Manual

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MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of Food
• If you increase or decrease the amount of food
you prepare, the time it takesto cook that food will
also change. Forexample, if you double a recipe,
add a little more than halfthe original cooking time.
Check for doneness and, ifnecessary,add more
time insmall 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 refrigeratortemperature.
Composition of Food
• Food with a lot of fat and sugar will be heated
faster than food containing a lot of water. Fatand
sugar will also reach a higher temperature than
water inthe cooking process.
• The denser the food, the longer it takes to heat.
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 thanthe thicker parts.
Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs
in the center of the dish.
Stirring and 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 materialsthat microwaves will pass
through. Ifyou are using the Sensor function, be
sure to vent.
Releasing Pressurein Foods
• Several foods (for example: bakedpotatoes,
sausages,egg yolks,and somefruits) aretightly
coveredby a skin or membrane.Steamcan buildup
underthe membraneduring cooking,causingthe
food to burst. To relievethe pressureandto prevent
bursting,pierce these foodsbefore cookingwitha
forkor toothpick.
UsingStanding Time
• Alwaysallow food to stand eitherin oroutside
the oven aftercookingpower stops.Standingtime
afterdefrostingand cookingallowsthe temperature
to evenly spreadthroughoutthe food, improvingthe
cookingresults.For standingtime inside the oven,
programa "0" power secondstageof the cooking
cycle.See "Two-StageCooking."
• The lengthof the standing time dependson the
amountof food beingcookedandhow dense it is.
Sometimesit can be as short as the time it takes to
removethe food fromthe oven and moveit to the
servingtable. However,with larger,denserfood items,
the standingtime maybe as long as 10minutes.
Arranging Food
For best results,placefood evenly onthe plate.Youcan
do this in severalways:
• If you are cooking several items of the same food,
suchas baked potatoes,place them in a ring pattern
for uniformcooking.
• When cooking foods of unevenshapes or
thickness, such as chicken breasts, place the
smallerorthinner area of the food towardthe center
of the dishwhere it will be heated last.
• Layer thin slices of meat ontop ofeachother.
• When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the
skin- this preventscracking.
• Do not let food or a containertouchthe top or sidesof
the oven.This will preventpossiblearcing (sparking.)
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