SUITABLE OVENWARE
To cook/defrost food in a microwave oven, the microwave energy must be able to pass through the container to penetrate the food. Therefore it is important to choose suitable cookware.
Round/oval dishes are preferable to square/oblong ones, as the food in the corners tends to overcook. A variety of cookware can be used as listed below.
Cookware | Microwave Safe | Grill | Convection | Mix Cook | Comments |
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Aluminium foil | ✔ / ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ / ✘ | Small pieces of aluminium foil can be used to |
Foil containers |
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| shield food from overheating. Keep foil at least |
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| 2cm from the oven walls, as arcing may occur. |
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| Foil containers are not recommended unless |
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| specified by the manufacturer, e.g. Microfoil ®, |
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| follow instructions carefully. |
Browning dishes | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always follow the manufacturers instructions. Do |
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| not exceed heating times given. Be very careful as |
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| these dishes become very hot. |
China and ceramics | ✔ / ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | Porcelain, pottery, glazed earthenware and bone |
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| Mix Conv. | china are usually suitable, except for those with |
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| only | metallic decoration. |
Glassware e.g. Pyrex ® | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Care should be taken if using fine glassware as it |
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| can break or crack if heated suddenly. |
Metal | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | It is not recommended to use metal cookware as it |
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| will arc, which can lead to fire. |
Plastic/Polystyrene e.g | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ / ✘ | Care must be taken as some containers warp, melt |
fast food containers |
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| or discolour at high temperatures. |
Cling film | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | It should not touch the food and must be pierced |
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| to let the steam escape. |
Freezer/Roasting bags | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ / ✘ | ✘ | Must be pierced to let steam escape. Ensure bags |
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| are suitable for microwave use. Do not use plastic |
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| or metal ties, as they may melt or catch fire due to |
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| the metal ‘arcing’. |
Paper - plates, cups | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Only use for warming or to absorb moisture. Care |
and kitchen paper |
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| must be taken as overheating may cause fire. |
Straw and wooden | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always supervise the oven when using these |
containers |
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| materials as overheating may cause fire. |
Recycled paper and | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | May contain extracts of metal which will cause |
newspaper |
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| ‘arcing’ and may lead to fire. |
Rack | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | The metal racks supplied have been specially |
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| designed for all cooking modes and will not |
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| damage the oven. |
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WARNING:
When heating food in plastic or paper containers, monitor the oven due to the possibility of ignition.