Boiling dry
33.Don’t worry — we thought of this and fitted a thermostat.
34.It’s still not a good idea, as you lose control of the cooking process, but it
needn’t be a disaster (more of an “Oops — I hope no-one’s looking”).
35.In the event of a boil-dry occurring (that sounds much better than “if you
forget and let it boil dry”, doesn’t it) the thermostat will cut off power to
the element, but the light will remain on.
36.The thermostat will cycle on and off until you remember to add water, or
until the timer returns to 0 and switches off.
37.Unplug the base unit, let it cool for a couple of minutes, then fill up with
boiling water and start again.
38.When calculating the time needed, allow for the whole of the time already
spent steaming, and part of the time between running dry and restarting, as
the cooking process won’t have stopped immediately the reservoir ran dry.
39.If you watch the cooking process carefully, there’s no reason why the
rescue operation shouldn’t be 100% successful.
40.If it isn’t, then a piquant sauce should do the trick — try something with
lemon or lime in it first. If all else fails, ginger, garlic, or chilli will hide
absolutely anything.
Stopping early
41.To stop the cooking process, turn the timer anti-clockwise to 0.
42.Remember — everything will be hot. Use the oven gloves and take care.
The rice bowl
When cooking rice, add water to the rice bowl in addition to the water in the
reservoir. The volume of water added to the rice bowl should be roughly one
and a quarter times the volume of the rice.
Put the rice bowl in the topmost basket. If you don’t, juices from other foods
will alter the flavour of the rice, and the additional liquid may make it mushy.
Timing
The times given in the cooking guide opposite are for a single layer of food in
the bottom basket, used on its own.
Extend these times
a) if both baskets are used — the steam has to heat more food
b) if a particular food is cooked in the second. Generally, the further the
food is from the element, the longer it’ll take to cook.
c) if food is layered within a basket
You’ll need to experiment to find the times and positions which suit your
favourite foods and food combinations.
Cooking times
The cooking times are given as a guide only. Check that food is properly cooked
before serving. If in doubt, cook it a bit more.
Fish is cooked when it appears opaque and can be flaked easily. Cook meat till
the juices run clear.
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