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MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of food
• If you increase or decrease the amount of food
you prepare, the time it takes to cook that food will
also change. For example, if you double a recipe,
add a little more than half the original cooking time.
Check for doneness and, if necessary, add more
time in small increments.
Starting temperature of food
• The lower the temperature of the food being put
into the microwave oven, the longer it takes to cook.
Food at room temperature will be re-heated more
quickly than food at refrigerator temperature.
Composition of food
• Food with a lot of fat and sugar will be heated
faster than food containing a lot of water. Fat and
sugar will also reach a higher temperature than
water in the cooking process.
• The more dense the food, the longer it takes to
heat. “Very dense” food like meat takes longer to
heat than lighter, more porous food like sponge
cakes.
Size and shape
• Smaller pieces of food will cook faster than larger
pieces. Also, same-shaped pieces cook more
evenly than different-shaped pieces.
• With foods that have different thicknesses, the
thinner parts will cook faster than the thicker parts.
Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs in
the center of the dish.
Stirring, turning foods
• Stirring and turning foods spreads heat quickly to
the center of the dish and avoids overcooking at the
outer edges of the food.
Covering food
Cover food to:
• Reduce splattering
• Shorten cooking times
• Keep food moist
You can use any covering that lets microwaves pass
through. See “Getting to Know Your Microwave
Oven” for materials that microwaves will pass
through. If you are using the Sensor function, be sure
to vent.
Releasing pressure in foods
• Several foods (for example: baked potatoes, sausages,
egg yolks, and some fruits) are tightly covered by a skin or
membrane. Steam can build up under the membrane
during cooking, causing the food to burst. To relieve the
pressure and to prevent bursting, pierce these foods
before cooking with a fork, cocktail pick, or toothpick.
Using standing time
• Always allow food to stand either in or out of the oven
after cooking power stops. Standing time after defrosting
and cooking allows the temperature to evenly spread
throughout the food, improving the cooking results. For
inside oven standing time, you can program a " 0 " power
second stage of the cooking cycle. See Two-Stage
Cooking.
• The length of the standing time depends on how much
food you are cooking and how dense it is. Sometimes it
can be as short as the time it takes you to remove the
food from the oven and take it to the serving table.
However, with larger, denser food item, the standing time
may be as long as 10 minutes.
Arranging food
For best results, place food evenly on the plate. You can do
this in several ways:
• If you are cooking several items of the same food,
such as baked potatoes, place them in a ring pattern for
uniform cooking.
• When cooking foods of uneven shapes or thickness,
such as chicken breasts, place the smaller or thinner
area of the food towards the center of the dish where it will
be heated last.
• Layer thin slices of meat on top of each other.
• When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the skin –
this prevents cracking.
• Do not let food or a container touch the top or sides of the
oven. This will prevent possible arcing.
Using aluminum foil
Metal containers should not be used in a microwave oven.
There are, however, some exceptions. If you have
purchased food which is prepackaged in an aluminum foil
container, refer to the instructions on the package. When
using aluminum foil containers, cooking times may be
longer because microwaves will only penetrate the exposed
top of the food and not the bottom or the sides. If you use
aluminum containers without package instructions, follow
these guidelines:
