MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS

Amount of food

•Ifyou increase or decrease theamount offood
you prepare,the time it takes to cook that food will
also change. For example, if you double a recipe,
adda littlemore than half the original cooking time.
Check for doneness and, if necessary, add more
time in small increments.

Starting temperature of food

•The lower the temperature of the food beingput
intothe microwave oven, the longer it takes to cook.
Food at room temperature will be re-heated more
quicklythan food at refrigerator temperature.

Composition of food

•Food with a lot of fat and sugar will be heated
faster than food containinga lotof water. Fat and
sugarwill also reach a higher temperature than
water inthe cooking process.
•The more dense the food, the longer ittakes to
heat."Very dense" food likemeat takes longer to
heatthan lighter,more porous food like sponge
cakes.

Size and shape

•Smaller pieces of food willcookfaster than larger
pieces.Also, same shaped pieces cook more
evenlythan different-shaped pieces.
•With foods that have different thicknesses, the
thinner parts will cook faster than the thicker parts.
Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs in
the canter of the dish.

Stirring, turning foods

•Stirringand turning foods spreads heatquickly to
the canter of the dish and avoids overcooking at the
outeredges of the food.

Covering food

Coverfood to:
•Reduce splattering
•Shortencooking times
•Keep food moist
You can use any covering thatlets microwaves pass
through. See "Getting to Mow Your Microwave
Oven" for materials that microwaves will pass
through. If you areusing the Sensor function, be sure
to vent,

Releasing pressure in foods

• Several foods (forexample:baked potatoes,
sausages,egg yolks,andsome fruits) are tightly
coveredbyaskin or membrane. Steam can build up
underthe membrane during cooking, causing the
foodto burst. To relieve the pressure and to prevent
bursting,pierce these foods before cooking with a
fork,cocktail pick, or toothpick.

Using standingtime

•Alwaysallow food to stand aftercooking insideas
well as outside the oven. Standing time after
defrostingand cooking allows the temperature to
evenlyspread throughout the food, improvingthe
cookingresults.
•The length of the standing time depends on how
muchfood you are cooking and how dense it is.
Sometimesit can be as short as the timeit takes
youto removethe food from the ovenand takeit to
the serving table. However, with larger, denser food,
the standing time may be as long as 10 minutes.

Arranging food

Forbest results, place food evenly on the plate. You
can do this in several ways:
• If you are cooking several items of the same
food, such as baked potatoes, place them in a ring
patternfor uniform cooking.
• When cooking foods of uneven shapes or
thickness,such as chicken breasts, place the
smaller or thinner areaof thefood towards the
centerof the dish where it willbe heated last.
• Layer thin slices of meat on top of each other.
• When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the
skin- this prevents cracking.
• Do not let food or a container touch the top or sides
ofthe oven. This will prevent possiblearcing.

Using aluminum foil

Metalcontainers should not be used in a microwave
oven. There are, however, some exceptions. Ifyou
have purchased food which is prepackagedin an
aluminum foil container, refer to the instructionson
the package. When using aluminumfoil containers,
cooking times may be longer because microwaves
will only penetratethe top of the food. If you use
aluminum containerswithout package instructions,
followthese guidelines:
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