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Composition of the 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 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
time to reheat than lighter, more porous food like
sponge cakes.
Covering food helps:
• To reduce spattering
• To shorten cooking times
• To retain food moisture
All coverings, which will allow microwaves to pass
through are suitable - See above "Which utensils
can be used in the oven".
Standing time
Always allow the food to stand for some time after
using the oven (either inside or outside the oven).
Standing time after defrosting/reheating cooking,
always improves the result since the temperature
of the food will then be more even.
Arranging food
The best result is achieved if the food is evenly
distributed on the plate.
• A food portion should be arranged with the
thicker, denser foods to the outside of the plate
and the thinner or less dense foods in the
middle. This is very important when reheating a
plate with two or more different kinds of foods.
• Gravy or sauce should be reheated in a
separate container. Choose a tall, narrow
container rather than a low and wide container.
When reheating gravy, sauce or soup, do not fill
the container more than 2/3.
• Potatoes for reheating should not be bigger
than 60-75 g. Cut bigger potatoes in half and
place them with the cut side down.
• If you are reheating several items of the same
food, place
them in a ring pattern.
• When defrosting or reheating/cooking more
than one plate at the same time, the amount and
arrangement of food must be identical in order
to achieve the same temperature.
• Place thin slices of meal
on top of each other or
interlace them.
• Thicker slices such as
meat loaf and sausages
have to be placed close to
each other.
• When you reheat whole
fish, score the skin - this
prevents cracking. Shield the tail and head with
small pieces of foil to prevent overcooking but
ensure the foil does not touch the sides of the
oven.
• To avoid overcooking of salient parts or edges
e.g. mashed potatoes, place on the plate with
the help of a spoon to obtain a nice rounded
shape.
« Food with skin or peel, such as potatoes,
tomatoes, sausages and the like, should be
pricked with a fork so that the steam can
escape and the skin or peel does not burst.
• After heating babyfood, always stir it to make
sure that the heat is evenly distributed.
With unevenly shaped foods,
the thinner parts will cook faster
than the thicker areas. Place the
thinner chicken wings and legs
to the centre of the dish.
Unevenly shaped foods such as
fish should be arranged in the
oven with the thinner tails to the
centre.
When cooking foods suchs as
meatballs place them in a ring
pattern.
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