Cooking For Engineers

toddman · Guest

So which plastics are safe for use in a microwave environment i.e. what are the technicals names for these... PTFE, PET, PEEK etc.

Thanks.

Guest

I have dishes that don't "pass" the test and do get quite hot when zapped along side 2 cups of water in a Pyrex cup for 2 minutes. The dishes say 'microwave safe'. My questions is whether they are safe for us to eat from, or whether there is a chance that they are leaching materials into the food. I have seen the coffee cups get hairline cracks in them (I heat a 1/4 cup of milk in my coffee cup for 45 seconds each morning for coffee.)

I don't care about them cracking - just about whether my family could be ingesting anything leaching out of the dishes. Michael, thanks for you website - I love it.

Guest · Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:03 am Post subject:

I personally don't use plastic containers. Over time you can litterally see the plastic breaking down which means you definately are ingesting it. I also personally think that that container imbues a plasticyyy taste into the food. It's not that much more difficult or expensive to just use pyrex food storage containers. Why take the risk? Why alter the taste of your food?

aanon · Guest

What is the chemical component that makes the containers microwave safe? Lexan? :/?

Dilbert · Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 1303 Location: central PA

it's more of what additives may be in the plastics than the plastics themselves. and rarely is a container made 100% of a "pure plastic molecules only"

it's the additives that may breakdown or leach out with heat, and if they are harmful then the plastic container should not be labeled as microwave safe.

the kicker to all this is: what is considered harmful varies over time, and certainly by web authors, which come in all flavors from real science to whacko-spacey types.

in generalities, and with the caveat of not being modified by harmful adds:
polypropylene is commonly used.
LDPE is ok, but it softens at higher temps, making is less useful
PET and polycarbonate absorb heat.
Acrylic and polystyrene are not recommended.

polymethylpentene, polysulfone and flouropolymers are often used for labware.