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Cooking with microwaves differs in some aspects from normal cooking. The guidelines and tips below will help you get better results using a microwave oven.
Tips and guidelines
Wait time
Microwaves do not usually completely penetrate the food on the rotary plate. The wait times allow the food to continue cooking even after the oven has switched off. The temperature can rise by up to 8° C inside the food.
After heating food in the microwave, let it stand in the oven for a short time to allow the temperature to equalise. The wait time depends on the weight, volume and density of the food (and can be up to
10 minutes).
How to cook food without overcooking (drying, charring etc.)
◆Select the right cooking level.
◆Select the right cooking time. Times quoted in recipes are approximate and depend upon initial temperature, weight, density of food etc.
◆Always use
Defrosting
◆Defrosting is faster in flatter dishes than in higher dishes.
◆Divide large pieces of food into smaller pieces for faster defrosting.
◆Cover the smaller pieces when they start to warm up.
◆Do not defrost completely under power, let the food stand for a while.
Amount
To warm up more food you need more time. Rule of thumb: double the food, double the time (almost).
Initial temperature
The colder the food, the more time is needed.
Different foods
When cooking a meal with various ingredients remember that fat and sugar heat up faster than water.
This means that ingredients with higher fat and sugar contents will have higher temperatures after cooking than those containing water. The more dense a food, the longer it takes to cook/defrost. Very dense foods, like meat, take much longer to warm up than say sponge cake.
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