Microwave oven. I was very likely one of the first people in my town to own one, way back in the 70's when they first started to show up in any quantity, the purchase greatly helped by my working in the appliance business at the time, since I bought it at wholesale. (They weren't cheap back then, and very, very basic. Mine was a Magic Chef brand, had a timer dial, no power levels, no stirrer blade or turntable. I think the retail was something like $400.00, maybe more). I was still living at home then, saving up for a down payment on a house, and my folks were fascinated by the thing.

The one I have for the past 4 or 5 years has all the whizbangs on it, and is the mainstay of my cooking needs. One of these days I need to fix my (conventional) wall oven so I can bake cakes and stuff again, I miss that, but... too much to do, too little free time, nice but not essential.

BTW, you ever fix that rusty spot in your bathtub? Inquiring minds...

;-)

Do said family members have cell phones? Some cell systems-- particularly the newer, super-fast ones-- use frequencies as high or higher than microwaves do.

Oh, dear...

I remember back when the dealer I worked for in the 70's had to buy this expensive precision meter device to check for leakage from the door seal of any microwave where the door had to be adjusted or serviced. Of the hundreds of microwaves I tested in my years in the trade, I never had even one leak above the allowable amount unless the door was grossly misadjusted, and even then, it wasn't all that much greater.

The simple fact is, microwaves aren't ionizing energy-- they don't break down cells. They do produce a heating effect if you get enough of them, like dozens of watts at a minimum. The allowable leakage the trade specified was, IIRC, 5 milliwatts, or thousandths of a watt.

Not exactly a big risk.

I know people who are convinced it causes cancer. I doubt it.

Not possible. The energy is not ionizing, as I mentioned above. If you defeated the door interlock and stuck your hand inside an operating oven, it would not be much different than if you put your hand inside an extremely hot conventional oven, except the energy coupling acts more quickly than infrared heat-- it would likely be very painful. (Never tried it to find out, and don't intend to!)

Microwaves are excellent for cooking vegetables-- it is easy to overcook veggies on a stovetop, and then you lose some of the vitamins and other good stuff. Microwaves-- used properly-- can essentially quick-steam things, and so can actually be healthier.

There are many things they do not do well, but that's not unreasonable. They aren't meant to replace all other cooking devices, and one of the problems back in their early days is that much appliance company marketing tried to convince people that they could.

Sorry, no, but still a very useful and energy-efficient device.

My mother has been using one since they first arrived and has been fine. As have I.

And that will continue, fear ye not!

Keep in mind - we argued for three hours about the color of paint.

OK, LOL! Thanks for that! :-)

The biggest problem with microwave cooking is that the directions on almost every package of microwavable frozen food instructs the person to cook the food on the high setting. This is a very bad idea. It's not different than putting the food into a regular oven set to 550 degrees. Unless you're heating soup or boiling water for tea or coffee, use power levels of 50% or less. (I use a 30% or 40% level on most things I cook, especially if they're frozen. I heat soup at no higher than 70%).

It's still faster, and the food heats far more evenly. It's a different (lower) frequency of electromagnetic energy than infrared, but it's still induced molecular vibration-- which is what heat is, after all.