61
Food characteristics &
Microwave cooking
Keeping an eye on things
The recipes in the book have been formulated with great care, but your
success in preparing them depends on how much attention you pay to the
food as it cooks. Always watch your food while it cooks. Your microwave
function is equipped with a light that turns on automatically when the oven is
in operation so that you can see inside and check the progress of your food.
Directions given in recipes to elevate, stir, and the like should be thought of as
the minimum steps recommended. If the food seems to be cooking unevenly,
simply make the necessary adjustments you think appropriate to correct the
problem.
Factors affecting microwave cooking times
Many factors affect cooking times. The temperature of ingredients used in a
recipe makes a big difference in cooking times. For example, a cake made
with ice-cold butter, milk, and eggs will take considerably longer to bake than
one made with ingredients that are at room temperature. All of the recipes in
this book give a range of cooking times. In general, you will find that the food
remains under-cooked at the lower end of the time range, and you may
sometimes want to cook your food beyond the maximum time given,
according to personal preference. The governing philosophy of this book is
that it is best for a recipe to be conservative in giving cooking times. While
overcooked food is ruined for good. Some of the recipes, particularly those for
bread, cake, and custards, recommend that food be removed from the oven
when they are slightly undercooked. This is not a mistake. When allowed to
stand, usually covered, these foods will continue to cook outside of the oven as
the heat trapped within the outer portions of the food gradually travels inward.
If the food is left in the oven until it is cooked all the way through, the outer
portions will become overcooked or even burnt. You will become increasingly
skilful in estimating both cooking and standing times for various foods.
Density of food
Light, porous food such as cakes and breads cook more quickly than heavy,
dense foods such as roasts and casseroles. You must take care when
microwaving porous food that the outer edges do not become dry and brittle.
Height of food
The upper portion of tall food, particularly roasts, will cook more quickly than
the lower portion. Therefore, it is wise to turn tall food during cooking,
sometimes several times.
Moisture content of food
Since the heat generated from microwaves tends to evaporate moisture,
relatively dry food such as roasts and some vegetables should either be
sprinkled with water prior to cooking or covered with non metallic material to
retain moisture.
Bone and fat content of food
Bones conduct heat and fat cooks more quickly than meat. Care must be taken
when cooking bony or fatty cuts of meat that they do not cook unevenly and
do not become overcooked.
Quantity of food
The number of microwaves in your oven remains constant regardless of how
much food is being cooked. Therefore, the more food you place in the oven,
the longer the cooking time. Remember to decrease cooking times by at least
one third when halving a recipe.
Shape of food
Microwaves penetrate only about 2.cm into food, the interior portion of thick
foods are cooked as the heat generated on the outside travels inward. Only
the outer edge of food in cooked by microwave energy; the rest is cooked by
conduction. The worst possible shape for a food that is to be microwaved is a
thick square. The corners will burn long before the centre is even warm .
Round thin foods and ring shaped foods cook successfully in the microwave.
