A recent article on DigitalEngineering247 considers whether you could cook a full Thanksgiving turkey using an “industrial” microwave gun instead of a conventional oven.
The thought experiment comes from simulation experts at Rand Simulation. They modeled a handheld microwave emitter (a horn-antenna waveguide operating at ~2.4 GHz) delivering roughly 500 W to the turkey, producing extremely high local energy absorption. In their simulation, the breast of the turkey reached over 500°F (260°C) while the underside remained raw.
To test a safer scenario, they enclosed the turkey in a metallic cavity (emulating a real microwave oven), reduced power to 300 W, and re-ran the simulation. The result: the internal temperature of the turkey hit about 165°F (74°C), which meets typical food-safety guidelines. However, the heating remained uneven, the breast was still much hotter than other parts, and the approach required careful RF containment.
The article makes it clear that this is not a recommendation for real-world cooking. The industrial microwave emitter behaves very differently from a household kitchen oven. In particular, the uneven electromagnetic field distribution can overcook some parts while leaving others undercooked, raising serious food-safety risks.
Applying RF simulation tools and electromagnetic-heat coupling can model even household scenarios such as cooking. But the results also highlight that “simulation success” doesn’t always translate to safe, practical application, especially when dealing with complex heat transfer under nonuniform energy input.