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Is microwaving okay?


kbrown3

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I'm currently breastfeeding a 6 month old, and I know that I can't heat pumped breastmilk in the microwave because it will kill the nutrients. For some reason, I can't get this out of my head, so:

Is it okay to reheat leftovers in the microwave?

(My main question) Is it okay to heat bone broth in the microwave?

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There is no official Whole30 stance on using a microwave. It boils down to a personal decision.

 

For me personally, I reheat most leftovers in my microwave. Bone broth (or any soups/stews/chiils), I reheat on the stovetop (minimizes splatters and I can control the reheating better - easier to periodically stir and watch the temp).

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When it comes to microwaving, I always default to Precision Nutrition's philosophy: "Are we using it to reheat our “unprocessed food” leftovers from a recipe we made after shopping at the farmers market? Or are we using the microwave to get that Pop-Tart juuuusssst right?"

 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-microwave-cooking

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I don't personally use a microwave.  Mine died about six years ago and I never replaced it.  If I'm home, I heat things in a frying pan or pot on the stove.  If I'm at work, I usually just eat my meals room temperature.  While there is conflicting research and microwaves are probably safe, I see no legitimate reason to expose my food and myself to even a low risk of problems when it's not necessary... but that's just my opinion... Whole30 doesn't have an official stance on microwaves.

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*science geek alert*

 

Microwaves do heat differently than some other cooking tools, which isn't necessarily bad, but needs to be taken into account for a number of cooking methods and general use.

 

Microwaves heat liquids, so dry things can microwave very oddly or unevenly. Microwaves which do not have a rotating turntable are more likely to produce uneven results. You'll notice Microwave cooking instructions often involve stopping and stirring, yet many people do not do this as it's very annoying. Failure to stir results in more uneven heating, splatters and explosions (you will particularly notice this with not very wet but slightly oily things, the oil superheats but the rest isn't very hot). Things like meat reheat better if the objects are smaller and evenly sized.

 

If something needs to be mildly heated or heated in a special way, a microwave is not always the best tool for the job, there are many dishes which cannot be cooked in microwaves.

 

The CDC doesn't recommend it for heating breastmilk, but not for the reasons most people think:

http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/handling_breastmilk.htm

 

Overheating breastmilk with *any* tool will destroy the nutrients, it's just that the microwave is a tool that's quite easy to overheat things with.

Keep in mind other tools can be equally unreliable (such as uneven stoves or heating pans), which is why there is such a huge market for baby-specific appliances, as they are purpose-designed.

 

As a side note, for anyone concerned with plastics and plasticizers (this is the stuff that makes plastic flexible instead of brittle and hard), microwaves can increase the leaching of plasticizers into liquids by the same kind of overheating. Overheating plasticizer plastics in any tool increases this kind of leaching as the plastic is slightly melted but not enough to lose cohesion (you can sometimes see this in melted cling film and many plastics contain warnings on not being microwave safe, not being dishwasher safe or requiring very low heat only). Scientific research into plasticizers is still ongoing, but they do not occur naturally in any food. I like to stick to pyrex glass and ceramics for the microwave as they cannot leach anything with superheated liquids and although it makes a mess, I don't use cling film on anything I reheat and I don't use any kind of plastic in the microwave ever, including steaming or other types of special plastic bags.

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Thank you all! I got a little nervous reheating the bone broth in the microwave for some reason.

My husband has always been one to eat leftovers cold (which I thought was disgusting), but I find myself doing the same thing now. I think my stance has changed since I now feel like I'm fueling my body instead of just heating up some unhealthy stuff that tastes good (not that my Whole30 food doesn't taste great!). Thanks for your replies!

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