The science behind my Singletrack Coffee mug…?

Do mugs get warm in the microwave? I thought microwave ovens were tuned to the resonant frequencies of water molecules, so dry things didn’t get warm.

Warm your mug up.

I’ve an old one of these, they take a fair bit of warming up so all the heat energy in your tea goes into warming the mug. Warm your mug first (I just use hot water from the tap) and it’ll keep warm longer as this works the other way too.

The plus side is when you’re gasping for a cuppa use the cold mug and you can get stuck into it quicker.

Do mugs get warm in the microwave? I thought microwave ovens were tuned to the resonant frequencies of water molecules, so dry things didn’t get warm.

I believe it’s not quite that simple and yes they will warm but it takes a lot of time and energy. FYI you can happily melt tungsten in a domestic microwave and that’s nothing like the resonant freq of water! But the point is more that running a microwave without a notable load (i.e. something to cook) means the bulk of the power is dissipated in the magnetron and can cause it to overheat, as well as seeing out-of-normal range voltages and currents in it. i.e. it’s a bad idea.

Not a great idea to microwave items with no moisture content, best to put water in it first.

If you’re going to that bother then why bother with the kettle at all?

Fill mug with water, microwave for ~3 mins, add tea/coffee, done.

(Of course the coffee snobs will argue that they’re not using filthy instant coffee, but rather twiddling knobs on their £1k Gaggia Accademia – but in that case just blast the mug under the steamer nozzle for a bit).

That’s all true and good but I’ve been heating up plates in my microwave at home for ages now and it’s yet to overheat.

If it’s at work and it’s not your microwave then there’s no harm in trying it 😉

(Of course the coffee snobs will argue that they’re not using filthy instant coffee, but rather twiddling knobs on their £1k Gaggia Accademia – but in that case just blast the mug under the steamer nozzle for a bit).

Must admit instant coffee never even crossed my mind. However you have to be really careful getting water to boiling in a microwave, it’s very easy to superheat it and scald yourself when adding the coffee. Plus, by that time the mug is too hot to hold.

That’s all true and good but I’ve been heating up plates in my microwave at home for ages now and it’s yet to overheat.

No my microwave, I don’t care – just warning you it’s not good for it!

That’s all true and good but I’ve been heating up plates in my microwave at home for ages now and it’s yet to overheat.

I always put water on plates and bowls when heating them in the microwave. Apart from the whole overheating thing it also means they get hotter quicker.

owever you have to be really careful getting water to boiling in a microwave

Funnily enough it’s my only option at the mo as work have taken the kettle away in the kitchen 😀

Yeah you do need to watch out for superheated water.
3.5 mins does my old skool STW pint mug to boiling.

Loving how far this thread has come and some of the input, thanks guys!

Chipps, for the record, it’s the best mug I’ve ever owned (so cheers again!), as the last thing I usually want to do when I’m gasping for a drink is then to have to wait another 10 minutes before I can take a mouthful…

Bit disappointed with mine as it lost the decals after a few washes.

hay-ho, still a flippin’ great mug for me coffee.

CK do you know much about microwaves? I was thinking about if it would be possible to make a portable collapsible microwave for travel purposes…

The science has already been covered. Thermal mass etc.

I would just like to point out that it works well for hot Vimto too.