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Placement of the food
• You will have the optimum outcome if you
spread the food equally on the container.
This method can be applied in many ways
with satisfactory results.
• You can cook large quantities of similar
items (e.g. potatoes) together. They will
cook better if you place them in evenly
spaced circles in the oven. Be careful not
to overlap the pieces.
• When cooking dishes of different shapes
and thicknesses, place the thicker parts in
the middle of the tray, as microwaves will
have a stronger effect on the outer layers
of these food. Therefore you will have
them cook faster.
• Place fish and other uneven food with the
tail on the edge of the tray.
• You can stack thinly cut pieces of meat on
top of each other. Thicker items such as
sausages and pieces of meat should be
placed side by side.
• Warm the broth and sauces in a different
plate. Narrow and deep plates are better
for this job than wide and shallow plates.
When heating broth, sauce or soup, the
containers should not be more than two-
thirds full.
• If you are cooking the whole fish, poke
holes to it so that the skin does not burst.
• When using stretch film, bags or baking
paper, poke holes or leave an opening to
allow steam to escape.
• Small pieces of food will cook faster than
large pieces, equal pieces will cook faster
than uneven ones. For best results, cut
your food into equal sized portions.
Food height
• Very thick foods (usually roasts) will cook
faster on the bottom. That means you may
have to turn them several times.
• Thick or dense parts can be placed in a
higher position so that the microwaves
can also affect the lower and middle part
of the piece.
Cooking tips
Factors effecting the microwave time:
• Microwave time depends on a few factors.
The heat of the ingredients used in the re-
cipe can significantly affect the cooking
time required. Therefore, a cake made
with ice-cold butter, milk, and eggs will
take longer to bake than a cake made
from room-temperature ingredients.
• Especially some recipes for bread, cake
and cream sauces, recommend removing
it from the oven before it is fully cooked.
Such dishes kept closed outside the oven,
will allow the food to continue to cook as
the heat travels from the outside of it to
the inside.
• If you keep the pieces in the oven until
they are fully cooked, there is a risk of
burning the outer layer. You will get the
hang of which meals to be left to cook and
which to be taken out and waited as time
goes by.
• Do not leave the side of the pieces while
they are cooking. The light of the mi-
crowave oven will automatically switch on
while operational, and let you see the state
of the pieces cooked.
Defrosting:
• Defrosting time may differ depending on
the size of the package. Shallow, rectan-
gular packages defrost faster than deep
containers.
• Pick apart the pieces that start melting.
This way they will melt easier.
• As the amount of food you cooked in-
crease, the time needed will do too. Twice
as large a meal will roughly take twice the
time. If a potato takes four minutes to
cook, two potatoes will take seven
minutes or so. However much food you
put inside the oven, the amount of mi-
crowave created will stay the same. That
is, the more food you put in it, the longer it
will take to cook.
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