Why Do You Have To Let Microwaved Dinners Sit When They're Done?

If you've ever tossed any convenience food in the microwave, you know that most things come with the instruction to "let it stand" for a certain amount of time after it's done cooking before you tear into it. But the label never explains just why.

As it turns out, there's some cooking science involved in this directive. Not only is the instruction there to prevent you from burning the daylights out of your mouth, it's also because the food you just heated up isn't quite done with the cooking quite process yet. When you remove food from the microwave (or the conventional oven, for that matter), it continues to cook for a few minutes in a process called "carryover cooking."

Microwaves cook by vibrating sugar, water, and fat molecules at a rate of 2.5 million times per second, which is where the heat comes from. This vibration continues to generate heat for a short period of time after the food's been removed from the microwave, as the molecules slow, so waiting really is the best idea. Trying to eat food that's becoming even hotter isn't exactly the ideal situation.

Microwaves might be a convenient way to cook that frozen dinner or to enjoy those Hot Pockets, but they can also perform tasks you wouldn't normally think of when it comes to cooking. From toasting nuts to tempering chocolate, microwaves can make many cooking tasks easier. Surprisingly, you can also make potato chips in a microwave, and even fry shallots and garlic to give them a crisp and crunchy texture.

Thankfully, despite what urban myths might have to say, microwave ovens aren't dangerous. (They won't fry your body's more delicate bits if you stand in close proximity to them while they're running, either.) But they can cook unevenly, which is something many of us have experienced, so you might want to remember to periodically stir or flip what you're cooking. Just remember that it won't actually be done cooking when you pull the food out, so you really do need to let it stand for a minute or so before you start eating.