9
Cooking Guidelines
The Amana Microwave Oven can make your job easier.
You’ll cook ahead and pre-portion more. You will also
spend less time preparing special-order dishes.
To be sure of consistently good results, you’ll want to
remember a few simple guidelines.
How Microwave Ovens Heat Food
All food and liquid molecules have positive and negative
particles which are in constant - but slow - motion.
(Positive and negatives attract and repel each other like
magnets.) In microwave cooking this molecular action is
then accelerated. The instant microwaves bombard food
they agitate the molecules. Agitation causes friction as
molecules rub and bump into each other at a frenzied
rate. This friction results in heat that cooks food and boils
water.
Once the microwaves stop, this friction action continues
by itself - eventually tapering off and returning to normal
molecular action.
Microwaves penetrate food to a depth of ¾ to 1½ inches.
As cooking begins, heat is spread by conduction to the
interior portion of the food...just as in conventional cooking
methods. Your microwave oven features variable power
settings that allow you to choose the speed at which food
cooks.
Food Variables
Microwave cooking can be directly affected by different
food variables.
The shape of foods can greatly affect the amount of
cooking time. Foods that are flat and thin heat faster than
foods which are chunky. For example, a casserole will
cook faster in a flat dish, rather than if heaped in a small
dish. Foods cut into small pieces will cook faster than
large-shaped foods. Pieces should be of a uniform size
and shape for more uniform cooking, or the smaller pieces
will cook faster. The greatest amount of heating takes
place within ¾ of an inch of the food’s surface. The interior
of large food items, or dense foods, is heated by the heat
conducted from the outer food layer. The most uniform
heating occurs in flat, doughnut-shaped foods. For best
results, cook foods together which have similar sizes and
shapes.
The quantity or volume of a food can affect the amount of
cooking time. As the volume of the food is increased, the
time required to cook or heat the item increases almost
proportionately. If twice the amount of food is placed in the
oven, it will take almost twice as long to cook. To
determine the time for larger quantities, multiply the
individual serving time by the increased amount - then
reduce the total heating time by about 20%.
The density of foods can greatly affect the amount of
cooking time. Porous foods, such as breads, cakes or
pastries, will heat much more quickly than dense meats
of the same size. Porous foods absorb microwaves
quickly throughout. Meats absorb microwaves mostly at
the exterior surface, and the interior is heated by
conduction, increasing the cooking time. Meats can be
cooked in a sauce, if desired. Due to the moisture
content, a sauce will heat rapidly. The heat will transfer to
the meat, so the meat will heat faster due to heat by
conduction as well as by microwaves.
The starting temperature of foods affects the amount of
cooking time. Each temperature degree that the food item
is to raise must be supplied with a definite amount of
energy. Lower initial starting temperatures require more
energy and more time to cook. Therefore, refrigerator
temperature foods require a longer cooking time than do
room temperature foods. Foods already slightly warm will
heat very quickly in the Oven.
The moisture content of foods affects the amount of
cooking time. The higher the moisture content is in a food
the longer the amount of cooking time.
The fat and sugar content of foods affects the amount of
cooking time. Foods containing high fat and sugar levels
heat very quickly and may reach much higher
temperatures than foods having low fat and sugar levels.
Foods having lower fat and sugar levels require longer
cooking times.
The arrangement of food within a microwave oven cavity
affects the way in which the food cooks. A “round”
arrangement is best. Use round utensils whenever
possible. Also, arrange foods such as baked potatoes in
a circle, rather than in rows, for cooking. When only one
food item is being cooked, place it in the center of the
Oven glass shelf for cooking.
