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 | Convection | Mix Cook | Comments |
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Aluminium foil | ✔ / ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ / ✘ | Small pieces of aluminium foil can be used |
Foil Containers |
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| to shield food from overheating. Keep foil |
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| at least 2cm from the oven walls, as arcing |
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| may occur. |
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| Foil containers are not recommended |
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| unless specified by the manufacturer, e.g. |
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| Microfoil ®, follow instructions carefully. |
Browning dishes | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always follow the manufac turers |
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| instructions. Do not exceed heating times |
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| given. Be very careful as these dishes |
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| become very hot. |
China and ceramics | ✔ / ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | Porcelain, pottery, glazed earthenware and |
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| Mix Conv. | bone china are usually suitable, except for |
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| only | those with metallic decoration. |
Glassware e.g. Pyrex ® | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Care should be taken if using fine glassware |
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| as it can break or crack if heated suddenly. |
Metal | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | It is not recommended to use metal cookware |
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| as it will arc, which can lead to fire. |
Plastic/Polystyrene e.g | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ / ✘ | Care must be taken as some containers warp, |
fast food containers |
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| melt or discolour at high temperatures. |
Cling film | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | It should not touch the food and must be |
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| pierced to let the steam escape. |
Freezer/Roasting bags | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ / ✘ | ✘ | Must be pierced to let steam escape. Ensure |
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| bags are suitable for microwave use. Do not |
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| use plastic or metal ties, as they may melt or |
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| catch fire due to the metal‘arcing’. |
Paper - Plates, cups and | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Only use for warming or to absorb moisture. |
kitchen paper |
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| Care must be taken as overheating may |
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| cause fire. |
Straw and wooden | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Always supervise the oven when using these |
containers |
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| materials as overheating may cause fire. |
Recycled paper and | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | May contain extracts of metal which will |
newspaper |
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| cause‘arcing’and may lead to fire. |
Rack | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | The metal racks supplied have been |
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| specially designed for all cooking modes |
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| and will not damage the oven. |
WARNING:
When heating food in plastic or paper containers, monitor the oven due to the possibility of ignition.
