Cooking For Engineers

[Carol]

does microwaving of butter/ oil affect its smoke point?

coz fat being a polar substance, would microwaves be more likely to break it down into free fatty acids and glycerols, even though actual temperatures achieved may be below temperatures achieved in other modalities of cooking?

[Dilbert]

it will happen at the same temperature on the micro level - but since microwave heating is not "as even" as convection/conduction it will probably happen faster in small regions of the container.