Summer asks us to simplify the kitchen. It’s hot enough outside to face stoves and baking. I’m not telling you now if you’re in a summer apartment with one of those kitchens that give a mix between disgust and maximum sorrow. In any of these circumstances we can a) pull remains of batch cooking that we still have left in the freezer, b) wrap the blanket around our heads, go from cooking and buying refrigerated prepared meals at the corner supermarket, c) throw out frozen lasagna that, in total, for a few days, nothing happens, d) reheat what’s left of the lasagna from lunch – or whatever – and gobble it up at night.
If you’re not picky and can fit some cold cannelloni between your chest and back without making a fuss, congratulations. But if you are looking to give some dignity to the four croquettes that you brought from your in-laws’ house ‘to snack’, you should know that not everything goes for reheating (if you put the pizza directly on the cardboard wedge, this also interests you.
Taper, but what kind of taper?
There are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to die of starvation before putting a Tupperware in the microwave, because “it gives cancer”, and those who do not hesitate to put any container to spin between waves. Between pseudoscience and daredevils, that’s where we live: aluminium, without going any further, can give off sparks and set fire to the microwave, the kitchen and, if you’re not careful, the whole house. Most woods won’t take a trip down the hot turntable, and paper doesn’t do well in the heat in there either.
As for the former, we have good news: there are microwave-safe plastic containers. You only have to look at the base of the container: the law requires reporting the type of plastic with which the pot has been manufactured. “The number five placed in a triangle corresponds to polypropylene. And it is suitable for microwave use, as long as it is for food use”, explains Víctor Borrás, director of marketing for Knauf Industries. For added peace of mind, microwave-safe lunch boxes often add ripples inside a square, the international symbol for “microwave-safe.”
Let’s say that in the summer apartment there are no lunch containers, but you have ordered Chinese food and you plan to reuse those containers. “If they are made of polypropylene, they can be reused and put in the microwave without problems. If they are made of another material, we can wash them and reuse them, but it is better not to use them to reheat because there could be migrations”. If we are only going to put a heat shock to the food, the amount of microplastic that could be detached from a container not suitable for microwaves is minimal and can never exceed the limits established by the Regulation 10/2011 and its successive modifications. Another thing is that it is more than likely that it will deform due to the heat and the food will spill, and when a container is half melted or deformed, common sense tells you not to put it in the microwave just in case, right?
When lasagna has a paper tray
Non-recycled plastic waste that ends up in rivers and seas has become a shameful environmental problem. For the sake of sustainability, many manufacturers choose to reduce the plastic in their packaging, replacing it with paper, cardboard or wood. Take a look at your frozen lasagna (from Lidl, Salvamás or Mercadona, for example): many plastic containers have been replaced by cardboard boxes. Inside, the lasagna may go on some kind of paper tray; like the cupcakes, but bigger. In the instructions, in small letters, the manufacturer washes its hands of possible lawsuits with a revealing message: “Completely remove the packaging before putting it in the microwave.” In other words, the paper mold is suitable for a regular oven, but not for the microwave. Before you gobble it up, you should unmold it and put it on a plate.
And the trays of the cool and sustainable sites of take away? These are usually made of birch, poplar or sugar cane wood. They are suitable for reheating in the microwave, that is, what is meant by reheating: put them at medium temperature for 30 seconds or one minute -the one to reheat, not the one to cook, between 350 and 600 W-, nothing to put them at full throttle.
Here we have to go back to high school physics and chemistry classes. The microwave launches cholon waves and heats more easily what carries water: wood is an organic material and, yes, it carries water. That is why it also heats up, expands and deforms. “Something similar happens with cardboard boxes, like those in hamburger restaurants. With the heat of the microwave, the glues that join the ends also dry out and the ends can become unstuck”, says Borrás. If you want to reheat your burger, fries or curried noodles, transfer them to a traditional bowl.
Reheat, eat, recycle
It would be like the Eat Pray Love by Julia Roberts, but in a circular economy plan. That everything goes in the same order, does not exempt you from recycling everything as the canons send. All those wooden trays are organic and biodegradable materials and go in the brown container; if there is cardboard (boxes and bags), to blue, and if there is a plastic protector on the base so that the sauces do not soak into the tray, to yellow. “We have gone from doing everything in a single product such as polypropylene to using various materials. It requires an effort from the consumer to learn where to recycle each material and the willingness to do so. On the part of the authorities, there is still a long way to go to establish efficient recycling systems; if this does not progress, the consumer will end up fed up, will throw everything in the general rubbish bin and we will have regressed in the circular economy”, declares Borrás.
The tupperware can continue to be used
You have put a curry in your favorite Tupperware, the one that closes really well and is good for the microwave, but now it has a rather unpleasant yellow tone. To the touch it seems to us that the plastic is completely smooth, but if you look at it under a microscope you see that it is not. Borras explains that “when you introduce a fatty food with dyes (turmeric, tomato…), they slip through those micro-slits and don’t come out. Much more if the food is hot or you put it in the microwave. It is not dangerous, because the plastic material is inert and microorganisms will not proliferate. But it looks bad, yes.”
Now let’s say you want to preserve your favorite Tupperware and you store what’s left of the bolognese in a bowl in the fridge. So far, everything correct. But it turns out that you want to heat it up and so that it doesn’t stain the inside of the microwave, you cover it with a plastic film. No matter the brand, they are not worth it. If you still have doubts, take a look at the recommendations of the manufacturer of the roll you have at home and you will see a warning of the type ‘not suitable for microwaves’. And now that? We return to the point before, with the heat, there could be migration of unwanted substances from the plastic to your food. Let’s say that you are only going to heat: an easy option is the large plastic protective caps of a lifetime, or the adjustable silicone ones. In the event that you are going to cook – yes, some of us cook chup, chup, with that appliance -, the safest thing is to use silicone or glass containers with a lid.
around the dishwasher
The same rules that apply to the microwave can be used for the dishwasher. Very high temperatures are reached inside this device. Some types of plastic do not tolerate them well and deform. It is bad? Man, stay with a Tupperware way picassian It’s not the most practical thing in the world. In addition, there is the possibility of migration of microplastics into the washing water. “PET, for example, is great for fresh produce, but it does not tolerate heat well. Polypropylene, on the other hand, due to its own structure, tolerates the dishwasher better”, says Borrás. However, to confirm it there are conventional symbols. It can be several drops of water or a couple of plates under a torrent of water.
The same goes for reusable plastic plates and cups. Yes, the camping ones that are also worth it to celebrate a children’s birthday and not run out of crockery. The rule UNE 53928:2020 specifies that for a piece of crockery to be considered reusable based on said standard, it must withstand at least five dishwasher cycles. From there, the sky is the limit; come on, it will be each manufacturer that specifies how many cycles each pileup supports without altering its characteristics.
Since you don’t want to dispose of plastic containers after each use, nor can the planet afford it, the Technological Institute of Plastics (AIMPLAS) has developed the seal Designed to Be Reusable, which endorses those kitchenware pots that can have several uses, go through five washing cycles in the dishwasher and stay so fancy. To achieve the seal, the container must demonstrate that it does not release substances accredited as toxic, or other non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), such as impurities or products resulting from reactions when subjected to heat, which could modify organoleptically. the food. It’s not going to be that, by putting a Tupperware in the dishwasher, mom’s lentils don’t taste just as delicious.
#containers #lids #put #microwave