I put big pieces of meat in the microwave to warm them up from fridge temp to room temp, thus saving energy because the wave is so efficient. Also, it doesn't hurt to kill germs which could get transferred to surfaces and to implements before cooking.

After the nuking, it's the meat that's lukewarm, not the bacteria, which have been boiled to death from the inside by the microwaves.
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Steve, your pork recipes sound delicious. Loved the pun about crackling.