Beanzawave, “world’s smallest microwave” seems fake

December 19, 2022 Luisa Rey

Heinz claims that they have launched the smallest microwave oven in the world, the so-called Beanzawave. But is this story true?

Beanzawave, in theory very welcome

Winter is coming, as the Russian gas giant Gazprom sadistically told us. There is already an energy crisis on the other side of the North Sea. The heating in the offices is therefore reduced considerably.

But luckily there is Heinz, a manufacturer that thinks along with the suffering working masses. Completely selfless, of course, and not at all to sell their overpriced canned food, tubes and bottles of sauce. And from their top hat she conjured up the smallest microwave in the world, the Beanzawave. But does this microwave exist?

in theory it all sounds very nice. A compact microwave, about the size of a camping stove. You connect this to the USB port of your computer and, without having to leave your comfortable workplace, you can enjoy a delicious bowl of heated Snap Pots beans from Heinz.

Physically impossible with this wavelength

There’s only one problem. Physically speaking, that is not possible at all, because there is not enough space for the radio waves used in a microwave oven. These have a wavelength of 12 cm, which is difficult to achieve in this device with a diameter of less than 10 cm.

Another problem is that a microwave uses quite a bit of power, think of a few hundred watts. This naturally drains the battery of a laptop quickly. At the moment, the smallest microwave on the market is the Whirlpool WMC20005YB with a volume of just under 10 l. Then it concerns a thing with a size of just under 40 cm.

Is the Beanzawave just a Heinz advertising stunt?

In the meantime, Heinz succeeded in making a reasonably convincing film. And to convince an English newspaper that the thing actually exists. This even more than 10 years ago. It is of course curious why this microwave, if it really exists, is still not on the market. A brilliant publicity stunt, or really a next level technical project from an unexpected source?