AEG MC2661E manual To Define Cooking Times

UK

Tips & advice

Testing the food

You can test whether food is cooked in the same way as conventional cookery.

•Using a food thermometer. After cooking or re- heating all foods have a certain internal temperature. You can use a food thermometer to test whether the food is hot enough, or ‘done’.

•Using a fork. Test fish with a fork. If the flesh is not transparent and comes off the bone easily, it is done. If it is overcooked, it will be brittle and dry.

•Wooden skewer. Test cakes and bread by sticking in a wooden skewer. If the skewer comes out clean and dry, the food is ready.

Working out cooking times using the food thermometer

After it has cooked, every drink or item of food has a certain internal temperature. When it is reached the cooking can be stopped, and the result will be good. You can test the internal temperature with a food thermometer. The temperature chart below gives most of the important temperatures.

CHART: USING A FOOD THERMOMETER

TO DEFINE COOKING TIMES

Drink/food items	Internal	Internal
	temperature at	temperature after
	the end of	10-15 mins
	cooking time	standing time
Heating drinks (coffee,	65-75oC
water, tea, etc)
Heating milk	60-65oC
Heating soup	75-80oC
Heating stews	75-80oC
Poultry	80-85oC	85-90oC
Lamb
Rare	70o C	70-75oC
Well roasted	75-80oC	80-85oC
Roast beef
Rare	50-55oC	55-60oC
Medium done	60-65oC	65-70oC
Well done	75-80oC	80-85oC
Pork, veal	80-85oC	80-85oC

Adding water

Vegetables and other foods containing a lot of water can be cooked in their own juices or by adding just a small amount of water. This will retain many vitamins and minerals in the food.

Food with skin or peel

Pierce foods such as sausages, chickens, chicken legs, potatoes in their skins, tomatoes, egg yolk, etc with a wooden skewer. This allows the steam to escape and the food won’t explode.

Fatty foods

Food ‘marbled’ with fat or with layers of fat cook faster than lean meat. You should therefore cover these parts with some aluminium foil, and place the food fatty side downward.

Blanching vegetables

Before they are frozen vegetables should be blanched. This is the best way of retaining the quality and flavour.

How to blanch vegetables:

Wash and chop the vegetable, place 250g of the vegetable in a bowl with 275ml of water, cover and heat for 3-5 minutes.

Plunge into cold water immediately after the blanching process to prevent further cooking, and then allow it to drain. Pack and freeze the vegetable in airtight containers.

Preserving fruit & vegetables

Preserving fruit and vegetables using the microwave is a quick and easy process. You can buy preserving jars, seals and preserving jar clamps specially designed for

microwave use. Precise instructions are provided by the manufacturers of these items.

Samll & large quantities

Microwave cooking times depend directly upon the amount of food you want to defrost, re-heat or cook, i.e. small portions cook faster than big ones.

The rule of thumb is:

TWICE AS MUCH = ALMOST TWICE AS LONG HALF AS MUCH = HALF AS LONG

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