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MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of food
• Ifyou increaseor decrease theamountof food
you prepare, thetime ittakes to cook that food will
also change. Forexample, ifyou double a recipe,
add a little more than halfthe original cooking time.
Check for doneness and, if necessary,add more
time insmall increments,
Starting temperature of food
•The lower thetemperature ofthefood being put
into the microwave oven, the longer it takes tocook.
Foodat room temperaturewill be re-heatedmore
quickly thanfood at refrigerator temperature,
Composition of food
• Foodwith a lot offat and sugar will be heated
fasterthan food containing a lotof water, Fat and
sugarwill also reach a highertemperature than
water in thecooking process,
•The more dense the food, the longer ittakes to
heat. "Very dense" food likemeat takes longer to
heat than lighter, more porousfood like sponge
cakes,
Sizeandshape
• Smallerpieces of food willcook faster thanlarger
pieces, Also, same shaped pieces cook more
evenly than different-shaped pieces.
•With foods that have different thicknesses, the
thinner partswill cook fasterthan the thicker parts,
Place the thinner partsof chicken wings and legs in
the center of thedish.
Stirring,turning foods
• Stirringand turning foods spreads heat quicklyto
the center of thedish and avoids overcooking atthe
outer edges of thefood,
Coveringfood
Cover food to:
• Reducesplattering
• Shorten cooking times
• Keep food moist
You can use any covering that lets microwaves pass
through, See "Gettingto KnowYour Microwave
Oven" for materialsthat microwaves will pass
through.
Releasingpressureinfoods
•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 pressureand to prevent
bursting, pierce these foods beforecooking with a
fork,cocktail pick,or toothpick,
Usingstandingtime
•Always allow food to stand aftercooking.
Standing time after defrostingand cooking allows
the temperatureto evenly spread throughout the
food, improving the cooking results,
•The length of the standingtime depends on how
much foodyou are cooking and howdense it is,
Sometimes itcan be as short asthe time ittakes
you to remove the food from the oven and take itto
the serving table, However,with larger,denser food,
the standing time may be as long as 10 minutes.
Arrangingfood
For best results, placefood 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 thinnerarea of the food towardsthe
center of the dishwhere itwill be heated last.
•Layer thin slices of meat ontop of each other,
•When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the
skin - this preventscracking.
•Do not let foodor a container touch the top or sides
of the oven, This will prevent possible arcing,
Usingaluminumfoil
Metal containers should notbe used in a microwave
oven. There are, however,some exceptions, If you
have purchased foodwhich is prepackaged in an
aluminum foil container,refer tothe instructionson
the package,When usingaluminum foilcontainers,
cooking times may be longer because microwaves
will only penetrate the top ofthe food. If you use
aluminum containers without package instructions,
follow these guidelines:
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