Mixing / Storage Bowl with Lid

[Shel_B]

ETA - my nets sped up! Yay! The bowls I use are indeed on the Colombian website (link - in Spanish) - click on "Recipientes de Acero - Frascos" and they're the first item on the menu. I have the two largest sizes at the moment, which are both about the size you're looking for. You could, if you can't find what you're looking for locally, probably have them shipped to you from Bogotá....

They sure do look nice, and the shape is closer to want I want than anything I've seen thus far. I have relatives in Panama and some good friends in Peru, and I'll ask them if they have access to these bowls. Thanks!

[Smithy]

Those are handsome bowls in the iMusa set. However, the largest of the bowls is only 24 cm in diameter - 9.4 inches. Taking a wild guess by the picture because they don't list the height or the capacity, I come out at a rough capacity of 1.8 liters, or less than 2 quarts. Maybe that's the 2L bowl to which Panaderia Canadiensa refers, but you should check. Is that big enough for your purposes? Panaderia Candiensa, is the 2L bowl to which you refer also your largest bowl of that type, or do you have bowls larger than listed in that link?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I have larger bowls in that series that don't appear on the website. The 24 cm comes in at just a hair shy of 2L, and it is the bowl I refer to; I've also got a 30 cm, a 35 cm and a pair of giant 45 cms (which hold just shy of 5L), all in that lovely flat-bottomed design.

[judiu]

Honestly, if you'll take a bit of care to put the bowl back in your vehicle, the (erm) Zip Lock (I think) bowls are great! I regularly make LARGE batches of salads and these bowls are great. They're ugly enough not to get swiped and cheap enough to be replaced if they do. They'll hold a batch of 4 can bean salad with onion and celery, no problem, about a 1 lb. batch of macaroni salad (1 lb. macaroni, that is) or probably 5 lbs potato salad. I love them, and I like to think I'm as green as the next person!

They are Rubbermaid "Takealong" brand, not Zip Lock, now that l've looked! (Dratted late night posts after a few adult beverages...)

[dcarch]

Even nothing harmful seems to have happened when you place a St. Steel bowl in the microwave oven. Actually you may not always know what can happen because you cannot see microwave.

Microwave is a very strange form of electromagnetic energy. It can be focused with lenses made of wax or paraffin. It can be reflected from large, plane sheets of metal, as light is reflected from plane mirrors. Metal parabolas may be used to produce parallel beams or high energy focused beams. Microwave can travel in tubes like plumbing as in microwave communication systems. The frequency, or wave length interacts with objects in a very complicated way.

I would not use anything in it that is not recommended by the manufacturer.

dcarch

Edited October 14, 2013 by dcarch (log)

[Shel_B]

I heard back from my uncle, the engineer, inventor, and cook. Here's what he had to say about using stainless steel in a microwave oven:

Very interesting discussions about using metal in a Microwave.

Actually the demos are sort of deceptive since the SS bowl was used as a shield to temper the chocolate. Any metal will reflect or shield the waves except for the energy coming straight down into the chocolate. If the metal touches the walls it may arc enough to start a fire. Therefore what is the purpose of using metal ? It may also reflect back into the Magnetron and damage it. I guess shielding the chocolate from most of the energy may be somewhat useful, but I’m sure with enough trial & error I could do the same with a substantial power reduction which is what the stainless did. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the old rule still stands “Don’t Use Any Metal in a Microwave Oven”.

[dcarch]

Exactly my concerns.

I also worry that the door which you can see inside may be designed specifically based on the wave behavior inside and wave length of the microwave. Suppose what you are doing changes something and the door may not be shielding the wave anymore.

dcarch

[Shel_B]

The way I understand all this is that it may be OK or it may not be OK, depending on a variety of circumstances. So, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Even though using a stainless bowl seemingly worked well in my case, based on my uncle's comments, I'll not be using metal in my oven in the future. While I don't know the background of anyone making claims on the internet, or on this forum, I do know my uncle's credentials very well, and, amongst other cookware products and inventions, part of his work involved designing specialized microwave ovens for a national chain of restaurants. If he says to be careful, and that he wouldn't put metal in a microwave oven, I'll heed his caution.