SUITABLE COOKWARE
To cook/defrost food in a microwave oven, the microwave energy must be able to pass through the container to penetrate the food. Therefore it is important to choose suitable cookware.
Round/oval dishes are preferable to square/oblong ones, as the food in the corners tends to overcook. A variety of cookware can be used as listed below.
Cookware | Microwave | Grill | Combi | Conv- | Comments |
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Aluminium foil | ✔ / ✘ | ✔ | ✔ / ✘ | ✔ | Small pieces of aluminium foil can be used to |
Foil Containers |
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| shield food from overheating. Keep foil at least |
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| 2 cm from the oven walls, as arcing may occur. |
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| Foil containers are not recommended unless |
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| specified by the manufacturer, e.g. Microfoil ®, |
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| follow instructions carefully. |
Browning dishes | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always follow the manufacturers instructions. |
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| Do not exceed heating times given. Be very |
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| careful as these dishes become very hot. |
China and | ✔ / ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | Porcelain, pottery, glazed earthenware and |
ceramics |
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| bone china are usually suitable, except for | |
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Glassware | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Care should be taken if using fine glassware |
e.g. Pyrex ® |
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| as it can break or crack if heated suddenly. |
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Metal | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | It is not recommended to use metal cookware |
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| when using microwave power as it will arc, |
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| which can lead to fire. |
Plastic/ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ / ✘ | Care must be taken as some containers warp, |
Polystyrene |
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| melt or discolour at high temperatures. |
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e.g. fast food |
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containers |
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Cling film | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Should not touch the food and must be pierced |
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| to let the steam escape. |
Freezer/Roasting | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ / ✘ | Must be pierced to let steam escape. Ensure |
bags |
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| bags are suitable for microwave or convection |
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| use. Do not use plastic or metal ties, as they |
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| may melt or catch fire due to the metal arcing. |
Paper plates/ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Only use for warming or to absorb moisture. |
cups and kitchen |
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| Care must be taken as overheating may cause |
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| fire. | |
paper |
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Straw and | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always attend the oven when using these |
wooden |
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| materials as overheating may cause fire. |
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containers |
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Recycled paper | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | May contain extracts of metal which will cause |
and newspaper |
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| ‘arcing’ and may lead to fire. |
Racks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | The metal racks supplied have been specially |
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| designed for all cooking modes and will not |
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| damage the oven. |
WARNING: When heating food in plastic or paper containers, monitor the oven due to the possibility of ignition.
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