QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Cont'd)
FOODS
Q. What is wrong when baked foods have a hard, dry, brown spot?
A. A hard, dry, brown spot shows overcooking. Shorten tl_e cooking or reheating time.
Q.Why do eggs sometimes pop?
A.When baking, frying or poaching eggs, the yolk may pop due to steam
To prevent this, simply pierce the yolk with a toothpick before cooking it. CAUTION: Never microwave cook eggs in the shell.
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 | yield more | popped | com. | It can | cause fire | or cause | the | |||
cooking | dish | to | become | too | hot to handle | or to | break. |
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
popping methods. If they are used, carefully follow the instn_ctions which come with the popping device and
never leave the oven unattended while popping corn.
CAUTION: Never use a paper bag for popping corn.
Q. What is wrong when three potatoes bake thoroughly and the fourth one is still not cooked?
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 bakinq. Also, for more even cooking, put potatoes in a circle.
Q. Why do baked apples sometimes burst during cooking?
A. The peeling has not been removed from 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
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 allow 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.
37