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MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of food
•If you incraase or decrease the amount of food
you prepare, thetime ittakes to cook that food will
also change. Forexample,ifyoudouble a recipe,
add a little more than halfthe original cooking time.
Check for doneness and,if necessary, add more
time in small increments.
Starting temperature of food
•The lower the temperature of thefood being put
into the microwave oven, the longer ittakes to cook.
Food at room temperaturewill be re-heated more
quickly thanfood atrefrigerator temperature.
Composition of food
• Food with a lot offat and sugar will be heated
faster thanfood containinga lotofwater Fatand
sugar will alsoreach a highertemperature than
water in the cooking process.
•The more dense the food, the longer ittakes to
heat. "Very dense" food like meat takes longer to
heat than lighter, more porousfood likesponge
cakes.
Size and shape
•Smaller pieces offood will cook fasterthan larger
pieces. AJso,same shaped piecescook more
evenly than different-shaped pieces.
•With foods that have different thicknesses, the
thinner partswill cock fasterthan the thicker parts.
Place the thinner parts ofchicken wings and legs in
the center of the dish.
Stirring, turning foods
•Stirring and turning foods spreads heatquickly to
the center of the dish and avoids overcooking at the
outer edges ofthe food.
Covering food
Cover food to:
• Reducesplattering
•Shorten cooking times
• Keep food moist
You can useany covering that lets microwaves pass
through. See "Gettingto KnowYour Microwave
Oven" for matarialsthat microwaves will pass
through. Ifyou are usingthe Sensor function, be sure
tovent.
Releasing pressure infoods
- Several foods (forexample baked potatoes,
sausages, egg yolks, and some fruits)are tightly
covered bya 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, piercethese foods before cooking with a
fork, cocktail pick,or toothpick.
Using standing time
- Always allowfood to stand after cooking
Standing time afl.erdefrosting and cooking allows
the temperatureto evenly spreadthroughout the
food, improving thecooking results.
- The length of the standingtime depends on how
much food you are cooking and howdense itis.
Sometimes itcan be as short asthe time ittakes
you to remove the foodfrom the oven and take itto
the serving table. However, with larger,denser food,
the standing time may be as long as 10 minutes.
Arranging food
For best results, placefood evenlyon 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 cookingfoods of uneven shapes or
thickness, such as chicken breasts, place the
smaller or thinnerarea ofthe food towards the
center ofthe dishwhere itwill be heated last.
- Layerthin slices of meat on top of each other.
- When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the
skin - this preventscracking.
- Do not letfood or a container touch the top or sides
of the oven. This will preventpossible arcing.
Using aluminum foil
Metal containers should notbe used in a microwave
oven. There are, however, some exceptions. If you
have purchased foodwhich is prepackaged in an
aluminum fc_lcontainer, refertothe instructionson
the package.When usingaluminum foil containers,
cooking times may be longer because microwaves
will onlypenetrate the top ofthe food. If you use
aluminum containerswithout package instructions,
follow these guidelines:
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