It didn’t take long for the microwave oven to become a must-have home kitchen appliance, much less an expected fixture anywhere food is prepared — restaurants, break rooms, dorm rooms, even man-caves —to thaw, heat and cook to near instant gratification. Yet, a reputation as “nuking” or “zapping” food has cast a dark shadow on…

At one point or another, we’ve all put something in the microwave that we shouldn’t have, and it likely didn’t have a dire consequence. Maybe that pizza came out spongy or you melted an old repurposed cottage cheese container. But other things, should they be left to cook for long enough, can have monumental effects on your appliance,…