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Special techniques for Microwave
Cooking
Browning: Meat and poultry with high fat content
cooked 10 or 15 minutes or longer will brown lightly.
If you want to achieve an appealing brown color for
foods cooked a shorter time, you may brush the meat
with a browning agent, such as Worcestershire sauce,
soy sauce or barbecue sauce.
Covering: If you cover the food, you will trap heat
and steam and the food will cook more quickly. Use a
lid or plastic wrap with one corner folded back to vent
the excess steam. Remember that the lids on glass
casseroles can become hot during cooking, so handle
them carefully. Waxed paper can prevent the food
from spattering in the oven and will help retain heat.
Waxed paper, napkins or paper towels are good cov-
erings to use when warming bread items. To absorb
extra moisture, wrap sandwiches and fatty foods in
paper towels.
Spacing: IndMdual foods, such as baked potatoes,
cupcakes and hors d'oeuvres will cook more evenly if
you place them in a circular pattern at least an inch
apart.
Stirring: Stirring the food blends the flavors and
redistributes the heat in foods. AIways stir from the
outside toward the center of the dish, because the
food at the outside of the dish heats first.
Turning Over: Larger sized foods, such as roasts
and whole poultry, should be turned over so that the
top and bottom cook evenly. Also turn over chicken
pieces and chops.
Arrangement: Do not stack the food, but arrange in
a single layer in the dish to permit more even cook-
ing. Because dense foods cook more slowly, place
thicker portions of meat, poultry, fish and vegetables
toward the outer edge of the baking dish.
These thicker portions will receive more microwave
energy and the food will cook more evenly.
Testing for Doneness: Because foods cook quickly
in a microwave oven, you need to test frequently for
doneness. Follow the recipes in the cookbook for
more specific information.
Standing Time: The food often needs to stand from
2 to 15 minutes after you remove it from the oven.
Usually you need to cover the food during standing
time to retain the heat. Remove most foods when
they are slightly undercooked and they will finish
cooking during standing time. The internal tempera-
ture of the food will rise about 10°F. during standing
time.
Shielding: To prevent some portions of rectangular
or square dishes from overcooking, you may need to
shield them with small strips of aluminum foil to block
the microwaves. You can also cover poultry legs and
wing tips with foil to keep them from overcooking.
ALWAYS KEEP FOIL AT LEAST I INCH FROM
OVEN WALLS to prevent arcing.
Piercing: To prevent them from bursting, pierce the
shell, skin or membrane of foods before cooking.
Foods that require piercing include: yolks and whites
of eggs, hot dogs, clams, oysters, and whole vegeta-
bles, such as potatoes and squash.
An Alphabetical List of Microwaving
Shortcuts
Below is a list of foods you may not have considered
microwaving. You can save both time and taste by
following the directions given.
Almonds, toasting:
® Place sliced or slivered almonds in a shallow baking
dish.
• Add I tsp. butter or margarine per I/2 cup of nuts.
® Cook uncovered 2 min. to 3 min. at HI power, or
until light brown, stirring every minute.
Bacon, cooking:
e Place bacon slices on double-thick paper towel on
a paper plate and cover with a paper towel.
® Cook 45 sec. to I min. per slice at HI power or
until crisp.
If you want to save the drippings, cook bacon on a
rack in a microwavable dish.
Bread/Rolls, warming:
• Wrap bread or rolls in a napkin or place in a nap-
kin-lined wicker basket.
® Cook uncovered 15 sec. to 30 sec. at Power
Control 8, or until bread or rolls feel warm.
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