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Idle Science

The Physics of Hot Pockets 222

StartsWithABang (3485481) writes "You've all had the experience: you're all excited to microwave your favorite snack. So you pull it out of the freezer, you throw it in, and you let it rip. A minute or two later, you pull it out, and there it is: boiling on the outside, frozen in the middle. Finally, a physicist answers the eternal question: why do microwaved foods remain frozen on the inside when they reach scalding temperatures on the outskirts? Starts With A Bang explains the whole phenomenon. Bonus for the crisping sleeve explanation!"
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The Physics of Hot Pockets

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  • by HybridST ( 894157 ) on Friday May 16, 2014 @01:26AM (#47015295) Homepage

    Most microwaves have a power control. 90 seconds at power 2 or 3, wait 1 minute. Flip, 1 minute at full power. Wait 3 minutes. Serve.

    There exist websites and books devoted to this appliance and how to use it correctly. This is a non-story.

    Caveat: there are some nice physics going on in the explanation but only for the layman. Look elsewhere for the gritty detail we /.ers are used to seeing.

  • Seriously. (Score:5, Funny)

    by adolf ( 21054 ) <flodadolf@gmail.com> on Friday May 16, 2014 @01:31AM (#47015303) Journal

    I've never had a problem with Hot Pockets: Follow directions, learn how it works in a given microwave oven, and...done: Ridiculously-hot cheap, bubbly, unhealthy goodness.

    Meanwhile, I don't need to read TFA to learn how the powdered aluminum wrapper turns RF energy into thermal energy. And I don't need TFA to know that any thing has a certain reluctance toward changing temperatures, as nothing is a perfect thermal conductor.

    In fact: Dude, I've been cooking with a microwave since I was a little kid: It was the first kitchen appliance I was certified on other than -- maybe -- an electric can opener.

    Up next on /.: How shoelaces work to keep our shoes on our feet, followed by a lesson in using a light switch to illuminate a dark room. Or "Toast: Why bread is caramelized only on the outside when using the every-day toaster."

    *head in hands*

  • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Friday May 16, 2014 @02:10AM (#47015419)

    Scalding on the outside and frozen inside is a feature: it's the Hot Pocket's way of telling you it really isn't proper nutrition.

  • by NotDrWho ( 3543773 ) on Friday May 16, 2014 @08:55AM (#47016655)

    Fuck it. Too much work. I'll just eat this tube of cake frosting instead.

If God had intended Man to program, we'd be born with serial I/O ports.

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