QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Continued)
FOODS
Q. | What | is | wrong when | baked foods | haw__ a | hard, | dry, brown | spot? |
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A. | A hard, | dry, | brown | spot | shows | overcooking. |
| Shorten | the | cooking | or reheating | time. |
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Q. | Why | do | eggs | sometimes | pop? |
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A. | When | baking, | frying | or poaching | eggs, | the | yolk | may | pop | due to | steam | inside the yolk membrane. | To | ||||
| prevent | this, | simply | pierce | the yolk with | a | toothpick | before | cooking | it. |
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| CAUTION: | Never | microwave | cook eggs | in | the | shell. |
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Q. Why are scrambled eggs sometimes a little dry after cooking?
A. Eggs dry out if they are overcooked. Though the same recipe is used each time, one may need to vary the cooking time for one of these reasons:
•Eggs vary in size.
•Eggs are at room temperature one time and at refrigerator temperature another time.
•The shapes of utensils vary, thereby making it necessary to vary the cooking time.
•Eggs continue cooking during standing time.
Q. Is it possible to pop corn in a microwave oven?
A. | Popping | corn | in a | microwave |
| oven | is not |
| recommended. | Microwaves |
| pop |
| too | few | kernels | to | make | the | technique | ||||||||||||||||||||
| successful. | Longer | cooking | does | not | y_Feld more | popped | corn. | It | can | cause | fire | or | cause the | cooking |
| dish | to | become | |||||||||||||||||||||
| too hot to handle or to break. |
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| devices |
| are |
| available |
| While | safe | to | use, | they | usually | do | not | give | results | equal | to | regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| popping | methods. |
| If they | are | used, |
| carefully | follow | the | instructions |
| which | come |
| with | the | popping | device | and | never | |||||||||||||||||||
| leave |
| the | oven |
| unattended |
| while | popping |
| corn. |
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| CAUTION: | Never | use | a paper | bag | for |
| popping | corn. |
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Q. | What |
| is wrong |
| when | three | potatoes |
| bake | thorougl_ly |
| and | the fourth | one | is | still | not | cooked? |
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A. | The | fourth | potato | may | be | slightly | heavier |
| than the | others and | should |
| be | cooked | 30 to 60 seconds | longer. Remember | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| to allow | space |
| around | each |
| potato |
| when |
| baking. | Also, for |
| more | even | cooking, | put | potatoes | in | a | circle. |
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Q. | Why | do | baked | apples | sometimes |
| burst | during | cooking? |
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A. | The | peeling has | not been | rernoved |
| frorn | the | top | half | of | each |
| apple | to | allow | for | expansion | of | the | interior | of the | apple | ||||||||||||||||||
| during | cooking. |
| As | in regular | cooking | methods, |
| the | interior | of | the | apple | expands | during |
| the | cooking | process. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Q. How are boil-overs avoided?
A. When cooking foods that tend to boil over, use a larger utensil than usual for cooking. If you open the oven door or
touch STOP, the food will stop boiling. (Remember to touch START again after closing the door to restart the
cooking cycle.)
Q.Why is a standing time recommended after microwave cooking is over?
A.Standing time is recommended after microwave cooking is over. This is to aUow foods to continue cooking evenly
throughout for a .few moments after" the actual microwave oven cooking cycle. The amount of standing time
depends upon the density Of the food'.
Q.Why is an additional time required for cooking food stored in refrigerator?
A.As in conventional cooking, the initiai' temperature of food affects total cooking time. More time is needed to cook
the food just taken out of a refrigerator than food at room temperature.
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