Microwave
Cooking Tips
Amount
of Food
* if you increase or decrease the amount of food
you prepare,
the time it takes to cook that food
will also change.
For example,
if you double a
recipe, add a little more than half the original
cooking
time.
Check for readiness
and, if
necessary, add more time in small increments.
Starting
Temperature
of Food
* The lower the temperature
of the food
being
put into the microwave
oven, the longer it
takes to cool<. Food at room temperature
will
reheat quicker than food at refrigerator
temperature.
Composition
of Food
* Food with a lot of fat and sugar
will heat
faster than food containing
a lot of water.
Fat and sugar will also reach a higher
temperature
than water
in the cooking
process.
* The more dense the food,
the longer it takes
to heat. "Very dense" food, like meat, takes
longer to heat than lighter, more porous food,
like sponge cakes.
Size and
Shape
* Smaller pieces of food
will cook faster than
larger
pieces. Also, same shaped
pieces cool<
more evenly than differently
shaped
pieces.
* With foods that have different
thlcknesses,
the
thinner
parts will cook faster than the thicker
parts. Place the thinner
parts of chicken wings
and legs in the center of the dish.
Stirring
and
Turning
Foods
* Stirring
and turning
foods
spreads
heat quickly
to the center of the dish and avoids overcooking
at the outer edges of the food.
Covering
Food
* Cover food to reduce splattering,
shorten cooking
times, and keep food moist.
You can use any covering
that lets microwaves
pass through.
See "Getting
to Know Your Microwave
Oven"
for materials
that microwaves
will
pass through.
Releasing
Pressure
in Foods
* Several foods (for example:
baked potatoes,
sausages,
egg yolks, and some fruits) are tightly
covered
by a skin
or membrane.
Steam can build up under the membrane
during cooking,
causing the food to burst. To relieve the
pressure and to prevent bursting,
pierce these foods
before cooking
with a fork, cocktail
pick, or toothpick.
Using
Standing
Time
* Always
allow
food to stand, either in or out of the oven,
after cooking
power stops. Standing
time after defrosting
and cooking
allows the temperature
to evenly spread
throughout
the food, improving
the cooking
results. For
inside oven standing
time, you can program
a "0" power
second stage of the cooking
cycle. See Two-Stage
Cooking.
* The length of the standing
time depends on how much
food
you are cooking
and how dense it is. Sometimes
it
can be as short as the time it takes to remove the food
from the oven and take it to the serving table.
However,
with a larger, denser food
item, the standing
time may
be as long as 10 minutes.
Arranging
Food
For best results, place food evenly on the plate. You can
do this in several ways:
* if you are cooking
several
items of the same food,
such as baked potatoes,
place them in a ring pattern
for
uniform
cooking.
* When cooking
foods of uneven
shapes or thickness,
such as chicken
breasts, place the smaller or thinner
area of the food towards
the center of the dish where
it will be heated
last.
* Layer thin slices of meat on top of each other.
* When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the skin - this
prevents cracking.
* Do not let food or a container
touch the top or sides of
the oven. This will prevent
possible arcing.
Arcing is a
spark that can cause damage
to the oven interior.
EN-11