Broken crackers We don’t like to find broken crackers when we open the package. How can makers reduce breaking? One idea is to microwave the crackers for 30 seconds right after baking them. Breaks start as hairline cracks called "checking." Randomly assign 65 newly baked crackers to the microwave and another 65 to a control group that is not microwaved. After one day, none of the microwave group and 16 of the control group show checking.