Manual

MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of food
• If you increase or decrease the amountoffood
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 originalcooking time.
Check for doneness and, if necessary,add more
time in small increments.
Starting temperature of food
• The lower the temperature ofthe food beingput
into the microwave oven, the longer it takes to cook.
Food at room temperature will be re-heated more
quickly than food at refrigeratortemperature.
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 willcook faster than larger
pieces. Also, same-shaped pieces cook more
evenly than different-shaped pieces.
• With foods that have different thicknesses, the
thinner partswill cook faster than the thickerparts.
Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs in
the center of the dish.
Stirring,turning foods
• Stirring and turning foods spreads heat quicklyto
the center of the dish and avoids overcooking at the
outer edges of the food.
Covering food
Coverfood 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
•Severalfoods(forexample:bakedpotatoes,sausages,
eggyolks,andsomefruits)aretightlycoveredby a skinor
membrane.Steamcanbuildupunderthemembrane
duringcooking,causingthe foodto burst.Torelievethe
pressureandto preventbursting,pierce thesefoods
beforecookingwitha fork,cocktailpick,ortoothpick.
Using standingtime
•Alwaysallowfoodto standeitherinor outofthe oven
aftercookingpowerstops.Standingtimeafterdefrosting
andcookingallowsthetemperatureto evenlyspread
throughoutthefood,improvingthecookingresults.For
insideovenstandingtime, youcanprograma" 0" power
secondstageof thecookingcycle.SeeTwo-Stage
Cooking.
•Thelengthofthestandingtimedependsonhowmuch
foodyouarecookingandhowdenseit is.Sometimesit
canbe asshortas thetimeittakesyouto removethe
foodfromtheovenandtakeit to theservingtable.
However,withlarger,denserfooditem,thestandingtime
maybeas longas 10minutes.
Arranging food
Forbestresults,placefoodevenlyonthe plate.Youcando
thisinseveralways:
•Ifyouarecookingseveralitemsofthesamefood,
suchas bakedpotatoes,placethemina ringpatternfor
uniformcooking.
•Whencookingfoods ofuneven shapesor thickness,
such aschickenbreasts,placethesmallerorthinner
areaof thefoodtowardsthecenterof thedishwhereitwill
beheatedlast.
• Layerthin slices ofmeatontop ofeachother.
•Whenyou cookor reheatwhole fish, scorethe skin-
thispreventscracking.
•Do not letfoodor acontainertouchthetop orsidesofthe
oven.Thiswill preventpossiblearcing.
Using aluminum foil
Metalcontainersshouldnotbeusedina microwaveoven.
Thereare,however,someexceptions.Ifyou have
purchasedfoodwhichis prepackagedinanaluminumfoil
container,referto the instructionsonthepackage.When
usingaluminumfoilcontainers,cookingtimesmaybe
longerbecausemicrowaveswillonlypenetratethe exposed
top ofthefood andnotthe bottomorthesides.Ifyou use
aluminumcontainerswithoutpackageinstructions,follow
theseguidelines:
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