To quantitatively measure and compare the ability of different materials in absorbing microwave energy, a new practical method, only using a home microwave oven with microwave radiation out of the bottom of the cavity as the major apparatus, was developed. During the measuring process, each target material and water, separately contained with two microwave transparent containers, respectively, were simultaneously placed in the oven cavity for microwave irradiation. The water container was above the tested materials container, and the water acted as the medium to absorb-the microwave energy surplus to that absorbed by tested materials. By determining the water temperature and then calculating its absorbed microwave energy, the microwave energy absorbed by the target materials could be obtained. According to this method, seven bulk solid materials of reagent grade were tested and the results agree well with previous research reports. In addition, the principle and control of the measuring conditions of the novel method were discussed in this paper. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.