Although you can’t technically bake in a microwave oven, you can use your microwave to reheat baked goods or to heat other foods in a safe container.
Metal baking trays aren’t ideal for microwave ovens, but some alternatives are perfectly safe and sometimes even more convenient than plastic microwave dishes.
Can You Put Metal in a Microwave Oven?
We all know that metal doesn’t go in the microwave… but what’s the reason for this?
You might be surprised to learn that metal is perfectly safe for the microwave.
The problem comes from other items that might be around the metal.
Metal doesn’t absorb the microwave energy that moves around in your microwave.
So, instead of heating up, it will usually cause electrons to rapidly move around the surface, leading to sparks.
This is why when you put a fork or other metals in the microwave, you will see small sparks that appear like small lightning strikes.
While visually quite impressive and sometimes frightening, it’s not all that dangerous.
The danger comes when you have materials in the microwave that can catch fire.
A metal fork on a paper towel would lead to a fire in the microwave.
Even some food ingredients, if heavily charred and dry, will catch fire when exposed to the sparks that come from metal utensils and cookware.
So, while you can technically put metal in your microwave, it’s ideal not to.
You should use utensils and containers that are labeled as microwave safe.
This means that you should only put glass, plastic, silicone, and ceramic materials in the microwave.
Why Would You Want to Put a Baking Tray in a Microwave Oven?
You wouldn’t bake in a microwave oven because it doesn’t create the right type of environment to properly bake food.
A microwave is best for cooking simple food or reheating food that has already been cooked.
There are a few situations where you might think about putting a baking tray in your microwave oven…
- If you want to reheat a loaf of bread quickly, you could pop it in your microwave oven for a few minutes. This will quickly warm it without changing the texture too much.
- If you have cookies that you baked previously, you could put them in your microwave oven to warm and soften them, just like when they came out of your conventional oven.
- Cakes can dry out in the days after baking. Placing a slice of cake or even a whole cake into your microwave oven will heat it thoroughly while helping some of the moisture to escape as steam, rehydrating the parts of the cake that have become dry.
Whatever the reason, if you’ve thought about putting a baking tray in a microwave oven, it’s not the worst idea.
In fact, there are mats that are designed specifically for this type of use.
Silicone Baking Mats are Perfect for Your Microwave Oven
If you want a material guaranteed to be safe in your oven, you can use silicone baking mats.
These can be used as liners in your microwave as you reheat your baked goods.
Silicone can be reused thousands of times before it needs to be replaced.
Food-grade silicone is safe at high temperatures, with some high-quality mats retaining their shape at up to 480°F.
Amazon Basics Silicone Baking Mats come in a set of three sizes.
You can use these as baking tray liners on metal baking trays in your oven.
Or, you can place them directly into the microwave.
These are durable and very affordable, and you’ll find plenty of uses for them in your kitchen.
Try Using Silicon Baking Trays in Your Microwave Oven
If you already have silicone baking trays at home, you can have confidence knowing that they’re safe for use in your microwave oven.
If you don’t, then some affordable baking mats are all you need to use for liners when reheating baked goods.
