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TIPS AND HINTS
ADDING WATER
Vegetables and other foods containing a lot of
water can be cooked in their own juices or by
adding just a small amount of water. This will
retain many vitamins and minerals in the food.
FOOD WITH SKIN OR PEEL
Pierce foods such as sausages, chickens, chicken
legs, potatoes in their skins, tomatoes, egg yolk,
etc with a wooden skewer. This allows the steam to
escape and the food won’t explode.
FATTY FOODS
Food ‘marbled’ with fat or with layers of fat cook
faster than lean meat. You should therefore cover
these parts with some aluminium foil, and place
the food fatty side downward.
BLANCHING VEGETABLES
Before they are frozen vegetables should be
blanched. This is the best way of retaining the
quality and flavour.
How to blanch vegetables:
Wash and chop the vegetable, place 250g of the
vegetable in a bowl with 275ml of water, cover
and heat for 3-5 minutes.
Plunge into cold water immediately after the
blanching process to prevent further cooking, and
then allow it to drain. Pack and freeze the
vegetable in airtight containers.
PRESERVING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Preserving fruit and vegetables
using the microwave is a quick
and easy process. You can buy
preser ving jars, seals and
preserving jar clamps specially
designed for microwave use. Precise instructions
are provided by the manufacturers of these items.
SMALL AND LARGE QUANTITIES
Microwave cooking times depend directly upon
the amount of food you want to defrost, re-heat or
cook, i.e. small portions cook faster than big ones.
The rule of thumb is:
TWICE AS MUCH = ALMOST TWICE AS LONG
HALF AS MUCH = HALF AS LONG
TALL CONTAINERS, FLAT DISHES
Both types of container have the same capacity but
cooking times are longer for tall
containers than for flat ones.
Therefore it is preferable to use
dishes that are as flat as
possible, with the largest
possible flat surface.
Only use tall containers for foods that are likely to
boil over, e.g. noodles, rice, milk etc.
ROUND AND OVAL DISHES
Food cooks more evenly in round and oval dishes
than in rectangular ones, because the microwave
energy concentrates into the corners of rectangular
dishes and the food there may get overcooked.
COVERING THE FOOD
By covering the food as it cooks
moisture is retained and cooking
time is reduced. Use a lid,
microwave film, or cover. Do not
cover food that should have a
crispy surface, such as roast meat or chicken. As a
rule if you would cover it in a conventional oven,
cover it in the microwave. If you would cook it in a
conventional oven without a cover, you can cook it
without a cover in the microwave.
IRREGULAR SHAPED FOOD
Place the thicker, more compacted
end of the food pointing towards
the outside. Place vegetables
(such as broccoli) with the stalks
pointing outward.
STIRRING
You need to stir the food because
the microwaves heat the outer
areas first. Stirring the food
balances the temperature and
the food heats evenly.
ARRANGING
Arrange individual portions (pudding moulds, cups
or baked potatoes) in a circle on the turntable.
Leave space between the por tions for the
microwave energy to penetrate from all sides.
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