Name a common household appliance you own but never use.
If you’re me, that would be the vacuum. If you’re a Durango chef, environmentalist or nutritionist, it would be something far more valuable to everyday life – the microwave oven.
It’s more than half a century later (believe it or not, the microwave was developed in the ’40s by a Raytheon engineer), and the controversy surrounding what has become the modern kitchen’s workhorse has yet to subside.
We’re all familiar with the long-held concerns that microwave technology can potentially cause cancer and add to the global poisons in our world by emitting low-level radiation similar to that from cellphones, computers and power lines. Then, local residents add their particular worries to the mix, ranging from microwaves affecting heart rhythms and damaging blood cells to depleting nutrients and altering the taste and texture of food.
In Durango, foodies of all types unequivocally repudiated the device most home cooks (including this one) can’t live without.
“Never, no way, not on my deathbed,” said Linda Illsley, owner of Linda’s Local Food Café and the purveyor of some of the purest food in town, of using that staple of 21st century kitchens. “It absolutely ruins food.”
Naturopath Kristen Lum was no less passionate.
“If you’re buying organic produce and you’re zapping it in the microwave, you may as well not bother. You lose 97 percent of its nutrition. It’s a waste,” Lum said.
And one more, our town’s environmental conscience, Gary Lewin, producer of Good Dirt Radio, a show dedicated to finding solutions to a cleaner, better world.
“We are what we eat. If we irradiate our food, we’re killing its life force and rendering it nutrition-free. We’re creating an unhealthy future for ourselves,” Lewin said.
Whew – all that from warming the soup in less than two minutes. It’s enough to scare even the most intrepid of cooks.
If you’re looking for a port in the storm, our local extension agent, Wendy Rice, saves the day. She says as long as you use a microwave properly – i.e., make sure it’s well sealed, don’t stand in front of it and give food time to rest after heating – it’s perfectly safe both for you and for your food.
Hallelujah, a voice of moderation coming through the din of derision.
Yet, odd as it might seem, everyone I spoke to owns one. Consumer research estimates that more than 90 percent of Americans do. Jason Blankenship, chef and owner of Olio in Mancos, uses the one in his restaurant to boil water for tea when no burner is available. Naturopath Jennifer Lettelier owns one but hasn’t turned it on in years. Health coach and co-owner of Earth Girl Goodies Emyrald Sinclaire uses hers to store bread.
Maybe these uber-foodies have a point. If you’re like me and buy local and organically farmed produce and pay the price for it, it gives one pause to think those beautiful James Ranch asparagus you’ll get this spring could be made nutritionally worthless by a microwave’s non-ionizing radiation.
A microwave oven uses radio waves to agitate water molecules in food, vibrating them at an atomic level to create heat. Because all the particles vibrate simultaneously, a microwave cooks food more quickly than a conventional oven or stove, where heat travels slowly from the outside surface inward. The waves form inside a magnetron, pulling electrons off a heated wire and rotating them inside a vacuum. As they swirl, the electrons generate radio waves that are sent into the oven to cook.
Really? I’m using a magnetron to steam vegetables? This is getting more frightening by the moment.
Not to pile on, but all the local nutritionists I spoke to discourage their clients from using the machine. They cite studies showing foods and liquids heated in a microwave can reduce the good cholesterol HDL, cut down on red blood cells and disturb the natural rhythm of the heart (thus, the prohibition against using it near a pacemaker).
They refer to research that reveals that food heated in a microwave is ineffably altered by the movement of the molecules within, depleting it of almost all its natural nutrition, making it impossible for the body to absorb what’s left and passing on harmful elements of the plastic used to heat it in.
Of course, just as many studies show that microwave ovens are perfectly safe. Most public health experts and government agencies will attest to it.
But perhaps the most persuasive argument against using a microwave is the concept that it’s anti-cooking.
“It takes you away from it,” said Illsley, who lavishes attention on her homemade muffins and handmade tortillas. “There is no satisfaction in pushing a button and waiting for a bing. That’s not cooking.”
And from a professional chef’s point of view, there’s just no fun in cooking without fire. They can’t conceive of a microwave doing what they do – searing a scallop, grilling a steak, caramelizing an onion – with any success. A steak cooked to well-done on a grill would be palatable, but one cooked in a microwave? Disaster.
“In fine dining, I don’t think there’s a place for it,” said Ryan Lowe, chef and owner of Ore House.
Cooking is more than just nourishment, it’s a gesture of love and caring. It brings loved ones together for life’s full spectrum – joyous moments and sad, meaningful times, as well as mundane. For many of us, the kitchen is where life is truly lived. If sharing a meal is a day’s highlight, it ought not be hurried.
So I’m giving up my microwave and learning to use the convection oven that came with the house. Lum swears by a small model made by Breville that’s the same size as a microwave, costs $200 and melts butter in 20 seconds.
The dishwasher in the house is already grumbling – it took twice as many bowls and pots to make a simple dinner – but he’ll thank me for it when his favorite green beans come out not just tender but nutritionally intact.
Maybe I’ll use the microwave to hide the cookies.
phasterok@durangoherald.com
