Filter
Top Products
Cooking time varies according to the
temperature of the food. Food that is
taken straight from the refrigerator takes
longer to cook than food at room
temperature and room temperature can
vary too. Dense food will take longer to
cook than porous food, because micro-
waves cannot penetrate deep into dense
food. so the deeper part of food is heated
and cooked by the conduction of heat
from the outer surface. As the cooking
time is determined by various factors,
such as standing temperature, density,
thickness and quality of the food, as well
as the size, type and shape of dish used
and sometimes by your own personal
taste, the recipes given in this book have
indicated a range of cooking time for your
guidance. When you become more
familiar with the oven, you will be able to
adjust the cooking time to suit these
factors.
Here are some helpful techniques for
microwave cooking.
Standing time
Food still continues to be cooked by
conduction of heat towards the centre
after it has been removed fram the
microwave oven, or after the microwave
oven has been turned off. This is called
Standing Time. The Standing Time varies
according to the volume and density of
the food.
To retain heat. large items of food such
as poultry or roasts of meat should be
wrapped in foil with shiny side in during
standing time for 10-20 minutes. During
this time, the internal temperature of
meat or poultry will rise from 5
0
C-10
0
C.
Stirring
Stirring is helpful. because food cooks
from the outer edges inwards. Therefore
stirring from the outer edges towards the
centre during cooking encourages even
cooking.
Turning and rotating
It is possible that sometimes micro-
wave energy is not distributed evenly in
the cavity of the microwave oven. Food
such as joints of meat or poultry should
be turned over at least once during cook-
ing.
Placing of food
Arrange the thicker parts of the food
near the outside of the container, and
place the easily heated thinner parts
towards the centre. Try to arrange the
food in a circular pattern and leave the
centre space empty. The empty space in
the centre will allow the microwaves to
act more efficiently.
22