Yeah, once I started playing with power level settings, it was like night and day with cooking in the microwave.

tl;dr: skill issue

Except the food has localized concentrations of oil, fat or water or differences on overall density.

But why's it gotta be hotter than the runaway nuclear reaction at Chernobyl?

My plates always stay cold lol

With a flicker and a sarcastic hum,

Microwave, oh marvel, where chaos is spun.

A promise of warmth, a comedic jest,

In your reheating quest, you give us the rest.

I just started doubling time and using half power. It works sooo much better!

This is because all microwaves have terrible UI/UX. If you are supposed to use less than 100% then why do I have to hit 9 buttons every time I want to use less than 100% power? And only 1 button to use 100% power for a variety of different settings.

Why is it not you hit Cook, then enter Power, then enter time? Like every single other stove in existence

I usually just use high power. I should try this sometime, although I don't tend to have issues with stuff having cold spots. Something I think that helps is stirring stuff half way through and letting it sit for a min after it's done.

Great suggestion.

On a side note look into eating left over rice.

Yeah, aluminium foil as cover does sparking wonders in that regard!

The fried capers and white bean soup in this video are BOMB. Would highly recommend - it's super simple and delicious!!

dunno what an inverting thing is but I suspect uneven heating is due to different food's physics properties so uhm...

We have a Panasonic inverting one that has a flat bed (no turn table) and it doesn't heat evenly...

Don't all microwave ovens have an inverter? Like, isn't that the thing that produces the photons?

I watched a video the other day discussing the sensors in some Microwaves for popping popcorn. Most lower end units don't have these sensors but the ones that do, can actually make pretty good popcorn.

I thought it was the metal fan in front of the magnetron that scattered and randomized the microwaves so there aren't any hotspots.

Inverter microwaves allow you to change the power level without duty cycling

Not directly, but they improve the low-power modes substantially, and using the low-power modes for longer times is the solution. Inverters aren't strictly needed, but they do make it better.

Hah! Just like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.

It's an effect of how they work which is inherently uneven saved depends largely on what it is cooking or rather it's water content.