What's the deal with the popcorn button?
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- čas přidán 20. 11. 2023
- Try it. You know you want to.
Referenced Videos:
The Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours
• The Antique Microwave ...
And the follow-up to that one
• Sharp Carousel Multipl...
The Clapper
• The Clapper: Yes, that...
Technology Connextras (the second channel where I put stuff sometimes)
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I used to have a microwave with only one working button - the potato button. So I had to time everything in potatoes.
its clearly an american microwave.
@@zombieblaster5754isn't a corn-related button still more fitting then
Should be good for boiling, mashing, and sticking things in a stew.
so bananas measure size, potatooes measure time, anyone know the arbitrary food to measure weight?
microwave made in ireland
My two cents was that there was a lawsuit regarding a popcorn button fire and the popcorn companies wanted no part of the liability that comes with popcorn buttons
Definitely this
It's dumb enough to be likely.
I imagine also that since so many wavers with popcorn buttons just don't do a good job in general, it might be a general insistence (after numerous complaints) by recipe developers in many snacks and food companies: _"... also, make sure to include a disclaimer telling people to NOT use that fucking popcorn button, it's probably gonna screw them up and we'll start getting letters again."_
I think the company doesn't want to hear a bunch of complaints about the popcorn button. If they recommend to use it and it keeps destroying popcorn for example and people are going to ask for refunds.
Wouldn't that be more on the microwave than the popcorn? That would be like blaming a grease fire on the brand of bacon your cooking.
@@takotako808 Well, the hot coffee/beverage came because someone got third degree burns from it (accidentally) spilling.
McDonalds was sued because an elderly woman literally had the skin of her genital area being MOLTEN OFF HER BODY due to how hot it was. The coffee was served at 140 degrees CELCIUS (regular coffee is served at 80 degrees celcius and generally consumed at 60 degrees celcius).
The lawsuit resulted into 3 actions for McDonalds, 2 which other companies have applied to avoid being sued:
1. No to-go beverage can be served above 90 degrees, this not only for consumer safety, but employee safety.
2. Recommendation to add warning labels to make people aware of their actions. Sometimes people are on auto-pilot, and since boiling water levels of temperature is basically as dangerous as carrying a mug filled with sulphuric acid, people need to be snapped out of the auto-pilot. Warning labels, how silly they sometimes may be, are one of the things that snap you out of the auto-pilot.
3. (the one other companies didnt apply, for obvious reasons) a multimillion payout to the elderly lady to cover healthcare expenses, pay for any service worker if she needs aid in hygienic matters etc, cover the costs of her lawyers etc and ofcourse a fine decided fair by the jury because she was a victim of a crime.
So my college friends had a lovely anecdote about my friend who somehow ended up in her dorm with a microwave oven that had nothing but a popcorn button. That's right, it was a popcorn-centric machine, and so the story goes, she discovered she could cook anything, as long as she stood close by, clapping and stomping to satisfy the microphone-based sensor and keep the cook cycle running until she decided that the food was done.
Amazing
That is wild
Wtf
I think I found it, it was called the menumaster micro-popper. Really crazy that it exists. Probably for movie theaters or something
I will think about this at least once a week for the rest of my life
Here are the original patents for the first automatic popcorn ovens: 4870238, 4873409, 4937413 and 4952766. We made both consumer ovens as well as dedicated popcorn ovens for use in a kiosk. They were all sound based.
You're welcome!
Charles W. McDonald, co-inventor of the automatic popcorn microwave oven.
Commenting in hopes Alec sees this
God bless you charles
Whoa! That’s so cool
Thank you Mr popcorn
thank u
Someone should create a website ranking every microwave’s popcorn button so people can look online to see if theirs is good.
Today we are playing:
Is it lit, or is it charred.
Couldn't think of a better punny name at such short notice. Wouldn't be too hard to make a website that accepts reports from users through a form, but spreading word about it would require a bit of luck…
Real
The 'Science-Anime' Dr Stone is pretty good. Watch it if you havent. Watch it and then help me figure-out some of the science cause science is cool
Done.
@@idontknoq4813 You refer to my comment??
What I’m hearing is that the most expensive microwaves have a built-in Clapper.
Time to hack the firmware.
Still a better "acoustic monitoring system" than Stockton Rush built.
@@danielbishop1863
Too soon
An inverse Clapper. It turns off if you DON'T clap twice every two seconds
If you're ever stuck in a giant microwave on the popcorn setting, you can just clap your way out. Great, I'm sure this will come in handy some day.
The difference between the casserole, dinner plate, and pasta settings lets the microwave know how to more evenly reheat your food. Casseroles are usually an amorphous, unified, oobleck, amalgam of foodstuffs that tend to heat/reheat at roughly the same rate; so an even heating method is preferrable. Dinner plates tend to have varying reheating rates for each independent item, so a lower and slower process is needed to keep certain items from desiccating, and potentially burning, while others remain cold at their core. And the pasta setting is there purely to make the Italians sad. Love your videos. Keep up the interesting work!
Nothing should have a pasta button
@@nitroAlewhat does the pasta button do
@@milkflysmake italians sad obviously
Let's not even talk about the pizza button... There are already enough wars going on as it is.
20 years ago I worked at Lowe's and sold microwaves. I remember the vendors coming in and teaching us about their products. I learned that 99% of the microwaves out there just cycle the power on and off for different intervals to get the "power levels." So, 50% power meant that the microwaves magnetron was turning on half the time. However, there were two manufacturers at the time that actually did have the ability to adjust and change the level of the magnetron without cycling it. Whirlpool was one of them. And Whirlpool makes KitchenAid. So likely, your guess is correct. It's running at half power or a preset percentage of power. It was not a feature on all models of course. But, they did have it on their upper echelon series.
😂90% of salespeople are clueless.
@@barry1122 and 90% of statistics are made up.
Yup, it's basically an implementation of pulse-width modulation, (a good compariosn would be analog to digital signals, where digital transmitted as 0 & 1's (or on/off) while analog transmitted in waves) basically instead of being able to smoothly turn it's power level up/down to desired frequency, it instead does the on-off to create the same effect. Well, at least in theory anyways, since it greatly depends on various factors. But if done well, it achieves the same effect with little-to-no noticeable difference (well, at least when it comes to re-heating your food that is).
@@barry1122yup he’s talking 20 years ago
Inverter microwave
"Why do we even HAVE that lever?!"
Wrong lever
You threw off my groove!!!
What, the self destruct lever? You know… for… “reasons.” Lol
"Strange... that usually works."
"So does this!"
For curious check
When you said “use the popcorn button”, I was about to reheat Thanksgiving leftovers. I said “Why not” and used it to reheat. It somehow made them the perfect temperature. Thanks for telling me to use the popcorn button.
Wait, did you use the popcorn button or like a reheat button or leftovers button, lol.
My microwave and my air fryer as well have like dozens of settings i never use. Tbf, the air fryer just has presets that have a temperature and time preset, but you can still change it after if you wanna play around with it.
@@Cman04092 I pressed the popcorn button. I thought I had a bad one because it asked for weight, but the largest available size value gave me a very specific time, perfect for a nice leftover plate
@@BillyMcBillface well, if it does a shit job on actual popcorn at least now you can use it for a "reheating the leftovers" button instead, lol.
@@BillyMcBillfaceinteresting! Thanks for the science lol
I didn't know that button existed
I'm impressed that your microwave took from 22nd Jan to 12th Nov to cook one batch of popcorn - the extent to which you craft your videos is something else!
I loved that at least twice the time was set at 4:20
i was born on jan 22 lol
When I figured out how to change the power level of my microwave, it was a game changer for me.
No more bowls boiling over when making oatmeal.
Perfectly cooked rice.
Butted is softened, but not melted.
Heck yeah! My old microwave had a turndial for that, though the microwave itself wasn’t very good. Turndials are pretty unreliable for adjusting the power level.
Our new one (over ten yo by now) has a button that goes 100-80-50-30. It’s sooo good.
Reheating leftovers at 70-80% with a slightly longer cook time works so well for me. I hated getting all the way to the table and then finding a cold spot in my soup.
So what did you change exactly? Lower power but more time worked best for you?
I've never felt more inspired to microwave popcorn in my life. Sadly my microwave does not even have a pppcorn button.
Mine asked me for the size of the bag so I was deeply disappointed
pppcorn
Yep i saw that but decided not to correct myself.
good, it's beautiful @@lemurkat
@@lemurkat oh my god I didn't even see that. It's funny how the brain just works like that, reading the word as a whole instead of every letter. For emaxlpe, you suhlod be albe to raed tihs prefertlcy, eevn touhgh It's jsut a jmubeld mses, aoccdrnig to rseacrh by cmarbidge uvernisty. It has nothing to do with the comment or video, but I figured i'd share this fun nugget of knowledge.
Impressive to know that at least ONE popcorn company wants you to experiment with the popcorn button
Impressive to know that every other one doesn’t
What a riveting experience to be had making new discoveries with the popcorn button
Trail's end allows you to experiment too!
The popcorn hoax 🍿
popcorn gate
3:28 "If you go back in time to when appliances were actually trying to be smart and not just connected to the internet ... "
Rekt 😂😂😂
Sad Reality.
Every consumer product category needs reviews and analysis like this!
About 30 years ago there was a microwave that did one thing: make popcorn. It had two buttons: start and stop. It used a sound sensor to determine when to stop. We discovered we could make the microwave stay on indefinitely as long as we clapped quickly, thus expanding its heating repertoire to include soups, leftovers, frozen meals, and so forth. Kind of silly watching us applaud the microwave doing its thing, but at least it worked. Presumably, this sound sensor technology was patented because we couldn't find another microwave with this feature until fairly recently.
Sounds like it's just needing a little encouragement!
Amazing! I also have to clap repeatedly to get my dishwasher to work (my wife says she appreciates the applause)
@@internziko😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hahaha this is so wonderful and whimsical.
@@internziko hmm i need one of those , how can i find one of these ?
“Latent Heat of Popcornization”
I came here immediately hoping that someone would make a latent heat joke and I'm thrilled that the internet did not disappoint! ☺️👍🍿
Superlative 😂😂😂❤❤
Yeah, we need this slogan on some merch.
@@DeviantOllamDude, why do I see you freaking everywhere on CZcams? You really get around...
Didn't even describe the refrigeration cycle
Just tried it on my 2011 GE microwave/convection oven and it appears to have the moisture sensor. It did very well! Not burnt and very little unpopped kernels!
All the alliterations were great. Im pleased to have stumbled across your channel.
This guy can really make me watch a 12 minute video about a button on a microwave
I liked the scene @ 2:17
I'm 3 minutes in and I don't even own a microwave
@@lettus143 yikes
Ummmmmm actually it’s 13 minutes long 🤓☝️
no, you chose to
learn accountability for your actions/choices
Finally someone talks about it. I've clung to my 8 year old microwave simply because of its perfect ability to cook popcorn right every single time with the popcorn button.
My rental house has one of those as well - perfect every single time.
This is life goals for me, i would name that microwave Elizabeth
3:34 and he appears, just like D.T filming him self infront of a N.S.A
My microwave is almost perfect, it's the popcorn button plus 30 seconds, but pressing Start adds 30 seconds.
So it's just Popcorn Button + double-tap the Start Button
@@mariokarter13mine does it perfect but I always add 10-15 sec, I like mine just so slightly overcooked lol
Love that you're making popcorn at 4.20. ❤
Dude, you make the most mundane stuff just awesome. I think I love you..... thanks!
It's funny how the old microwaves from the 90s and early 00's seem so much more fancy and advanced than the ones you're likely to see now on the market.
Probably because we don't need all that
Back then, companies had pride of making the best products so you'd buy from them instead of their competitors.
Nowadays, companies have greed encouraging them to make cheap products that break and cost little to make so you have to buy from them more often.
ikr
@@jessiehogue. And East Europe is still using appliances shat out by a factory using convict labour in Siberia in the 50's.
@@Cotac_Rastic Did they make good appliances? :P
Getting yelled to NEVER use the popcorn button while I'm still a part of this family really brings me right into the thanksgiving vibe
Don't believe those who tell you to use the popcorn button. Don't even listen to them.
If you've allowed a popcorn button propagandist to talk, _it's already too late._
a part of
Whatever you do, don't press the button.
Toss in a handful of grapes and silverware, then hit the popcorn button. It's about sending a message.
@@Vexas345 "YOU NO LET ME USE POPCORN BUTTON ME BURN YOUR HOUSE VIA POPCORN BUTTON"
I LOVE your show. You make me so happy. When I'm stressed, this is my reprieve, to learn interesting things in a fun way! thank you! 😊😊😊😊
Thank you for such great entertainment- love your fun & humor
I have never been so excited to try the buttons on the microwave I have never used such as "Popcorn," "Beverage," "Potato," and "Reheat."
Me too, especially the "reheat" button, which I now use all the time. It made me look closer at an old microwave I have sitting in storage: an old Litton "Meal-in-one" which did not even need a turntable and could use a temperature probe. That could be the subject of its own video.
Having a button just for potato is CRAZY
Who microwaves potatoes that often
@@ereviscale3966 it's the easiest way to bake a potato.
Mine has a pizza button 🤣
The alliteration from 1:19 to 1:24 is phenomenal. Well done.
This video was essentially a 14min mic test. I can’t say I noticed any popping P’s
Literal perfection
Perfectly performed! 😏
And, at 3:00 to 3:02!
And I expected to see some practice performances in the bloopers, but not a one! Peter Percival Patterson's pet pig Porky loved it!
"No Effort November" - proceeds to perform a particularly problematic piece of alliteration perfectly.
Like earned, good sir!
Thank you for this. Went to sleep to the dulcet tones of knowledge and popcorn alliteration: 10/10 amazing experience. I'll make sure to try out the popcorn button in the future.
I don’t just have a good popcorn button, I have a GREAT popcorn button. It pops the popcorn with less than 10 un-popped kernels, and it never burns it. Growing up we NEVER used the popcorn button, as an adult I tried it and was amazed that it worked.
Same my microwave popcorn button works great
Same as well. Mine has a setting for how many ounces you're popping.
Maybe people just need to buy better microwaves
What brand/model?
Impossible, this must be a lie
Now try the pizza button on leftover pizza 👀
"Popcorn people put a proportedly proper popcorn preparation primer on the popcorn. "
Love this little tongue twister. Well done! 🍻
"A microwave with proper popcorn popping prowess"
@@jwoahlnt probably
yeah, this video is filled with alliterations, it's great
Alliteration ❤
Yeah it’s called assimilation and this is one of the best examples of it that I’ve seen in awhile.
I’ve finally summed up why I love this channel so much, it’s learning for the sake of learning and that’s a net positive for the universe 😊
I have an LG NeoChef smart inverter sensing microwave oven I got about 2 years ago with the popcorn button that doesn't ask you to enter the bag size. I tried it when I first got it and it burnt the popcorn to a crisp so I never used that button again. I thought I got a bad microwave but the reheating worked so I kept it. Thanks for the eye opening video.
I love how your "low effort" content is still so informative and polished.
“Ten years of practice for one minute on stage” is hardly low effort.
@@caelestigladii in the previous Clapper video, he said he was doing "no effort November"
It's wild to me that this was "no effort" given the quality of the video.
So many out-takes for being "no effort" 🤣
@@Reactor89
Yeah, but some were barely bloops. For example, there was nothing wrong with how he said “seconds.”
@checksanity I have a feeling that's OCD kicking in.
What was "wrong" with it was the stressing of the "e" in "seconds".
This video sparked a great family debate about that 'Popcorn button' on our microwave. Now, we're wondering about the 'Pizza' button. Future family feud or kitchen revelation? Time and frozen pizzas will tell! 🍿🍕
The pizza button reheats pizza perfectly!
ask LGR. he had a computer with a pizza button.
The other buttons just adjust the power level
only way to reheat pizza is in a hot hot skillet with some oil, then add a sploosh of water and cover steam for a minute.... crispy crust and gooey cheese every time
@@beamshooterhuh. That's an interesting idea.
I use the popcorn button for OrvilleRB. My 1200-watt Panasonic microwave oven (2019) has three different ounce-size settings for different sized bags. (It has an auto defrost feature which suggests that it has a thermal sensor.) The popcorn button does set shorter times for smaller bags. When I use the microwave oven’s popcorn button, I get significantly fewer old maids than when following the time instructions on the popcorn box.
Panasonic makes inverter microwaves. They are pretty much the best kind, because they vary the actual magnetron output power to achieve different "power levels" versus the traditional method of using a 10 second variable duty cycle (ie: 50% power = 5 seconds full power on/5 seconds off. It allows for much more accurate control of the heating, which is why it nails defrosting and reheating/popcorn/sensor functions, and things like melting butter/chocolate, softening ice cream, etc so well. I miss my Panasonic microwave for that reason. The LG I have now is good but it's not an inverter and tends to get things a little hot while defrosting if I don't pay attention to it.
@@MobileTaz Thanks for the insight! It totally gets it right for defrosting.
This was so mutch more informative than I though. I have now knowledge about microwave that I can wave out everytime someone makes popcorn. I can make people learn things about their own microwave. Thank you kind sir I will use this knowledge.
I'm still convinced shrinkflation is the reason for the warning against using the popcorn button. Bags of popcorn have gotten smaller over the years and I feel like those buttons were designed for 3.5 oz. bags which stopped being a thing over ten years ago.
I've been using the same microwave for fifteen years now. Popcorn bags used to come out perfectly in the beginning using that button but then they started burning and that's when I had noticed Pop Secret had gone from a 3.5 oz. bag to a 3.2 oz. bag. My store brand popcorn, for a time, was still 3.5 oz. bags and they popped perfectly with the button until they too inevitably shrunk. Now I just have it memorized that 1m52s will pop the bag size I get now perfectly
Thats possible, but an alternate theory is user control/agency. The company is motivated to sell product. If you buy product, hit "popcorn" and it comes out burnt, you are way less likely to blame your microwave and are more likely to blame the brand (thats my guess, people are irrational). If they tell you wishy-washy instructions and you burn it, you'll adjust their instructions, and if you suceed, you'll feel good about figuring out the problem and thus, feel good about the brand.
@@mcpr5971 gotta give people at least some credit, i think most people would realize it was the microwave.
@mrpc5971 why would most people blame the popcorn brand? It's literally just a bag of kernels
1m50s soon
@@admiralrhino4049not consciously, but you’ll never associate your microwave with burning popcorn, you use it for lots of things. BUT you may associate shitty (burnt) popcorn with a new popcorn brand you bought for the first time and be less likely to get it again. As a dumb user, I’d probably be less likely to buy the same popcorn if I burned it a couple times, than a different brand that doesn’t get burned on me.
The comforting thought of fresh popcorn paired nicely with the unsettling realization that I have no idea if companies are allowed to just include microphones in products and not tell anyone.
If it’s just a basic microwave it’s not sending the sound anywhere. I doubt even the app controlled ones do.
It's really going to blow your mind when you learn that every speaker is a microphone and every microphone is a speaker
Only concerning if it connects to The Internet of Things. Ie: its smart and can connect to your smartphone for whatever reason.
The most rampant example I can think of are knock sensors on car engines, as that tech has been around since the 1970s. For the unaware, they are shielded microphones threaded into the tops of engines to monitor for misfires. They're tuned to hunt for high frequency pinging, and on top of being shielded, buried in the engine, and surrounded by body panels and sound deadening, the only thing they can hear is what is going on inside that engine. I used to read up on loonies that would cut the wires to them thinking the government was spying on them! Haha! People have forgotten those times in favor of fearing the infotainment console and over the air updates, which honestly is a valid concern (Looking at you, Ford).
@@lindseys3708 *watches FBI knock down our door and smuggle the Microwave to their lab for audio analyses of the contents of a data storage medium inside it*
Another excellent video. Just excellent. Thanks!
This is the video that first introduced me to your channel. Sheesh 4 months ago feels like a lof of time...
The fact that Technology Connections makes it onto trending even in No Effort November just shows how great this channel is
What surprises me more is that, despite having only single digit millions of subscribers, almost every new Technology Connections, Wendover Productions, Real Life Lore, and Tom Scott video consistently hits the top 5 trending videos each time says something about the dedication of their subscriber base. Small but loyal!
@@meltingtomato that makes sense, usually when TC makes a vid I want to watch it - he knows his audience, unlike some other youtubers.
@@meltingtomato single digit million subs is not "small", but yeah it's smaller than the Minecraft channels and e-girl farming simps
@@marcogenovesi8570100%, more so small in relative terms, because 2m subs is still a lot.
I’ve loved this channel for a long time. I love that it’s trending and the subscriber bases continues to grow for videos that really explain how things work.
I mean, who else has stopped most rinsing most of their dishes, adding a bit of prewash and running the hot water for a few seconds before starting a load because of multiple dishwasher videos…dishwasher videos…and we watched them…all… the… way… through.
Keep putting out the high quality content!!
Every microwave set to 4:20 is a really nice touch and must have been a lot of effort.
4:20 yooo 😝
It's like the BatSignal, those numbers... Imagine there's a dispensary or two out there with an actual 420 in the street address. "Yes, that's 420 Hemp-hill Street"...
No effort November failed
I noticed that too
@@rubberduck2078damn :(
time to start efforting all over the place
Mine works perfectly. Always has. Great video.
I appreciate rousing motivational speeches about the features of microwave ovens. Keep 'em coming!
I'd love an air fryer episode, I'm actually curious to know what the difference is between each cooking mode.
Depends on the air fryer, but mostly it's presets regarding temp and time. With my Instant brand one I have noticed that the difference between Bake and Air Fry is that Air Fry tells you to turn the food around 2/3 of the way through but Bake doesn't. Other modes in may also run the convection fan at different speeds as well.
I refuse to use that word. It's a miniature convection oven.
Best Buy had a recall on a model of theirs. It was a very popular model.@@n325aej
@@AdroSlice Same here, I wish they'd just call it there - there is no frying involved!
Mine has one mode. There’s just a dial for time and a dial for temperature
Our way-old 80s giant microwave used to take 5 min to cook popcorn, so I got used to that growing up. Then one day in 2005 I used a commercial grade microwave at my workplace and out of habit set the timer for 5 mins, then walked away. Next thing I know the whole hallway is being filled with smoke as I aggressively barbequed an innocent bag of popcorn to death.
True story.
Seriously I should have known better. I mean, had I never used a modern microwave before? I guess not.
Thick smoke lay all around me as I went to retrieve the burnt husk of popcorn that lay inside. All I wanted was a quick break yet here I'd caused this scene of total devastation. Brutal.
It was a little embarrassing but I learned an important lesson that day - namely, that's it's not the friggin 80s anymore and commercial grade micros are even stronger than average ones so I should probably be careful with them.
A valuable life lesson to be sure.
Honestly, I want a commercial grade microwave for personal use. Well, I'll do a little research to see if it makes sense, but they are so much better than a normie microwave.
@@Gandhi_Physique I think the commercial grade ones are cool. And fast!
The one I had as a kid you’d hit the popcorn button and add 30 seconds to pop all the popcorn and it wouldn’t be burned. When I got older and had a newer one I tried the same and burned the popcorn, yet there was still unpopped popcorn in the bag. So I still needed around 15 seconds.
Did they call you Fireguy after that?
@@positivelynegative9149 I was known as Firestarter or popcorn-killer for a little bit lol
Proper Popcorn Popping Prowess is stuck in my head,thanks TC.
how I have I never seen your videos before? I was hooked within like a minute 😅 feel like this is gonna be my new favorite channel
I've always just used the dumb popcorn button that auto sets a time, and nothing ever gets burned. I guess I've just been lucky for every microwave and different popcorn I've ran into so far.
I do too. I just wait to hear the singular wet fart pop and it's done. I can literally count the kernels on one hand and not a one burned
This. My microwave has 2 settings based on the size of the popcorn bag. Pops perfect every time. Have used it on every microwave I have owned and all have worked fine.
@@Piledriver2006 your popcorn is farting? Can you document this?
Your microwave might be doing what other microwaves call a chaos mode. It was found that heating random points instead of a single point caused a more evenly heated result. This would explain why something with a small surface like a pat of butter would be slow to melt.
All microwaves have hot and cold spots in them, that is why they almost all have a rotating carousel.
@@blaster-zy7xxmy glass plate broke so now when I heat stuff up some parts get super hit and other stay cold. I manually turn the plate 2-3 times 😂
@alexvillalobos7137 nothing special about that, all microwaves used to require you to rotate the food manually, the turntable is a relatively new feature with a lot of microwaves even from the 90s and 2000s not coming with one.
@@joemamr710That makes it special as all microwaves now have the turntables.
Your conjecture that there "may be" a half wave rectified 50% cooking mode (@ 10 min, 12 sec) would be easy to confirm with an oscilloscope monitoring line current.
But don't mind me, I am a nerd and an EE.
I love your curiosity, and your humor, and attention to detail.
THANK YOU
Be Rad
Hey TC, recently (as in back in October or November) my microwave broke, and apparently i ordered the exact same one you have and I’ve been exclusively using the popcorn button on it when making bagged popcorn
I'm always late to your vids but thank you, they really make that part of my day better.
wtf would we do without CZcams?
Read probably.
We would burn our popcorn
Wait 1-2 seconds between pops.
Idk bro 😢
hey, i know you
The alliterative aspect of these assessments is always appreciated.
Amusing that you use assonance to applaud alteration.
@@ratamacue0320Alteration? Ambiguous..
He calls his old microwave an antique. My kitchen microwave is from 1982. My parents bought it new in 82 and I've been using it nonstop ever since. When I moved my parents gave it to me. It works. Why buy a new one that won't be built as well?
This comment was whimsically weird, wonderful and a winner. (couldn't resist)
@@christo930 Well, chances are that 1982 unit has no support, parts and other available information. That said, my Mom received her parents' old 1975-ish Panasonic and we used that from when I was in elementary school (I was in 5th Grade, there-abouts, maybe 6th) and it lasted to about 2017 or 2018. When we moved, a microwave came with the place and the old Panasonic beast was retired. My unit was also retired and both were in e-waste. Mine was rusted on the inside, so we decided not to use it. The timer was falling apart (it was an old flip-card clock style with an alarm clock in it that started the microwave automatically and it also had a plug in thermometer probe for some settings which I thought was neat) It had a list of cooking options in two radio tuner-style displays (like in an old radio receiver). It was an awesome machine.
This isn't quite what you're talking about, but I feel like it's in the same spirit. I used to think reheating leftovers in microwaves just meant dry food, and good luck on rice, it was always gonna be bad. Then I learned about the magic of the "power" buttons. Sure it took me until my 20s to learn about it, but by messing with the power % and time to cook I learned I could pretty much reheat anything and it could taste great! Flash forward the next decade where I've taught my parents, an ex or two, my two boys and my now fiancee' the magic of the microwave.
It's a pretty simple concept, but incredibly important, and I'm glad you approached that in this video. Learn about the appliances you use. Their abilities can make your life a lot easier once you understand them. I, admittedly, have been a snob about the popcorn button, I'm a heathen and enjoy burnt popcorn. I should go back and test it out just like I've done with all the other buttons. Great video!
My Microwave works wonderfully when I use the popcorn button. It comes with some presets when you select the popcorn button, I just use the 3.5g setting and it works 100% of the time. I use ACT II popcorn.
I love how often the time on the different microwaves is exactly 4:20. That can't be accident which means he is constantly resetting the time before each take😅
Date is wrong but the time is always 4:20 lol.
It also said "42069" on the scoreboard of the pinball machine in that video
Right? That sounds like a lot of effort for no effort november haha
sounds like too much effort for no effort November, he just cant let himself make low quality content smh
Nice.
I never thought I would call a microwave “cute” but that popcorn animation on the Sharp Carousel has me second guessing myself edit: 2:54
Not to mention the bowing chef
it's adorable for sure
It also has a bowing chef for - i think - completing the inbuilt recepies.
Didn't expect you here
My reaction to this was, "there's someone, somewhere, who's job it was to create that animation, how do they feel about that today?"
Tested this out myself with my microwave. Turned out great actually! Thanks for the video!
Your videos are too entertaining to be watching during Lent. I guess this will have to stay one of my myriad of open tabs until Easter.
Fan service is just one thing that makes this channel great.
Agreed! The fan episode was fantastic!
My BiL's previous microwave had a "Potato" button. It was a bit older, but w/e. He was doing some seasonal maintenance to his above ground pool, he put in a potato in a paper towel, pressed "potato", and went outside. Came back in to flames coming out the fume hood (it was an over range model) and the potato was just a charred ember.
"Push potato and WALK AWAY!" is a family meme now.
That's awesome. I love family memes.
I think it was Mitch Hedberg that had a bit about having a microwave with "Plate of food" as an option. I had one of those, and I did always wonder how the appliance knew what kind of plate, and what kind of food lol
Probably the paper towel that was at fault.
@@Skenjin Yup, the microwave never detected the moisture given off by the potato as it cooked, which is needed to determine how much the potato has cooked. The moisture was absorbed by the paper towel during cooking so the microwave couldn't tell when to stop.
thank you I’ve never watched your content before but this is something that I needed and I will always think of this video when I make popcorn
this video genuinely opened my eyes, this is amazing. thank you for this wisdom
I'm in shock, I always assumed the food options on microwaves were just programed to a specific time. I'm gonna mess around with all the options on my microwave tonight, how exciting!
I know, I’m thinking of all the years wasted with a fancy microwave, lol
The various food options are preset profiles for power levels vs pulse time.
Microwaves don't really penetrate the -fool- *food* very far, so there is a tendency for foods to overheat on the outside. The power profiles allow some resting time between bursts of microwaving, which allows the heat to conduct (soak) into the center of the food.
.
"Vegetable" setting might apply 50% power in bursts of 15 seconds. "Reheat Coffee" might apply 100% power continuously. "Defrost Meat" might apply 75% power for 10 seconds, then 10% power for 20 seconds.
.
Also, higher-end microwaves have various sensors to detect the best time to change heating profiles and/or stop depending on the type of food selected.
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Inverter microwaves can vary the power level dynamically, rather than just switching the magnetron on 100% and off 0% on a timer.
Not all microwaves have sensors or inverter drive.
@@johncoops6897 "Microwaves don't really penetrate the fool very far" I mean, if you throw it hard enough...
@@klaus6027 - 🤣 yes, that's absolutely true.
For some obscure reason, your reply made me think of Photonic Induction... "oh, I popped that human".
I've fixed my hilarious typo 😉
I have a Panasonic with a lot of fancy buttons I've never used. But I also have over 20 years experience just setting a time and pushing start, then checking it, and either eating it, letting it cool off, or cooking it more.
This was actually way more inspirational and deep than it is allowed to be. Go out there, live life, push a button.
Thank you
IM GONNA PUSH THE BUTTON!
That's always been my motto for learning computer software and systems; Just click everything! If you accidentally blow something up, that means it was poorly designed and not really your fault. This is how I end up learning lots of things, when starting a new job :)
It is actually how hackers became good at hacking, pushing buttons.
Especially the big red ones.
I love your use of alliteration!
Because of your video, I tried the popcorn button on our microwave. It worked perfectly! Thank you and love your videos.
This perfectly perfunctory yet passionate presentation on the performance of preset popcorn painted a positively profound picture of the position of those pompous popcorn partnerships.
Pleasant un-pedantic prose from you, pal! :)
Okay, there's no point to me even trying. This post wins.
It's my very good honor to meet you, and you may call me "P".
@@TheChangBI am Q and m better than you
Perhaps partially premeditated prose posted past paramount purveyance permeates pleasurable playfulness. Please people, partake!
As a German this is mind blowing. Our microwave only has settings for the wattage and i don't think its very common here to have settings for different meals
Here in the Netherlands also not very common. Never seen it. I guess we Europeans just use our brains when we want to cook popcorn! Typical American this hahaha
Same in Spain at least as far as I know
@@RolandWolters67 for real. America is like a 3rd word country for us Europeans
In France, the expensives microwave have the settings for different meals. But I never saw a popcorn button on any of them!
Ngl I don’t think us Americans would be smart enough for that 😂
god damn it.
now ive gotta rewind just to hear that wild rap once more.
twicell be enough but
twicell be needed.
that was brilliant.
in 1985 I got a $50 mechanical clock timer and power setting microwave that rang a small bell when it was done, the poert was just a timed off/on period of full power during the time cycle to simulate power setting, and we learned what settings to use. Fast forward 40 years, and that microwave is alive and well used in a vacay home while the $600 popcorn sensing probe enabled multi menu GE has long been dead 10 years after it was bought at the same time. Its since been replaced with as simple a microwave in 1995, which too, is alive and well, but is just another $100 basic jobbie. Simple does have benefits.
Positively Perfect, Passionate and on Point Popcorn Presentation Partner ! Packed with all the Prime Particulars, you should be Pretty Proud of your Painstaking Project !
Please part with petty puns!
Im so glad yall noticed, cuz i loved the use of the p's
i went to the comments exactly for this reason 😭
I love English
Who else thought of the principle that spits his Ps from That’s So Raven 😅
I've been blindly using the popcorn button all my life and it works every time.
you are probably young with a newer microwave.
That’s so nice! Glad you’re enjoying your popcorn 🍿
@@carlcarlson5553while they may just have been on youtube since a very young age or using someone else’s account who is older than them, their profile says they’ve been on youtube for 9 years!
Boldly you mean lol
@carlcarlson5553 I have a similar experience and I've been on this Earth for 18 years. I wouldn't say I'm too young to have had an older microvave in the past... I'd just say I've been lucky 🤷
Love that alliteration at the beginning! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Enjoyed your video! I remain envious of your owning a Sharp Carousel microwave -- wish a company would make such a useful microwave oven these days!
The popcorn button always seemed like such a risk to me for no reason.
It's for the thrill. Grab life by the horns and don't be afraid of burnt popcorn.
Live a little
Your opinion has been biased by big popcorn. All those warnings on the bag have slowly seeped into your subconscious
A risk? What's the worst that could happen?
(he said standing before the burning wreckage of his house)
Mine's right next to the self-destruct button so...
Perfect presentation, profoundly practical! Prolific popcorn pointers provided, particularly pleasing. Persistently perceptive, profoundly persuasive.
I Hate burnt popcorn. Tastes like ash. I always stop my microwave as soon as the popping slows (regardless how much time left on the screen)
.
Persnickety!
Prathanks profor prothis
This is what a dad says to his kids when they think he's disappointed in them for their life choices. He's not but he could have done it in a way that doesnt seem farcical or sarcastic or even satyrical. You're using profound way too much. once is too much when its a video about a microwave. But you are doing a tongue twister on purpose but it just takes away....like trying to do a haiku, most don't know how to do it without sounding contrived and forced.
Its ok dad, he doesn't hate you
what a carefully crafted comment! can this cavernous caper of cacophonous chatter calm? this cautiously connected catalogue of creative comments compiled of convoluted conduct can cease coagulation!
So happy I found this channel
Properly pointed pointer, pure perfection!
It's insane how much effort went into the creation of that Sharp microwave. It has so much character & depth to it's custom sensor settings & animations. I wish more modern things would go this direction instead of the current fads of "everything is connected to the Internet" nonsense
its custom
@@NoName-zn1sbIt's not, the sharp microwave really is like that. He even made a video about it!
agree
It was designed during the "bubble" years of Japan.
@@kimbersauce exactly. I saw that video he did on microwaves & that specific microwave. It was surprisingly awesome for a video on microwaves
Your pedantry really speaks to my heart and soul. So many people gloss over the finer details in their technology and its workings or clever unnoticed features that some engineers thought up only to be neglected or unknown.
IDAHO
I've seen lots of microwaves with a baked potato button. I don't think I have EVER pushed one. Even on baked potatoes. Quite honestly, I' usually just hit the 30 second button however many time I think appropriate.
IDAHO
I mean if the popcorn manufacturers actually cared they would do cook times by wattage but they don't so this whole video is kinda dumb but entertaining.
I saw the spider in your profile pic, chuckled and opened the replies to find people that commented on it, realized no one commented on it, and quickly scrolled my screen to make sure it wasn't actually on my end lol.
You have the best rabbit holes.
your onomatopoeia skills are second to none!!!
I have no idea how I was able to just get sucked in to this for so long but it’s weirdly hypnotic.
You clearly don't own an airfryer
@@pintadocachorrao Would it make watching content totally unrelated to your interests more normal? I don’t even eat popcorn yet somehow I sat through this whole thing. 😂
@@Prockskiit's not that long, even. his regular videos are often over half an hour in length.
and yes, it's normal to learn something new and fascinating, you didn't know it even exists before watching them.
like how street lights turn on and why they're on for a bit after a power outage, and such.
The air fryer reply is a reference to something unrelated. Also how short is your attention span that 13 minutes seems "so long"?
@@alicemalice1047 Its "long" in the sense that I have no interest in this topic at all and usually would click off to watch something more up my street. I was just suggesting that it took me a lot longer to kind of snap out of the trance this put me in and was not in fact some kind of pointer to my general attention span.
Our microwave has a moisture sensor, but it usually heats up food for way too long unless you're reheating several items. However, the popcorn feature is spot on every time.
You can fix that by only eating popcorn
@@cleopatraonlyfanshe can fix it by just stop eating at all.
@@cleopatraonlyfans damn, solid point
This is the first time I've watched this channel with subtitles on and the first time I've noticed the "steamingly smooth jazz" descriptor at the end 😂
I had never noticed any microwave to have a popcorn button/feature but sure enough even my own microwave has one. It's not a separate button and it's super inconvenient to access since it's option number 7 so I need to press one button 7 times to select it, then twist a knob and one more button press to turn it on.
Also it seems to just set the timer to 3:30 and do nothing else, and it is too little time. I usually cook the popcorn bags about 3:50 for them to be done.
I love how even though he's supposed to put in no effort at all he still does subtitles for these videos because he cares for his viewers. Now that's some effort I can respect.
Some folks have hyper diligence. Even with the explicit intention to half ass something they get an itch to keep refining it.
I usually have subtitles off because no one does them, they are now on thanks, it helps with accents and when the ears don’t work.
@@roaming_data I learned long ago to turn on CC for any TC video, and watch alllll the way to the end.
And they're accurate subtitles! Most people who add them use the script that they already typed rather than what is actually said in the video.
Well, if you have lines like "popcorn people put a purportedly proper popcorn preparation primer on every package of popcorn"... you make sure the captioners can enjoy it too.
Yes, please do an air fryer video! I've watched several already that talk about how it's just a new name for something old, but with how in-depth you go, I bet there's even more to learn about it. Thanks for another great video Alec!
You clearly don't own an air fryer.
@@InventorZahranI mean it is just a convection oven, but what makes them better is the smaller size leading to a more efficient and quicker cooker than a regular convection oven.
It truly is just a small convection oven, but the small size does affect both the cooking results and the convenience factor when compared to a full-size.
@@RayvenQ My toaster oven has a fan, it's an "air fryer" too. Small convection ovens are nothing new, but the stupid marketing for overpriced "air fryers" is.
@@NickCombsthe big difference is the basket, though. My recent full size convection oven replacement had an optional extra feature, namely a baking tray full of holes similar to an air fryer basket. That actually works really well.
I moved into a new house a couple years ago and the previous owners had left a bunch of stuff including a hefty microwave from the early 90s. One day I noticed the little menu of cooking modes inside the door and it turns out this behemoth has the steam sensor. The popcorn button and the reheat soup button work perfectly, popcorn doesn't burn and soup is warmed just to steaming and doesn't splatter everywhere.
til my microwave has a potato button?
I think I can explain the slow melting butter thing! I always purposefully melt my butter at a lower power setting. If you melt it at normal temperature it starts popping and splattering over before its finished melting. This usually happens for me when it's about half melted. So a microwave that can choose to melt butter slower is doing a pretty good job!!
He mentioned his microwave magnetron doesn't alternate on and off (which is what 50% power is).
I came here to explain why you shouldn't melt butter too quickly. Good job!
That is exactly right. The lower power setting doesn't actually mean it puts out lower power. It puts out the exact same power but it cycles on and off, depending on what you set it to. And it works beautifully. Sadly, most people don't have a clue how or why this happens. Although most of this information comes with the microwave in a thing called an operators manual. They often also include some recipes and tips. Most people fail to read these though.
If it isn't cycling and only some foods take longer, either the magnetron operates at an unusual freq (unlikely), the geometry of the microwave is setting up an unusual wave pattern, or it a convection/venting thing
Popcorn is coated in oil or butter and oils of course don't interact with microwaves very strongly, so that seems like a factor
There will always be water in butter, but higher quality butter doesn't splat nearly as much. Especially in a hot pan.
If your microwave doesnt popp all the corns, try putting an extra plate under the bag. This elevates the bag and makes it pop more corns!
But things further away from the center cook faster. I don’t understand the logic here with what you said, it goes against previous experience
Word on the street is to microwave a glass/cup of water for 1 minute then pop the corn.
@@SomeRandomDevOpsGuy Meanwhile my microwave has a hot spot right in the middle. If I center my chicken pot pie on the dish, it cooks the middle perfectly. Otherwise the edges will burn.
@@Jaysaflamethis actually makes sense considering the reason popcorn pops is because of moisture inside the kernel.
@@SomeRandomDevOpsGuy In dense materials, things further from the center have to cook first. Otherwise, each microwave has a number of "hot spots" which are usually not near the walls or bottom. That's why microwaves usually rotate, to move the food across the hot spots. Raising a microwave bag +might+ move it up into a hot spot or two.
To see of it has a microphone, cook a wet dish towel (can't boil over) in popcorn mode. If it runs longer than usual, then it has a microphone. If it shuts off sooner when the towel starts off hotter, then it's a sensor. If it's always the same time, then timer like mine. (I don't zap popcorn often enough to justify a Kitchenaid oven :)
One other thing to look for when shopping, is the power button action. Is a two keystroke one (POWER, Number). 9=90%, 5=50%, etc. or is it one where you have to keep pressing power until it reaches the percentage you want, and miss it so you have to go around again..
I tried it on my grandparents’ old microwave (a GE Profile) and it worked well!😊