New plates/dinner set - and microwave use

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gzt

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#318118 17-Dec-2024 11:58

I have a combination of retro dinnersets for style reasons, and cheaper sets for microwave use.

The retro ones end up in the microwave and dishwasher sooner or later and get slowly destroyed. I have to give those up. The weird thing with the microwave proof set - the plates and bowls sometimes get hotter than the thing I'm trying to heat. I'm guessing it was relatively cheap to produce and the materials and firing are not exactly suited to the purpose. I'm keen to avoid this kind of set second time around.

Googling around just now I'm most comfortable going with brand name clear or clear coloured tempered glass. A second choice might be white glass. I'm not finding a lot in those categories in NZ. Any suggestions?

richms

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#3321579 17-Dec-2024 12:11

Usually the plates getting hot is because its chipped or cracked and there is water in the plate that adsorbs microwaves and gets hot.

I bin them when that happens, but I understand that some people are a bit obsessive about their plates all matching for some reason so don't like to do that as they end up with odd numbers of things.

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neb

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#3321648 17-Dec-2024 14:31

Tempered glass or pyrex? There's a notable difference the first time you put something cold up against it, or put it down on a cold surface, when it's hot.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3321652 17-Dec-2024 15:22

We still have smoked-glass Arcoroc tableware that's probably around 40 years old.

My understanding is that some of the glazes on ceramics are not microwave-compatible. Anything with metallic trims or finishes is very suspicious, but the glaze itself can be too. If the plate is heating up in areas where there isn't food on it, it's definitely not appropriate.

johno1234

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#3321658 17-Dec-2024 16:21

We've got some glazed plates and crockery that get too hot to touch -- assume the pigment has something in it that absorbs the microwave energy.

fe31nz

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#3321763 18-Dec-2024 01:10

We bought some $1 pudding plates from The Warehouse and we often use them to microwave defrost puddings. They are gradually starting to heat up as they get older, with some worse than others. I think they are probably about 8 years old now and they only get a bit warm, nothing too bad yet. There is no visible damage, but I have always assumed that it is just something that happens with older crockery - they get a little damage or wear that causes them to start absorbing microwave energy. When they get too bad, you just have to retire them from microwave use, as they get hotter than the food you are trying to heat (and the food misses out on that heat).

Glass does not do this - we have a large old coloured glass plate that we use for defrosting family size pies on and it is from 1975-1980 and is still fine. It goes from the microwave into the oven as well, and then into the dishwasher, and just keeps on going.

neb

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#3321764 18-Dec-2024 01:41

johno1234:

We've got some glazed plates and crockery that get too hot to touch -- assume the pigment has something in it that absorbs the microwave energy.

Microwaves work by dielectric heating, meaning they transfer energy to polar molecules, of which water is one example. Glazes and colourants, which are often composed of metal oxides, are also great at turning microwave energy into heat. Since water has one of the highest specific heat capacities around (which makes it a great energy storage device), an amount of energy that will barely warm water will make the wrong type of crockery -ing hot.

What you need is specifically microwave-safe dishes, which doesn't mean "safe to heat it up" but "doesn't contain metal oxides or similar as a colourant or glaze", so microwaves will pass through them without any interaction. As a previous poster observed, glass, which doesn't contain a microwave-energy-absorbing glaze, is an example of this.

gzt

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#3321793 18-Dec-2024 09:09

SomeoneSomewhere: We still have smoked-glass Arcoroc tableware that's probably around 40 years old.

Judging by search results vintage Arcoroc is a big thing.

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gzt

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#3321799 18-Dec-2024 09:36

Briscoes had reasonable stocks of white Luminarc and Bormioli Rocco when I visited. Some items on special. There were one or two individual items with obvious manufacturing faults. I did not like it in white, overall.

I have a preference for clear glass this time around. Local sellers have none of the dinnerware tableware items for the well known glass brands.

Googling around I've settled my eye on Duralex for the moment. Shipping to NZ looks like it will be available only at insane prices from random sellers. This might have to wait. Experience tells me I'm ahead of the fashion curve so local sellers should stock up ; )

gzt

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#3321958 18-Dec-2024 11:54

Duralex claims up to 130°C in temperature gradient difference for dinnerware. I can live with that.

Luminarc I see no clear glass dinnerware in the current range. Luminarc gives a max 130°C.

neb: Tempered glass or pyrex? There's a notable difference the first time you put something cold up against it, or put it down on a cold surface, when it's hot.

Corelle is Corning's consumer dinnerware brand. I see no clear glass in the current range. It is reasonably priced and a lot of specials around right now. I'm tempted as a fill in. It claims a max 175°C. Gradient is not provided.

fearandloathing

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#3321963 18-Dec-2024 12:34

You don’t need to serve the meals you heated in the dish in the microwave, anymore than you need to serve the meals you heated the dish in the oven.

richms

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#3321966 18-Dec-2024 12:41

fearandloathing: You don’t need to serve the meals you heated in the dish in the microwave, anymore than you need to serve the meals you heated the dish in the oven.

Aint got time to be moving food between dishes just to heat them up.

Richard rich.ms

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#3322001 18-Dec-2024 16:14

richms:

fearandloathing: You don’t need to serve the meals you heated in the dish in the microwave, anymore than you need to serve the meals you heated the dish in the oven.

Aint got time to be moving food between dishes just to heat them up.

also beats the point of using the microwave oven for a quick heat up.