Kitchen Counter Moisture Mystery

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jaime Derecho PE
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Jaime Derecho PE
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I have noticed a phenomenon I cannot explain in my kitchen. Whenever I place a warm object on the granite counter [e.g. plate from microwave], when I remove the object, the counter is covered with moisture where the object was. I'm guessing it is condensing from the air due to the temp difference, but this seems unlikey since there would be so little air trapped below the object.
Yes, this is trivial, but it's driving me to madness.
 
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I'm guessing the food you microwaved is fairly moist, and when it is heated it evaporates a lot of water. The water condenses on the cooler counter.
 
Khashishi said:
I'm guessing the food you microwaved is fairly moist
yes - and possibly hotter than the cooking container. That could cause condensation on the container's outer surface during the few minute's cooking time which would be lost to the air and condense on the even colder granite top after it's taken out of the oven.
Edit: If there is a wet ring round the base of the dish, that could well be due to condensation that occurred inside the oven.