A detailed analysis has been carried out to study efficient heating due to microwaves for one-dimensional samples placed on ceramic supports (Al2 O3, SiC). The greater effects on microwave heating of samples have been illustrated via average power within a sample versus sample thickness diagram for various cases. The maxima in power, also termed as "resonances," is observed for specific sample thicknesses and the two consecutive maxima in average power are termed as R1 and R2 modes. The greater heating effects leading to hot spots would occur in water samples during both-sides incidence when the sample is kept on Al2 O3 support. SiC support may be recommended for water samples due to uniform heating throughout the sample. In contrast, SiC support could cause local hot spots or thermal runaway for oil samples. The localized hot spots are more pronounced for the samples exposed to microwaves on both faces. The choice of support may not be trivial due to the complex dielectric response of sample-support assembly. Current analysis has been illustrated for low- and high-dielectric materials (water and oil) and a representative case study has also been shown for beef samples. Based on such observations, a generalized heating strategy for materials due to uniform plane waves has been derived. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.