•When preparing food in a “traditional” oven, you normally avoid opening the oven door as much as possible. This is not the case with the microwave oven function: no energy or significant heat is lost. In other words, you can open the microwave door and look at the food as often as you want. Please note that this only applies to cooking using the microwave function. When the convection and grill function are used, heat is given off in the oven compartment.
Important safety measures when preparing food!
•If using the microwave oven to heat baby food or liquids in a feeding bottle, you must always stir the food/liquid and check the temperature thoroughly before serving. This ensures that the heat is evenly distributed and avoids scalding injuries.
The lid and/or teat must not be fitted on a feeding bottle when it is placed in the microwave oven.
•If some foods are heated too long, they may char and give off smoke. If this happens, you should leave the door closed and switch off the microwave oven completely.
•Do not use the microwave oven for deep frying or pickling.
•Some foods with low water content, e.g. chocolate in squares and pastries with a sweet filling, should be heated carefully, otherwise they or the container may be ruined.
USING UTENSILS WHEN PREPARING FOOD
Before starting to prepare food in containers, you should check that the containers you wish to use are made of a suitable material, as some types of plastic may become “limp” and deform, while some types of ceramics may crack (particularly when heating small quantities of food).
In order to test if a container is suitable for use in a microwave oven:
•Place the container in the microwave oven.
•At the same time, place a half-full glass of water in the container.
•Start the microwave oven, and run it for 1 minute on maximum power.
•If the container becomes very hot to the touch, you should avoid using it in the microwave oven.
When you prepare food in the microwave oven, you should preferably use the following implements and materials:
•Glass and glass bowls Do not use glass jars, etc., containing metal, and be aware that certain types of glass are not heat-resistant. Test them as described above before cooking.
•Stoneware (glazed and unglazed). The food stays hot longer in glazed stoneware than in other dishes.
•Plastic containers These can be used for many heating purposes, but are not suitable for roasting.
Please note! Plastic containers made from melamine, polyethylene and phenol must NOT be used.
•Porcelain All porcelain can be used in microwave ovens, although fireproof porcelain is preferable.
•Fireproof covered dishes Glass dishes with lids that fit so closely that steam cannot escape are ideal for vegetables and fruit to which no liquid is added (however, the cooking time must not exceed 5 minutes).
•Browning dishes You must be very careful when using this type of dish. The dish must always be at least 5 mm above the glass turntable.
•Clingfilm can be used, particularly for soups, sauces, stewed dishes or when defrosting food. Can also be used as a loose covering to prevent fat, etc. from spraying out into the oven compartment.
•Kitchen roll is ideal, as kitchen roll absorbs moisture and fat. For example, bacon can be placed in layers, with kitchen roll between each layer. The bacon will then be completely crispy, as it does not sit in “its own fat”. Home-baked bread can be taken directly from the freezer, packed in kitchen roll and heated in the microwave oven.
•Wet kitchen roll can be used for fish or vegetables. Covering the food prevents it from drying out.
•Baking parchment Fish, large vegetables, such as cauliflower, corn on the cob and similar can be packed in wet greaseproof paper.
•Roasting bags are ideal for meat, fish and vegetables. However, they must never be closed using metal clips. Cotton thread should be used instead. Prick the bag with small holes, and place it in the microwave oven on a plate or glass dish.
•Paper plates Should only be used for brief heating.
Important!
When you prepare food in the microwave oven, you should not use the following implements and materials:
•Sealed glass/bottles with small openings, as they may explode.
•General purpose thermometers
•Silver foil/foil trays, as the microwave rays cannot penetrate the material and the food will not cook. However, small pieces of silver paper can be used to protect thin pieces of meat or poultry so that they do not get burnt.
•Recycled paper, as it may contain small metal splinters that could cause sparks and/or a fire.
•Closed tins/containers with tightly sealed lids, as excess pressure may cause the tin/container to explode.
•Metal clips and other lids/foils, containing metal wires. These can form sparks in the microwave oven and must therefore be removed.
•Metal bowls/containers and packaging, unless they are designed specifically for use in microwave ovens. The microwaves are reflected and cannot penetrate the food through the metal.
•Plates, dishes and bowls/containers with metal, gold and silver decorations. They may break and/or cause sparks to form in the oven compartment.
•Foam plastic. Foam plastic melts in the microwave oven or may destroy the food.
•Wood Wood dries out in the microwave oven and may splinter or crack.
CLEANING
When cleaning the microwave oven, you should pay attention to the following points:
•Switch the microwave oven off and remove the plug from the wall socket before cleaning.
•Never use scouring powder, steel scourers or other strong cleaning agents to clean the interior or exterior surfaces of the microwave oven, as they may scratch the surfaces.
•Instead use a cloth dampened with hot water, and add detergent if the microwave oven is very dirty.
•Make sure that no water gets into the vent holes.
•Always keep the door open when cleaning the control panel, to avoid the microwave oven accidentally starting up during the cleaning process.
•The turning ring and the floor of the microwave oven must be cleaned regularly so that the glass turntable can move around without hindrance.
•The glass turntable and turning ring can be cleaned in a dishwasher.
BEFORE GOING TO A REPAIR CENTRE
If the microwave oven will not start:
•Check that the plug is correctly in place in the wall socket. If that is not the case, remove the plug, wait 10 seconds and then plug it in again.
•Check whether a fuse has blown or whether the fuse relay has been switched off. If it is not that, you can check that the socket itself is working by plugging in another device.
•Check that the door is closed properly. If this is not the case, the automatic safety system (via the lock dowels) ensures that the microwave oven cannot be started.
•Check whether the operating panel has been set correctly, and whether the timer has been activated.
If the microwave oven still does not work, you should contact a repair engineer.
ENVIRONMENTAL TIPS
Once any electronic product is no longer functional, it should be disposed of in such a way as to cause minimum environmental impact, in accordance with the regulations of your local authority. In most cases you can take such products to your local recycling station.
