That sounds bad

[ChadTower]

So, our microwave died, control/lights/panel works but it doesn't heat anything.  I go over to one of the best places on the net, repairfaq.org, to look up microwave repair.  This is the disclaimer:

Careless troubleshooting of a microwave oven can result in death or worse. Experienced technicians have met their maker as a result of a momentary lapse of judgement while testing an oven with the cover removed. Microwave ovens are without a doubt, the most deadly type of consumer electronic equipment in wide spread use.

Or worse?

[Buddabing]

I think they're saying that the microwaves can cook your brain, leaving you a vegetable.

[ChadTower]

But certainly a moist one, since microwaves don't toast.

[Ed_McCarron]

And, if you are indeed a vegetable, of course you are going to be moist.  At least, until the next diaper change.

[ChadTower]

I don't want to be a Kennedy.

[Ed_McCarron]

At least you wouldn't be a Dead Kennedy.

[ChadTower]

I just shook hands with Patrick Kennedy a half hour ago.  He looked moist.

[shardian]

Yeah, microwaves are one thing you NEVER want to try diy fixes on. Just toss the thing for sure.

[ChadTower]

I figured as much but my idiocy won't let me.  The thing is about a year old and barely has a scratch on it.  It will probably sit in the storage shed until I finally recycle it a year from now.

[USSEnterprise]

Most microwaves have a few years long warranty on the magnetron, if I remember correctly. Could just be a fuse. Might want to look into that. Just discharge the cap and dont run it while the cover is off, or even have it plugged in while you are working on it.

[markt]

I repair commercial cooking equipment for a living.
Microwaves ARE NOT something you want to try to repair on your own.
The magnetron takes the incoming line voltage and steps it up to very high voltage.
If you don't know what you are doing these can put a very serious hurting on you, if not kill you.

[boykster]

I repair commercial cooking equipment for a living.
Microwaves ARE NOT something you want to try to repair on your own.
The magnetron takes the incoming line voltage and steps it up to very high voltage.
If you don't know what you are doing these can put a very serious hurting on you, if not kill you.

So you're saying he should give it a go then, right?

 

j/k Chad....I'd take it to an appliance recycling place and just pickup a new one.....

[shmokes]

Chad, I'd take it to an appliance recycling place and fail to pickup a new one.  Microwaved food tastes like ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  Get a toaster oven.  You can heat and cook in that, and boiling water on the stove is practically just as fast as in the Microwave.  The food cooked/heated in the toaster oven will taste way better.  And you'll stop getting cancer from your microwave oven.  Don't think your Microwave is killing you?  Put a hot dog from the fridge on the countertop just outside the Microwave door.  It will cook.

[ChadTower]

We have a toaster oven and do use it for reheating most things, actually.  What I like to use the microwave for is individual cups of water and stuff like Chef Boyardee.  My kids eat Chef Boyardee for half their diet.  We can put pieces of a well grilled steak and a baked potato in front of them and they won't touch it.  Put down a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and it's gone in 90 seconds. 

I also replaced the microwave with a small one from Freecycle a while back.  I still can't bring myself to recycle this one even though I know I should and probably won't touch it.  It's irrational.  Or maybe it's just lazy and I don't feel like paying the $7.50 fee.

[shmokes]

Still, that Chef Boyardee will heat up in a saucepan almost just as fast as the microwave.  You'll gain a ton of counter space, get rid of a huge health hazard (who wants to deal with testicular cancer, anyway?), and you won't be nearly as inconvenienced by its loss as it probably seems.  And as an added bonus, all of your food will taste better when heated/cooked in ways other than nuking them.

The only real benefit I see with the microwave is that I would trust my small children to heat their food in it before I would trust them to use the stove (though it's probably a little bit cruel to let them use something that is cooking them and giving them cancer while they use it . . . ).  And even then, it's worth noting that letting your kids use the microwave isn't necessarily safe just because it only involves pushing buttons.  Ever made Kraft Easy Mac in the microwave?  When it's time to take the bowl out it has heated up to approximately 365 million degrees farenheit.  And it's filled with cheesy, boiling hot water -- something I don't really't want my kid spilling on herself.  Or maybe it's not cheesy yet.  It's been a long time.

. . . and so on.

[ChadTower]

Still, that Chef Boyardee will heat up in a saucepan almost just as fast as the microwave.  You'll gain a ton of counter space, get rid of a huge health hazard (who wants to deal with testicular cancer, anyway?), and you won't be nearly as inconvenienced by its loss as it probably seems.  And as an added bonus, all of your food will taste better when heated/cooked in ways other than nuking them.

The microwave takes up about two square feet of counterspace under a counter with just enough clearance for it.  That's not much.  The microwave uses one dish, the bowl, and the saucepan uses a saucepan, takes longer, I have to attend it while trying to handle the kids at dinnertime, and the ravioli tastes exactly the same either way.  Not that they'd care anyway.

I've never seen a credible study that showed that microwaves are dangerous.  I haven't looked, but I have seen a few that showed they are not dangerous, so I guess the mileage varies. 

My kids are not allowed to use the microwave.

[Daniel270]

Our microwave sees heavy use as a popcorn popper, plus the general use of heating Hot Pockets, reheating coffee and very occasionally reheating certain leftovers.   Find me a pan that'll do the same thing for my crappy electric stove in my apartment and I'll happily switch 

[shardian]

Our microwave sees heavy use as a popcorn popper,

Air popper+popcorn+butter cooking spray+ gallon jug of popcorn salt from Sam's = 
 

[boykster]

Ugh, air poppers and microwave popping is for sucks....

get yourself one of these:



http://www.comforthouse.com/corpophotoil.html

and thank me later.

[ChadTower]

corpophotoil

I need TP for my airpopper.

[shardian]

Ugh, air poppers and microwave popping is for sucks....

Yeah, but mine is fat free (with a butt-load of sodium though). I don't really care for real butter flavoring the spray adds a hint of butter, but is mainly there to help the salt stick. The salt is what does it for me. It ain't popcorn unless my mouth and lips are burning and raw when I'm done.

[boykster]

stir crazy doesn't need oil either, but just a single Tbs works great.  Oh, and heres a tip:  add the salt BEFORE you pop, it sticks better.  But you have to use a direct heat method for that to work. And you need very fine salt (crush it in a food processor or grinder)

[shardian]

And you need very fine salt (crush it in a food processor or grinder)

I get the industrial popcorn salt from Sam's. It is the same powdery yellow salt you get in a movie theater...ok now I have to go home and pop some popcorn.

[shmokes]

I've never seen a credible study that showed that microwaves are dangerous. 

Try the hot dog thing.  If it's cooking a hot dog that is sitting outside of the microwave, those rays are ---smurfing--- with your own fluids too.

[shmokes]

I should admit that I own a microwave and actually use it frequently, but almost exclusively to heat water which I then heat bottles of breastmilk in.  I would give up the microwave in a heartbeat, but my wife won't let me.  The true reason behind it is that I'm a food snob and only ---smurfy--- food comes out of microwaves.  And even good food, such as stuff you're reheating, invariably tastes much better when reheated on the stove or in an oven/toaster oven.

I use the health risk thing to give me a way to argue with people who aren't snobbish about food, but it really doesn't concern me.  I use about 1500 minutes a month on my cell phone, and when it's not in use, it's in my pocket, right next to my guys, for christ's sake.  Not that I don't think Microwaves are harmful, but they aren't so harmful that they are truly a priority for me.  The reality is simply that I think they are vastly superior ways to cook food and I don't think microwaves deserve a large, permanent spot on the counter when they are so easily replaced by other kitchen appliances, most of which are already in your kitchen.

So, carry on.  I'm just being a fanatic.

[ChadTower]

It's worth looking up anyway.

A Federal standard limits the amount of microwaves that can leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 5 milliwatts (mW) of microwave radiation per square centimeter at approximately 2 inches from the oven surface. This limit is far below the level known to harm people. Microwave energy also decreases dramatically as you move away from the source of radiation. A measurement made 20 inches from an oven would be approximately one one-hundredth of value measured at 2 inches.

[shardian]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Safety_and_controversy

It is possible for microwaves to arc out an inch or two from the door. So technically a hot dog could cook if right up against the door. You can also theoretically get cataracts if you stick your face against the glass to watch stuff cook.

[hypernova]

You can also theoretically get cataracts if you stick your face against the glass to watch stuff cook.

Whoops.



Joking, of course.

And even good food, such as stuff you're reheating, invariably tastes much better when reheated on the stove or in an oven/toaster oven.

You should taste some of these meals that they have now.  Boston Markets, Stouffer's.  Many of those meals are quite good in the quality department, even from the 'wave.

I do love things better from the toaster oven though.  I use it when I can.  Hot Pockets, chicken strips/nuggets, and pizza go in the toaster oven.  NO EXCEPTIONS!!!  Crisper, and tastier.

Don't you hate it when someone unplugs the toaster oven, and you don't realize it, then put something in, rotate the timer dial, and leave, only to come back when it dings, and find yourself with nothing to do but ---smurfette--- at a cold meal, being forced to wait again?!?!

[whammoed]

I don't think microwaves deserve a large, permanent spot on the counter

Am I the only one with the range hood/microwave combo that is above the oven so it doesn't take up any counter space?

[hypernova]

Nope.  Got one right here.

[leapinlew]

I think they're saying that the microwaves can cook your brain, leaving you a vegetable.

That would be some bad luck. Trying to fix a broken microwave and it works long enough to kill you...

[shardian]

I don't think microwaves deserve a large, permanent spot on the counter

Am I the only one with the range hood/microwave combo that is above the oven so it doesn't take up any counter space?

I have one...sitting in my garage.

[ChadTower]

I almost put one in last year but we have cabinets built in there that I'd have to  remove.  The range hood/fan/light is a 1960s model that is really slim so it would be hard to replace without modifying the area.

[JackTucky]

I disagree with people here.  you should invite maximrecoil over to help you fix this immediately.  Hopefully it will be raining and he tries to fix it outside.

Except it's not really broken.  It just needs repairs.

=J

[ChadTower]

I'm probably going to reap the CP to play with and then recycle it in a week or two.

[Ed_McCarron]

It's worth looking up anyway.

A Federal standard limits the amount of microwaves that can leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 5 milliwatts (mW) of microwave radiation per square centimeter at approximately 2 inches from the oven surface. This limit is far below the level known to harm people. Microwave energy also decreases dramatically as you move away from the source of radiation. A measurement made 20 inches from an oven would be approximately one one-hundredth of value measured at 2 inches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Safety_and_controversy

It is possible for microwaves to arc out an inch or two from the door. So technically a hot dog could cook if right up against the door. You can also theoretically get cataracts if you stick your face against the glass to watch stuff cook.

Lessee... Do I trust the snippet from the FDA, or the snippet from Wikipedia...

[Buddabing]

The upside of cooking your own brain in the microwave is that you can have a tasty Ray Liotta-style appetizer!

[ChadTower]

Lessee... Do I trust the snippet from the FDA, or the snippet from Wikipedia...

I'm gonna go with trust them both since they say mostly the same thing on this point.  Microwaves come out an inch or two but no further, they are greatly weakened at that point and dissipate almost completely after that range.

[shmokes]

Unless I'm mistaken, cellphones use microwave radios to communicate, and the level of microwave radiation coming from a cellphone is significantly stronger than what you would get by measuring the levels outside a microwave oven, so it's probably neither here nor there unless you've already given up the cellphone, which, I might add, you actually hold against your head for long periods of time.

Or maybe I'm just wrong about that.

Still, do your taste buds a favor and ditch the microwave.

[Harry Potter]

Cell phones work on RF, not microwave.

[leapinlew]

Unless I'm mistaken, cellphones use microwave radios to communicate, and the level of microwave radiation coming from a cellphone is significantly stronger than what you would get by measuring the levels outside a microwave oven, so it's probably neither here nor there unless you've already given up the cellphone, which, I might add, you actually hold against your head for long periods of time.

Or maybe I'm just wrong about that.

Still, do your taste buds a favor and ditch the microwave.

what?

I'd gladly give a few years off my life to save the decade it would take to warm up food.

[boykster]

I'd rather wait a bit and enjoy my food because it tastes good.  I have to admit with Shmokes on this one, I'm not a big fan of food heated in a microwave.  I use ours to thaw frozen foods (veggie burgers for the wife) and heat water for tea.  Other than that, I'd much rather use a pot on a stove to heat soup, and the oven for other stuff.  I do miss having a toaster oven, great for quick reheats...

[ChadTower]

Or maybe I'm just wrong about that.

I don't carry a cell phone.     I think I might be one of the only people in the US left under age 70 and over 10 who can say that.

[shmokes]

I use ours to . . . heat water for tea. 

I'm convinced that tea tastes better when heated on the stove or, if you have one of those water coolers that hold the 5 gal. jugs that also has a hot tap (which is actually much faster and more convenient than even a microwave).

I don't know if the microwave does nutty things to the minerals in the water, or if it's just that it's so easy to superheat water in a microwave (not boiling, but well past boiling temperatures) and it scalds the tea.  At any rate, I used to use the microwave for tea, but now I always use a teapot or the hot water tap on my water cooler and it tastes better, psychologically at the least.

AS for the toaster oven, I can't live without it.  We had one break and it was replaced within two days.  Our toaster oven gets used on average at least once or twice per day, I'd guess.

[shmokes]

what?

I'd gladly give a few years off my life to save the decade it would take to warm up food.

This is nonsense.  You're so used to using the microwave for these types of things that you have exaggerated in your head how long it takes on a stove-top or in an oven.  Throw a can of Campbell's soup on the stove and heat it.  Time this.  It takes a few minutes tops.  Now do the same thing in the microwave.  It also takes a few minutes.  The microwave will win, but seriously not by very much.

[Dervacumen]

Both RF and Microwave.  Check this out: Microwave Cell Phone[\url].

[ChadTower]

I don't know if the microwave does nutty things to the minerals in the water, or if it's just that it's so easy to superheat water in a microwave (not boiling, but well past boiling temperatures) and it scalds the tea. 

This is nonsense.  You're so convinced the microwave is bad you have exaggerated in your head the effect it can have on the heated item.


EDIT:

To try this out, I taped a 1.5" square and .25" thick piece of cheese to the microwave door.  I put a mug of water in the microwave and ran it for 60 seconds on high.  The cheese was straight out of the fridge.  After 60 seconds it was still cool but warmed more than it would have been in 60 seconds on the counter.  Not much more, but it was probably warmed by the microwave a tiny bit.  My microwave is small and not very powerful, an older economy model.

[boykster]

didn't your microwave die?  How did you test this out?

 

[ChadTower]

The dead one is in the shed, I got a small old one off Freecycle a couple weeks ago. 

[shmokes]

Wanna have fun with a Microwave?  Put a lightbulb in a mug of water so that the metal part is submerged, but the rest is sticking out the top.  Put it in the microwave (why the ---fudgesicle--- do I automatically want to capitalize the first letter of microwave all the time?) for ten seconds.  It will turn on.  I ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- you not.  The microwave oven will be fine; don't worry.  But the lightbulb will turn on when you run the microwave.  It's awesome.

[shmokes]

To try this out, I taped a 1.5" square and .25" thick piece of cheese to the microwave door.  I put a mug of water in the microwave and ran it for 60 seconds on high.  The cheese was straight out of the fridge.  After 60 seconds it was still cool but warmed more than it would have been in 60 seconds on the counter.  Not much more, but it was probably warmed by the microwave a tiny bit.  My microwave is small and not very powerful, an older economy model.

It sounds like you're testing the hot dog thing and not the superheated water thing. 

As far as the tea tasting better, I fully acknowledge that that could be in my head.  But the superheated water thing is definitely not.  People actually get injured by this fairly frequently.  A microwave oven often heats water well past boiling temperatures without actually boiling it.  Then, when the water is disturbed, such as after it's been taken out of the microwave and is being held right under someone's face, it will basically explode because it is so hot that when it is disrupted enough to start boiling it ---smurfing--- goes to town.

[danny_galaga]

Cell phones work on RF, not microwave.

its all electromagnetic energy. from wikipedia:

Mobile phones and the network they operate under vary significantly from provider to provider, and nation to nation. However, all of them communicate through electromagnetic microwaves with a cell site base station, the antennas of which are usually mounted on a tower, pole, or building.

just different lengths in the spectrum. infrared is at the low end for instance, you have light, ultravoilet, radio etc...

[ChadTower]

It sounds like you're testing the hot dog thing and not the superheated water thing. 

I didn't say anything about testing superheated water.

[shmokes]

Well, you quoted my bit about superheated water and then started describing your experiment with the words, "To try this out . . .," so it seemed like that's what you were referring to.

[billf]

We were just in Boston for the Boston Marathon - my wife ran it.  Before leaving town the next day we stopped in a Dunkin' Donuts.  I had a cup of the hottest coffee on the planet.  No microwave used - it came right out of the pot on their hot plates used to keep the coffee hot.  I put a lid on it and it stayed hot for a very looong time.  I think this coffee was just a degree from the boiling point.  So you can get water/coffee superheated without using a microwave.

[ChadTower]

Well, you quoted my bit about superheated water and then started describing your experiment with the words, "To try this out . . .," so it seemed like that's what you were referring to.

Ah, yes, good point.  That was an edit that got thrown in at the end of the thread.

Dunkin Donuts is known for giving superhot coffee.  There is a Dunkin Donuts about every thousand yards here. 

[billf]

There is a Dunkin Donuts about every thousand yards here. 

Yeah, I did notice that

[ChadTower]

And they're constantly building new ones.  I live in a town of 8000.  There are four Dunkin Donuts.  There is also a Honeydew Donuts. 

[billf]

And they're constantly building new ones. 

Not sure if this is the case in the east, but in the midwest it seems Walgreens are constantly popping up.

[ChadTower]

Boo Walgreens.  Go CVS.

[Chris G]

I've been wondering where all the donut shops went to - now I know.  Seems like Safeway is the only place to get a donut around here these days...

[Harry Potter]

Cell phones work on RF, not microwave.

its all electromagnetic energy. from wikipedia:

Mobile phones and the network they operate under vary significantly from provider to provider, and nation to nation. However, all of them communicate through electromagnetic microwaves with a cell site base station, the antennas of which are usually mounted on a tower, pole, or building.

just different lengths in the spectrum. infrared is at the low end for instance, you have light, ultravoilet, radio etc...

OH shut up Mr know-it-all.

 

[DrewKaree]

As far as the tea tasting better, I fully acknowledge that that could be in my head.  But the superheated water thing is definitely not.  People actually get injured by this fairly frequently.  A microwave oven often heats water well past boiling temperatures without actually boiling it.  Then, when the water is disturbed, such as after it's been taken out of the microwave and is being held right under someone's face, it will basically explode because it is so hot that when it is disrupted enough to start boiling it ---smurfing--- goes to town.

http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave.asp

Define "fairly frequently". 

Picking the cup up is stated to be enough to cause this rare phenomenon in testing, so the odds that someone is steady-handed enough to pull it out of the mic and bring it to a place under their face is sketchy at best, and unless it's happened to you, the "explosion" could simply be enough to raise the water up and out of the container it's in and not the "cover the walls" type of explosion implied.

Save your face from asploding water and throw a stir stick in whenever you heat water in the mic.  Problem solved  

[ChadTower]

I've had superheated liquids from a microwave pop on my wrist a few times.  As it's boiling, it generates bubbles, yes?  Well, when you pull it out without giving it a chance to stabilize (now that the heating energy is removed), it shifts the liquid, causing any major air bubbles in the liquid to suddenly jump to the surface.

I haven't had it happen with just water but I've had things with sauce pop a sudden splash on my wrist.  Hurts like a ---smurfette---.  It's not hard to prevent with only a little care but it's one of those things that you have to actually see happen before you know it might.

[Grasshopper]

It's a genuine phenomenon and it's happened to me several times. For example, if you add sugar to coffee (and presumably any other beverage) that's been superheated in a microwave, the coffee will suddenly boil over in an explosive way. It's actually quite dangerous.

[grantspain]

just a bit a stupid info(probably everyone knows anyway) if you get some 12volt wedge bulbs sit them on some paper and put them in a microwave you get a pretty light show

[shmokes]

Drew, your rolling eyes guy suggests that you actually take offense to my talk about superheating water, which I find comical. 

While the Snopes page does classify superheated water in a microwave as "true, but rare"  and goes on to say that you will probably go your whole life without seeing it, it backs up this assertion with a bunch of quotes from the FDA and scientists that say nothing about it being rare and, in fact, are cautioning people about the existence of the phenomenon and precautions that should be taken to avoid injury.  And while Snopes calls it "true, but rare", hoax-slayer, urbanlegends.about.com and howstuffworks just call it "true".

Superheated water is not rare at all.  I see it on nearly a daily basis.  I heat water up in the microwave which I then drop a bag of frozen breast milk in.  As it happens, I always use a Pyrex measuring cup.  I didn't know until I read the Snopes site that glass was the most likely surface to cause the phenomenon, but there it is.  Anyway, I heat I'd say about 1 1/2 cups of water for three minutes.  About 5% of the time it is boiling when the three minutes is up.  Usually it is not.  It has NEVER started boiling when I picked it up and removed it from the microwave.  The moment I drop the block of breast milk in, though, it starts boiling very rapidly, though only for a few seconds, which is understandable considering the block of ice I just dropped in it reduces the temperature of the water in short order.

Got any Pyrex in the house (if not, you should; best measuring cups on the planet).  If so, I guarantee that you can reproduce the phenomenon yourself with very little trouble.  Like I say, I see this almost every single day.

In short, 

[ChadTower]

Should you be dropping the milk into water THAT hot?  I'd be concerned about scorching the milk.  It clearly wasn't designed to come into a 100c degree environment.

[Buddabing]

I think the superheating water has to do with not having any sites on the glass that bubbles form on.

Shmokes should try a different vessel to heat his water in.

Also, I'm curious whether his microwave is one that has a rotating tray inside.

[shmokes]

It does have a rotating tray.  I don't think I'm scorching the milk, probably because it is so cold.  At any rate, if I am, Maddy must like scorched milk.  I think that I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, though, cos I've got it down to a science as far as heating the water exactly hot enough that it worms a 4 oz. block of milk up to the proper temperature, even if I forget about it for a couple extra minutes.  Sucks to take frozen milk and heat it up too hot, so you just have to put it back in the freezer for a few minutes, all the while the baby is crying for food.  Likewise, it sucks to drop the water in and walk away to keep the baby happy only to come back a few minutes later to find that the water is room temperature and the milk still has a little ice cube in it.  In this case, the microwave's ability to superheat water is actually pretty handy.

[shmokes]

It clearly wasn't designed to come into a 100c degree environment.

I bet god is reading this thread right now, thinking to herself, "WTF?  I specifically put brief contact with a 100c degree environment into the breastmilk spec.  Someone's getting fired over this."

[ChadTower]

I bet it's harsh when God fires someone.

[billf]

I bet it's harsh when God fires someone.

Yeah, probably more harsh than what microwaves do to water!

[shmokes]

Superheated blood.

[shardian]

Since we are on the superheated subject, just wanted to throw out there that decaf coffee is made by superheating coffee. I'm not sure what else they do, but the superheating allows it. At superheated temps, fluids tend to do weird things.

[RayB]

[shmokes]

Great video.  Just so y'all don't think I'm mad, I am not heating my water that hot to warm up breastmilk.  It just starts boiling a bit.  Rapidly, but nothing explosive.   

[ChadTower]

There isn't much more to heat than boiling, bro.  A couple degrees more and it's not water anymore.   

[shmokes]

Actually, yes there is.  That's what superheating does.  Under normal conditions the water will turn to steam at the boiling point, but without imperfections or particles to encourage the first bubble the water will continue to increase in temperature without boiling.  I imagine, but don't really know too much about it, that to get really really hot you have to have controlled conditions.  I don't know how hot a microwave can get tap water in a glass container (I'd think distilled water could get MUCH hotter).  But I do know that my water never boils like the stuff in the video when I drop in the breast milk.

[ChadTower]

Water has to be under some sort of pressure in order to stay liquid at a temp much higher than 100c.  Pressure keeps the molecules packed even though they are trying to space out and convert to gas.  I am not all that convinced the water is superheated nearly as much as it is simply not expelling the potential energy in the bottom of the container.  Given more time, it would do that without trouble, so maybe it's just that the water in a microwave gets raised to 100c so fast that it doesn't have a chance to expel the gas being formed in millions of molecular sized spots.  Then, when you shake the container, or add something to it, poof the gas molecules start to meet and shoot upwards as heat does.

It has to conform to basic physics, which is to say in order to heat a liquid above its boiling temperature you have to apply pressure in order to keep it from becoming gas.

[Buddabing]

Not really. Water can be heated above boiling but it becomes unstable.

Link

[ChadTower]

In the Why is it possible to heat water above its boiling temperature? the explanation is very, very similar to what I described.  It does say that the water can sit above 100c until that energy is released, but it doesn't say how far.  When it starts to give numbers they don't go above 101c and instead describe the amount of energy needed to accomplish that.  While 101c is technically superheated, it's still going to burn you less than steam at 100c because of the lower density of the liquid vs how much more surface coverage you get from steam.

[boykster]

Yep, 101c is about the threshold for superheating.  The damage/danger is less about it being "so hot" but more about the abruptness of the conversion from liquid to gas and the violence of the conversion.  Unlike a slow boil which builds gradually, its an instant one, converting a large portion of the water to steam in a very short period of time.

I don't know which would "burn more" -> the liquid water is much denser than the steam so would carry a much larger amount of heat energy per unit volume, but the steam could definately contact more surface area more quickly, but last a lot less time as it is more volatile and would be dispersing.

 

[ChadTower]

Is it converting all at once or are all of the disparate converted molecules suddenly finding each other and gaining enough volume to burst upwards all at once?

[Ed_McCarron]

Its all ready to boil.  Give it a start and a big chunk of it flashes to steam.  The wavefront moves through the water PDQ.  Its not instantaneous, but might as well be.  If the phase change didn't suck so much heat energy out of the water, it'd probably all convert.

[shmokes]

I'm no scientist, and my experiments are decidedly informal.  But I'm telling you, I heat up this water on a regular basis and it doesn't boil until I disturb it, but I never see it explode the way it does in that video, and the way it is described by people who have been injured by it.  I assume this is because I'm not getting it as hot.  Maybe it's because the thing I'm disturbing it with is a large block of ice, which causes such an abrupt temperature change that much less of the water suddenly boils.  In any case, there seems to be different levels of violence associated with the sudden boiling of superheated water, which led me to believe that some water was significantly higher than 100c degrees.

[Ed_McCarron]

I've actually had it happen.  Take a smooth, glazed mug.  Fill with water, then let sit in the microwave for 15 minutes because you forgot you were making tea.

Come back, turn on microwave for 3 or 4 minutes.

As soon as its done, drop in a teabag.  The burn has since healed, but I'd say at least half of the mug flashed to steam, and damn near the rest of the water splashed out at the same time.

Had a nasty burn on about half of my hand.  Hurt like a SOB for a week.

[ChadTower]

Moral:  don't teabag things without warning.