One of my favorite home, and to-go mugs are my Yeti mugs. While they are some of the best, most versatile, and most reliable coffee mugs that I have, they have one big drawback. They can’t be microwaved.
Why can’t a Yeti mug be microwaved? Yeti mugs are made from 18/8 stainless steel, and you shouldn’t microwave anything made of metal due to the fact they are great conductors of electricity. While metal doesn’t react every time, it is not worth the risk of ruining not only your mug but also your microwave (or causing a fire).
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More about why you can’t microwave a Yeti Mug
Have you ever seen those lightning rods on the top of buildings? They are there because lightning likes to hit the highest and lowest resistance points that it can. When lightning rods (that are made of metal), are the closest thing for the electricity to hit, it does just that. Metal is a great conductor and has freely flowing electrons that like to flow more so.
Now, you can think of your Yeti mug as a mini lightning rod on the inside of a microwave. When the microwave uses the electricity (to make electrons move quicker) to heat up the coffee that you have in the mug, it again wants to find the path of least resistance, and in the case of your mug, it is the lightning rod and attracts too much electricity, causing a spark. Then, that reaction can damage either your mug or the microwave itself and even cause a fire.
That is why you shouldn’t put your Yeti mug in the microwave.
What mugs can be microwaved?
So, you only have to microwave your coffee to heat it up? You should be keeping an eye out for some mugs that aren’t made of metal. This would include mugs that are made of glass, ceramic, or really any other material than metal.
However, for goodness sake, never put an Ember Mug in the microwave… that would be a nightmare.
Alternate ways to heat up your coffee
All right, so you need to either heat up your coffee in some way or keep it warm. It’s annoying and unavoidable that coffee cools down, and you don’t want to waste it. So what do you do? There are actually a couple different options.
You can either find a way to not allow it to cool down by using a thermos, or to-go mug, or you can use something like an Ember Mug that keeps the coffee warm.
Alternatively, if your coffee does get cold, you can heat it up with a hot plate, heat it up in a pot on the stove, or microwave it (however, as we have found, not all coffee mugs allow this).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you put a Yeti on the stove?
We highly recommend you NOT put your Yeti mug on a stove to reheat it. Mugs of any material are not meant for this, and you can easily damage your mug and the paint that is used on the outside wall. You wouldn’t want to ruin your nice, expensive mug, would you?
Can you put a Yeti on the stove?
The best way is to check the material; if it isn’t metal, it likely can be microwaved. Once you have determined it isn’t metal, put it in the microwave with nothing in it for 30-60 seconds and stop. If the mug is hot, then you probably shouldn’t use it in the microwave as it is conducting some heat and can crack from it expanding.
What do you do if you accidentally put a metal mug into the microwave?
Thankfully, metal doesn’t always spark and damage anything. However for those off-chances that it does, make sure to unplug or turn off your microwave as quickly as possible. Then check for fire, and if necessary, use a fire extinguisher if there is a fire.
