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
reheated 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
,
and
Keep
food moist.
You can use any covering that lets microwaves
pass through. See
How Your Microwave Hood
Combination Works on page 5 for materials that
microwaves will pass through. If you are using the
Sensor function, be sure to vent.
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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 inside or
outside the oven after the cooking or defrost
period ends. Standing time after defrosting
and cooking allows the temperature to evenly
spread throughout the food, improving cooking
or defrosting results.
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, the standing time may be
as long as 10 minutes. For such longer periods,
you may want to program a "0" power second
stage of the cooking cycle for standing time
inside the oven. See
Two-Stage Cooking.
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.
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