Such is the objective of the under counter mount microwave where it can be placed out of sight of the guest that it can keep the aesthetics of the kitchen. Cooking using the microwave oven is also energy-efficient because a user can cook food in half the time. Microwave ovens used to be a bulky appliance, and it is evolved into a more space-efficient kitchen item. It can also be blended with the kitchen’s overall design. The microwave oven is not only used for cooking. It can also be used to defrost frozen food safely.

When man discovered fire, it revolutionized the way food is prepared before digested. What used to be the process of hunting and then simply scraping the meat out of the bone to eat became complex by cooking the meat on fire. The cooked meat is more appetizing and the heating eradicated many harmful bacteria in the meat, elongating the life span of human. Fire used to be the main component for cooking meat. Rare, medium-rare and well-done meat used to be achieved only by cooking over, under or even inside the fire. An assortment of palatable menu were discovered, rediscovered, invented and re-invented with fire.

Then in the 1930’s, idea of heating an object using electric fields in high-frequency became a hot topic. The race for this revolutionary technology was marked by the patent application by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1937.

However, it was actually in 1945 when another revolution in cooking was made. This was due to an accidental discovery by an American engineer, Percy Spencer, when the chocolate in his pocket melted while working with magnetron in his laboratory. He discovered that microwaves, when focused and directed to an object, can heat the object’s molecules rapidly. To strengthen his claim, Percy Spencer placed popcorn kernels in a metal box together with a microwave energy source. The kernels popped, supporting Percy Spencer’s discovery: that food can be cooked with energy waves. The microwave oven was born.

Cooking food in the microwave has many benefits. The rapid energy waves cooked food faster, cutting the cooking time in half or even more. Food can be cooked with minimum or even no water at all because the food is cooked from the inside out. Since less or no water is used in cooking using microwaves, the nutrients of food are preserved.

Delicate food items like vegetables can be safely cooked in the microwave oven. Due to the fact that food is cooked in less than half the time, the vegetable retains its crisp and texture, making it more appetizing than conventional cooking where vegetables come out soggy.

Because minimal water is used in cooking the food, the natural flavor of the food is retained and even enhanced. Thus, the need to add salt and sugar to give flavor to food is minimized, reducing the health risks when using too much salt and sugar. There is also no need to cook food using oil or butter, thus; the introduction to the body of unhealthy fat is greatly reduced.