Euro-Pro K5309H Getting to Know Your Microwave Oven, Cooking Comparison Guide, Cookware Guide

Getting to Know Your Microwave Oven

Cooking Comparison Guide

Cooking with your new convection microwave oven offers a wide variety of food preparation options such as microwave cooking, convection cooking and combination cooking.

Microwave cooking: Uses high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. Microwave cooking heats the food directly, not the cookware or the interior of the oven. Reheating is simple and defrosting is convenient because less time is spent in food preparation and food does not stay out on a counter to defrost where it can spoil.

Convection cooking: Uses hot air movement by means of a fan to provide faster cooking. The fan gently sends air to every area of the food, quickly browning, crisping and sealing in moisture and flavor. It produces more even temperature all around the food by air movement, so that food cooks evenly.

Combination cooking: Combines the microwave energy with the convection to cook with speed and accuracy, while browning and crisping to perfection.

The following guide shows the difference and the advantages for each type of cooking.

		MICROWAVE	CONVECTION	COMBINATION
	Microwave energy is		Hot air circulates	A combination of microwave energy and
COOKING METHOD	distributed evenly		around the food to	convection heat combine to shorten the
	throughout the oven for		brown the food and	cooking time while browning and sealing
	fast thorough cooking.		seal in the juices.	in the juices of the food at the same time.
HEAT SOURCE	Microwave energy.		Circulating heated air.	Microwave and circulating heated air.
	•	Fast, efficient cooking.	• Browns and seals in	• Shortened cooking times from
BENEFITS	•	Oven and cookware	the flavor of foods.	microwave energy.
	•	does not get hot.	• Cooks food faster	• Browning from convection heat.
		Easy clean-up.	than conventional
			ovens.

Cookware Guide

Microwave cooking: Most heat-resistant, non-metallic cookware is safe for your microwave oven. However, to test the cookware before using, place the empty cookware into the microwave with a glass measuring cup filled with water next to it. Microwave on 100% power for 1 minute. If the cookware is warm, then it should not be used for microwave cooking.

Convection cooking: Metal pans are recommended for all types of baked products, but especially if browning and crusting is important. Dark or dull finished metal pans are best for breads and pies because they absorb heat and produce a crisper crust. Shiny aluminum pans are best for cakes, cookies or muffins because these pans reflect heat and help produce a light, tender crust. You can also use oven safe glass or ceramic cookware.

Combination cooking: Glass or glass-ceramic bake ware is recommended. Be sure not use items with metal trim as it may cause arcing (sparking) with the oven wall or oven shelf., damaging the oven wall, shelf or oven. Heat-resistant plastic microwave cookware (safe to 450˚F) may be used, but it is not recommended for foods that require crusting or all around browning.

Cookware	Microwave	Convection/Grill	Combination
Heat-Resistant Glass	Yes	Yes	Yes
Non-Heat Resistant Glass	No	No	No
Heat Resistant Ceramic	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microwave-Safe Plastic	Yes	No	No
Platic Wrap, Wax Paper	Yes	No	No
Metal Cookware	No	Yes	No
Paper Products	Yes	No	No
Aluminum Foil, Aluminum Pans	No	Yes	No

* Combination: applicable for both “microwave + grill, and “microwave + convection” cooking

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