microwaving margarine...

the other day I needed some melted butter to put on top of some frozen yeast rolls I wanted to heat up, SOOO I grabbed the margarine thinkin, "eh, almost the same thing ( I KNOW ITS NOT)" so i popped it into the microwave and the loudes explosion came out of my micro. Is this what normally happens? Should margarine not be melted in the micro at all? This is me: I buy three kinds, margarine for things like Kraft mac n cheese, real butter for baking, light frying etc., and spreads like Promis or Parkay for my toast and biscuits/rolls. So I KNOW there's a differnce in flavor, etc but just curious

quote:

Originally posted by naxet76

the other day I needed some melted butter to put on top of some frozen yeast rolls I wanted to heat up, SOOO I grabbed the margarine thinkin, "eh, almost the same thing ( I KNOW ITS NOT)" so i popped it into the microwave and the loudes explosion came out of my micro. Is this what normally happens? Should margarine not be melted in the micro at all? This is me: I buy three kinds, margarine for things like Kraft mac n cheese, real butter for baking, light frying etc., and spreads like Promis or Parkay for my toast and biscuits/rolls. So I KNOW there's a differnce in flavor, etc but just curious

Yes, it is if you nuke for too long at one time, nuke it for a few seconds then stir and repeat til melted.

thanks cajun, the thing is, it was only after like 5 seconds that it started popping. I microwave butter at 30 and it's fine. Oh well. I just thought that there was something about margarine....

it's the water droplets in the margarine that's creating the popping. The water droplets separate from the oils and get over heated. When the water molecules turn to gas, you hear the "pop" as the vapor ejects from the margarine stick. To prevent this separation (and the mess), I suggest using a lower power level when heating margarine in the microwave, then it won't pop. Defrost level works good. It takes longer to melt, but no pops.

A couple of suggestions-
1. always cover the cup or bowl to help keep any flying stuff within the container.
2. Use CK's recommendation... break the melting time into smaller bites and stir between heating segments.
3. read the label on the margerine and select the lowest water content possible. The older brands act almost like real butter when heated because they have little added water.

We seldom us margerine for anything anymore because the water-added makes it harder to use in cooking...and the COSTCO Butter is running about $1.35 a lb. these days. Thats cheap enough to replace the fake-butter in our budget.

I dont use anything but real butter in most of my cooking. Margerine or the other fake butters dont cook nearly the same or taste the same. Margerine is actually worse for you than real butter.

I have not bought margarine in some time. I personally prefer the taste of butter on everything that I used to use margarine on.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

What is margarine??? I thought the whole planet survived on butter and olive oil!

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp