Did You Know Your Microwave's Preset Buttons Are A Lie?

If you're like most people, you have probably never used most of the buttons on your microwave — for example, defrost, popcorn, soup, pizza, and many more. However, as Thrillist points out in a new report, you're not missing much. Those buttons don't do anything you can't do yourself.

There's no actual reduction of microwave energy, or scientifically designed blend of air-wave output and wattage that generates ideal defrosting conditions. Punching in a specific time works by heating your food at 100% power for your set number of minutes. The preset buttons, on the other hand, work by pulsing between 100% and 0% power.

That's right, people. You could essentially recreate the defrost option yourself by stopping the heat cycle, popping open the door, waiting a few seconds, closing the door and restarting it - and then repeating that process every few seconds. There's no fancy steam sensors that indicate the perfect doneness. No temp gauge. Just the mechanical equivalent of opening the door and shutting it.

According to Thrillist, the options on your microwave are just part of a marketing ploy. Everyone’s trying to differentiate their oven. So they put more buttons and more functions on the machine to try outdo one another.