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Food Facts in Microwave Cooking
Quality of the food: Poor quality ingredients are rarely improved by any method
of cooking and this applies particularly to microwave
cooking, as the process is so fast.
Temperature: The colder the food before cooking, the longer it will
take to cook.
Quantity: The cooking time relates to the amount of food in the
microwave oven. Do not overload the microwave. For very
large quantities, it is better and may be quicker to cook in
two or more batches.
Density: The more porous the food, the faster it will cook. A light airy
cake mixture will cook faster than jacket potatoes. Size and
Shape: Uniform shapes cook more evenly. In an irregular
shape, such as a leg of lamb, the thinner parts will cook
faster than the thick part. The smaller the individual piece of
food is (such as the vegetables in a soup) the quicker
the cooking.
Moisture: There is very little evaporation in microwave cooking so foods
can be cooked in the minimum water. Casseroles need about
half the usual amount of stock; vegetables need only two or
three tablespoons of water.
Bones: Meat and poultry bones conduct heat, therefor the areas
around them will cook faster than the rest of the meat. Insert
a microwave meat thermometer into the thickest part of the
flesh away from any bone for an accurate grading.