Me Too, me too...

If your food is unevenly heated it's probably because you need to adjust the cook time and power settings. Heating it longer at a lower power setting will let the heat spread more evenly.
Alternatively, check your microwave's wattage. I always have to adjust microwave instructions to be about 10% longer because my apartment's microwave is weaker than companies assume the standard microwave is.
✨ May better heated microwave food await you ✨
- Yeah, once I started playing with power level settings, it was like night and day with cooking in the microwave.
- tl;dr: skill issue
- Except the food has localized concentrations of oil, fat or water or differences on overall density.
  
  That's why you lower the power. Leave enough time for entropy to distribute the heat before dumping more energy into the food. The more heterogenous the food is, the more you need to lower the power (down to maybe even 200-400 W for mixed leftovers). And make sure all your foodstuffs are touching each other to allow heat to homogenize.

"How about I just heat the plate instead dipshit?"
- But why's it gotta be hotter than the runaway nuclear reaction at Chernobyl?
- My plates always stay cold lol

In the kitchen it hums with delight,
A mischievous microwave, quite a sight.
With a twist of its dial, a dance begins,
Uneven warmth, where chaos wins.
- With a flicker and a sarcastic hum,
  Microwave, oh marvel, where chaos is spun.
  A promise of warmth, a comedic jest,
  In your reheating quest, you give us the rest.
  
  Wavelengths oh do cancel when a crest and a trough
  Do meet one another and, energy, not enough
  Yet center the plate, or a bowl, it’s your choice
  So the food spins round the high points and molecules, excited, rejoice

- I just started doubling time and using half power. It works sooo much better!
- This is because all microwaves have terrible UI/UX. If you are supposed to use less than 100% then why do I have to hit 9 buttons every time I want to use less than 100% power? And only 1 button to use 100% power for a variety of different settings.
  Why is it not you hit Cook, then enter Power, then enter time? Like every single other stove in existence
- I usually just use high power. I should try this sometime, although I don't tend to have issues with stuff having cold spots. Something I think that helps is stirring stuff half way through and letting it sit for a min after it's done.
  
  Stirring definitely helps. The exact setting to use will vary depending on the microwave, what is being heated, and how much of it there is, but my usual go-to for a starting point on a full, regular-sized bowl or plate of food is: 3 minutes at 40%, remove and stir or flip as appropriate, then another 2-3 minutes at 30-40% depending on how hot it was. This approach will end up heating most things evenly without drying them out or burning anything.
  Some things can be more sensitive, so if I'm ever unsure about what would be safe, I'll start at 30% for 1 minute just to get a baseline for context. Below 30% is usually only useful for frozen things. Soups usually require several stirs - you don't want to let it sit still for too long, or use too high a setting, or it can explode.
  
  Rotating microwaves do a lot better of a job to avoid hot spots.
  But it won't do anything to avoid overheating some parts to rubber by overheating or heating too fast.
- No, if you’re using high power for anything longer than like 20 seconds to nuke a coffee or something, you’re microwaving wrong.
  Most things are 👌 3:00 @ Power Level 6 (60% on, 40% off)
  
  microwave "power" changes are only on and off in intervals.
  Not if you use an inverter microwave.

Among the other suggestions people have made in this thread, I'd like to add that just covering something and allowing the food to steam-heat makes a big difference. For instance I will usually poke a well in the middle of leftovers, put a tiny bit of water in (especially with rice, which dries out) and cover it with a plate. The water boils and heats it much better.
- Great suggestion.
  On a side note look into eating left over rice.
- Yeah, aluminium foil as cover does sparking wonders in that regard!
  
  Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today

PROTIP: Whenever possible, shape/place the food you're heating like a donut. ( O )
Microwaves need to penetrate the food; if it's a big lump, it's hard to reach the stuff in the middle. By using a "donut" shape, you are creating more surface area, and spreading out the "middle" so it's easier for microwaves to reach all the parts of the food equally

Microwave ovens were a tech ahead of their time. It's crazy how incredibly little these have evolved though decade after decade.

You're using it wrong. Respectfully 😁
- The fried capers and white bean soup in this video are BOMB. Would highly recommend - it's super simple and delicious!!
- Oh nice, I've never thought to make fried onion garnish in a microwave
- Thank you for sharing this! I remember liking America's Test Kitchen and I'm commenting in hopes that I remember to watch this later when I'm able to. I'm already a big fan of using different power levels, though, which I'm guessing this is about. I wish more people would give it a shot and learn how to use it (and other little 'tricks') well!
  
  If you like America's Test Kitchen and also tools (maybe a stretch, I know). You'll like Project Farm.

I don’t normally stop for “cute” but this one got me. It’s super cute.

Some have sensors that will really help heat food evenly and will adjust times and power levels depending on what you're doing. Most are just default cook times, but if you haven't tried it out, it's worth it.
- I watched a video the other day discussing the sensors in some Microwaves for popping popcorn. Most lower end units don't have these sensors but the ones that do, can actually make pretty good popcorn.
  
  TechnologyConnections is pretty dope
  
  I watched that same video, and it inspired me to upgrade my microwave game. I've had the same one for like a decade and it sucked. New one has all the bells / whistles and does air frying too. It's night and day compared to the old one
- You guys need an airfryer in your life.
  
  How am I going to airfry a soup?
  (With that said I have an air frier)
  
  I just got an air fryer and find that the food is cold in the middle but the rest is cooked. What am I doing wrong?

People who have inverter microwaves, do they actually heat food more evenly or is it just marketing buzz?
- dunno what an inverting thing is but I suspect uneven heating is due to different food's physics properties so uhm...
- We have a Panasonic inverting one that has a flat bed (no turn table) and it doesn't heat evenly...
- Don't all microwave ovens have an inverter? Like, isn't that the thing that produces the photons?
  
  No, that's the magnetron. Normal microwave magnetrons have 2 power settings, on and off, and reducing the microwave's power just means switching the magnetron on and off at different intervals.
  An inverter just allows to keep the magnetron running at a lower power. Whether that has a better effect than just on/off-switching the magnetron I do not know, but it's probably more energy efficient over long usage periods.

Don't inverter microwaves solve this problem?
- I thought it was the metal fan in front of the magnetron that scattered and randomized the microwaves so there aren't any hotspots.
  Inverter microwaves allow you to change the power level without duty cycling
- Not directly, but they improve the low-power modes substantially, and using the low-power modes for longer times is the solution. Inverters aren't strictly needed, but they do make it better.
- There's nothing a bit of inverting the polarity can't fix!

@MicroWave@lemmy.world, care to comment on your creative process?

Spinny plate and letting it sit afterwards
- It's an effect of how they work which is inherently uneven saved depends largely on what it is cooking or rather it's water content.
  
  Yes a wave has peaks and valleys
  Rotating reduces this short coming
  And waiting allows the heat to spread
- And placing the food at the edge of the plate instead of the center.

Thawing the pizza? of course that one edge has to be half done while we're at it!

lmao!