Freezers and Freezing: Microwaves and Frozen Food

The wedding of microwaves and frozen food was the next major leap forward. The microwave oven made it possible for frozen foods to be cooked in minutes, a particularly useful feature in restaurants. Food-processing companies needed to change their products for microwave use by reducing the moisture content of food and replacing metal foil, which blocked microwaves and damaged ovens, with other materials. At first the market was not big enough to encourage food processors to cater to the needs of microwave oven users. This situation had changed by the 1970s, when more than 10 percent of all American homes had microwave ovens.