As a scientist, he observed in the 1960s that a person saw the potential of microwave ovens while heating sandwiches. In addition to other advancements, microwave oven oatmeal is also his future.

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Robert Schiffmann first caught a glimpse of microwave ovens when he was a scientist in a bakery equipment company in the early 1960s. He later became one of the leading experts in the technology, developing products and processes to expand its capabilities. Passed away in Wall Town on 4th, NJ He was 86 years old.

His son Rob said that his death at his stepson’s home was caused by liver failure.

Microwaves have fascinated Mr. Schiffman for 60 years, most of which he spent as a researcher and consultant, testing, repairing and playing with the oven on the shelf of his third-floor laboratory in Manhattan Brownstone. He holds 28 patents.

"The microwave oven is my friend," he told People magazine in 1988. "I imagine them bouncing around in the oven, and then think about what the products inside look like to them."

Mr. Schiffman wants to prove that the microwave is more than just reheating leftovers. He created microwaveable caramel popcorn, microwaveable frozen pie crust, microwaveable oatmeal, and microwave refrigerator. He developed a system to defrost frozen doughnuts, and another system to heat food in a microwave oven without removing the packaging.

In the early 1980s, he and engineer and designer Ken Eke created a half-time oven, which uses recirculated hot air and a microwave oven to shorten the cooking time. It is sold on QVC TVs and licensed to Brother International and Apollo Worldwide.

"He will criticize everything you do, which makes him amazing because it makes you rethink what you are doing," Mr. Eck said in a telephone interview. Later, they developed a microwave product to sterilize dental appliances, but it was never commercialized.

"He is a microwave oven master," Mr. Eck said.

Mr. Schiffmann was treated on the Q. and A. website Quora. In the past few years, he answered hundreds of questions about microwave ovens, including how to cook pasta without drying (water); why the French fries are soaked (because the air in the microwave is very cold); And why ice does not melt in a microwave (it can hardly absorb microwave energy).

"Can you heat the cardboard in a microwave?" He was asked.

"It's not a good idea," he replied, "it is likely to catch fire."

Robert Franz Schiffmann was born in Manhattan on February 11, 1935. His father Franz was a tool and mold maker, and his mother Sophie (Bolin) Schiffman was a housewife. They also operated a sub-house in the brownstone area of ​​West 88th Street, where Robert will return to live in 1973 and establish his microwave laboratory.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Columbia University in 1955 and a master's degree in analytical science and physical chemistry from Purdue University four years later, Mr. Schiffmann applied for an advertisement for a "physical chemist with a sense of humor" at DCA Food Industries. Baking equipment manufacturer and got the job.

In 1961, while studying the heat transfer characteristics of deep frying there, he saw a colleague placing sandwiches on a paper plate in a chrome-plated machine.

"When the man took out the sandwich, it was hot, but the plate was cold, and the air in the oven was also cold," he told people. "I can't overcome it."

He quickly heated his sandwiches in the microwave and started the experiment within the next 15 minutes. He heated the doughnut dough in a microwave oven, and then added the dough to a beaker, all of which eventually led him to build a large microwave doughnut fryer.

In 1971, after 11 years at DCA, he joined Bedrosian & Associates, a new product and research consulting firm, where he helped develop consumer entrees, desserts, sauces and soups.

Seven years later, he established RF Schiffmann & Associates, which became the vehicle for his microwave exploration, as a consultant for dozens of ovens, food, packaging cookware and product testing companies, and as an expert witness for microwave heating cases. For 22 years, he has also served as the chairman of the International Microwave Power Research Institute, an organization dedicated to microwave energy.

In 1992, he invented Micro Cuisine, a small casserole dish used in microwave ovens. Drawing on the concept of the Half Time oven, this dish has a "microwave absorbing base" that can convert energy into hot air, and a battery-powered fan that can blow hot air around the oven.

Mr. Schiffman told the Hackensack Records in New Jersey: "The hot air does a good job cooking food outside, but not inside. Microwave ovens have a good way to cook food, but not outside." It It can brown the outside of the food it cooks.

He is also involved in microwave oven design and safety, as well as the microwave process for sterilization of medical and dental instruments and plasma heating.

In addition to his son Robert Jr., Mr. Schiffman's wife Marilyn (Lynn) Schiffmann survived; his daughters Carla Valentino and Erica Payne; he His stepsons Glenn, Brian and Craig Lynn; and six grandchildren. His marriage to Nancy Schlick ended in divorce.

In August, Mr. Schiffmann answered his last question on Quora:

"What happens when you heat up the spider in the microwave?"

"Maybe there is nothing," he wrote, "because its size is too small compared to the wavelength of microwave energy, it basically cannot capture any energy. However, if the spider is located at a hot spot on the glass plate, and the glass plate If it becomes too hot to cook it, it may cause death."