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Cooking Tips for Using Microwave Ovens

You'll hear a lot of advice about cooking in the microwave, and some of it's even contradictory. If you're confused about microwave cooking, don't worry. Many other people aren't sure about this fast and easy food preparation method, either. Here are a few tips to help you cook in the microwave with success.

Use the right plastics. Plastics serve many purposes in our kitchens, but not all of them take heat well. Some will melt and deform in the microwave. Others will leach harmful toxins into your food. That means it's important to heat in plastics that are meant to be used in the microwave. Don't be tempted to microwave butter tubs and similar packages, and only heat pre packaged foods that have microwaved instructions. If the food doesn't come with instructions, get rid of the packaging before you heat it.

Food cooks best in the microwave if you use small pieces. Larger items should be cut into pieces of similar shape and size, and evenly spread in your cooking dish. You'll need to move or rotate some of the food while it's cooking. Thick areas should be near the outside walls of the container, since the outer part of foods cook faster in the microwave.

Foods like vegetables that have a skin, shell, or other exterior coating should be pierced before cooking. Otherwise, steam may build up inside and cause an explosive reaction. Also, always cook in a slightly larger dish than you'd use for a conventional oven. Round or oval containers cook more evenly in a microwave, while square or rectangular containers tend to heat up too much in the corners.

If using recipes, cook for the lower part of the state time range. It's easy to cook food for a little bit longer, but you can't un-cook anything! If your microwave doesn't have a turntable, you'll need to periodically stop it so that you can rotate the food inside. Remember that dishes inside the microwave will be very hot. An oven pad or mitt should be used to prevent burns.

Food that is covered when cooking in a regular oven should also be covered in the microwave. That way, you'll know that your meal will cook evenly and retain all its moisture. Lids should be left slightly ajar to make certain that there's no pressure buildup inside the container. When you remove food from the microwave, lift lids carefully. Open containers facing away from you to prevent burns. Salting microwave food should be done after it's cooked to prevent it from drying out.

When baking, you can soften solid sticks of butter by heating them for about half a minute on fifty percent power. Likewise, if you're heating sour cream, use a lower power to prevent it from curdling. Brown sugar that has hardened can be microwaved in a loosely covered container for about thirty seconds with a slice of apple or a piece of bread. This remoistens the sugar. Bread crumbs can be made by microwaving cubed bread until sale. Then, crush them in a sealed bag to make cleaning up easy.

When using frozen meat, separate individual pieces by defrosting for half a minute to a minute. If you want to cook it more in the microwave, arrange the meat evenly in a dish after separation. To drain fat from hamburger, microwave it in a plastic colander set on top of a bowl. The fat will run out of the meat and into the dish for easy disposal.

Article Source: http://www.articleadventure.com

Robert Cooksey has published a variety of websites covering household and kitchen appliances including information about microwave ovens, and specifically relating to the Sharp Microwave Oven series.

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