to release plasticizers to such an extent that it has been recommended that PVC not be in direct contact with the food.
In microwaving breakfast cereals sold in convenient waxed packaging for heating, 60 per cent of the wax was transferred to the food in spite of strict adherence to instructions (Food Additives and Contaminants, 1994; 11: 79-89).
To enhance the appearance and flavour of prepared foods for microwaving, the food industry has developed specialized synthetic food additives. According to Australian researchers Ashton and Laura (The Perils of Progress, Zed Books, 1999): “An example of one new type of flavour-producing technology designed for use in microwave ovens is ‘susceptors.’ These devices are usually glued to the packaging of microwavable foods and are used to achieve local areas of high temperature.
This has the effect of browning the food during microwave cooking. A subtle side-effect of some of the pre-1992 susceptor devices involved the release of small amounts of a toxic chemical, bisphenol-a-diglycidyl ether (BADGE), into the food during microwaving. BADGE was a component of the adhesive used to fix susceptors to packaging.” The authors then cited a 1992 study that showed the chemical was found to migrate in the food when cooked according to instructions (Food Additives and Contaminants, 1995; 17: 79-87).
To the shame of Switzerland as a democracy, Dr. Hertel was essentially gagged by Swiss microwave oven manufacturers through the use of trade laws and the courts. In 1994, the Swiss Federal Court confirmed an earlier conviction against Dr. Hertel with the levy of a fine of 8,000 Swiss francs and the threat of imprisonment. In August 1998, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Swiss Court’s verdict was in contravention of the Human Rights Code and ordered Switzerland to pay Dr. Hertel 40,000 Swiss francs in compensation.
However, in spite of government and industry efforts to gag Dr. Hertel, other evidence concerning the hazards of microwaved foods has surfaced around the globe in peer-reviewed journals. Whether it’s concerning the chemical or nutritional changes in the food itself, or the apparent effects of microwaved foods on humans, there are yet more questions to ask about this popular technology.
When food is microwaved, the oven exerts a massive power input that destroys and deforms food molecules and produces new ‘radiolytic’ compounds unknown in nature.
Link Removed
Without building our immune system through regular reheating of dishes, how else would we possibly be able to stomach what gets served at fast food restaurants here?
Spaghetti is a favorite dish of mine to be reheated. Store it mixed with the sauce to let the noodles soak in the flavor. that's good stuff.
Note. The noodles I've tried around here have no respectable flavor on their own.
Spaghetti is a favorite dish of mine to be reheated. Store it mixed with the sauce to let the noodles soak in the flavor. that's good stuff.
Note. The noodles I've tried around here have no respectable flavor on their own.
Bruce Lindfield said:One...it looks like there's at least ten meals there!!
Yeah, 10 meals 24 hours after consumption.
Sounds like this :
"Reheating food in a microwave is potentially dangerous, according to researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1994; 139: 903-9) investigating a salmonella outbreak among 30 picnickers who took home leftover meat. All 10 who used a microwave to reheat the meat became ill. None who used a skillet or regular oven to reheat the meat became ill."
"Reheating food in a microwave is potentially dangerous, according to researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1994; 139: 903-9) investigating a salmonella outbreak among 30 picnickers who took home leftover meat. All 10 who used a microwave to reheat the meat became ill. None who used a skillet or regular oven to reheat the meat became ill."
