Microwave Cooking Tips - Kenmore 721.80822 Use & Care Manual

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MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS
Amount of food
• If you increase or decrease theamount of food
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 original cooking time,
Check for doneness and, if necessary, add more
time in small 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 refrigerator temperature.
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.
Sizeand 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 than the thicker parts,
Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs in
the center of the dish,
Stirring, 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 materials that microwaves will pass
through, If you are using the Sensor function, be sure
to vent,
Releasingpressure in foods
• Severalfoods (forexample:bakedpotatoes, s ausages,
egg yolks,andsomefruits)are tightlycoveredbya skinor
membrane. S teamcanbuildup underthe membrane
duringcooking,causing the foodto burst.Torelievethe
pressure andto preventbursting,pierce thesefoods
beforecookingwith a fork,cocktail p ick,or toothpick.
Using standing time
• Alwaysallowfood to standeitherin or outofthe oven
aftercookingpowerstops.Standingtimeafterdefrosting
and cookingallowsthetemperature to evenlyspread
throughout t hefood,improving thecookingresults. F or
insideovenstandingtime, youcan programa" O" power
secondstageof thecookingcycle.SeeTwo-Stage
Cooking.
• The length of the standing time dependson howmuch
foodyouare cookingand howdenseit is. Sometimes it
can be asshortas thetime ittakesyouto removethe
foodfromthe ovenand take itto the serving table.
However, w ith larger,denserfooditem,the standingtime
maybe as longas 10 minutes.
Arranging food
Forbestresults,placefoodevenlyon the plate.You cando
this in severalways:
• If you are cooking several items of the same food,
such asbakedpotatoes, p lacethem in a ringpatternfor
uniform cooking.
• When cooking foods of unevenshapes or thickness,
such as chicken breasts, place thesmalleror thinner
area ofthe foodtowardsthecenterofthe dishwhereitwill
be heatedlast.
• Layerthin slices of meat on topof eachother.
• When you cook or reheatwhole fish, score theskin-
this preventscracking.
• Do not letfoodor a container touchthetop or sidesofthe
oven.Thiswill preventpossible arcing.
Using aluminumfoil
Metalcontainersshouldnot be usedin a microwave oven.
Thereare,however, s ome exceptions. I f youhave
purchased foodwhichis prepackaged in an aluminum foil
container,referto the instructions on the package. W hen
usingaluminum foilcontainers, c ooking timesmay be
longerbecausemicrowaves will onlypenetrate the exposed
top ofthe foodand notthebottomor thesides.Ifyou use
aluminumcontainers withoutpackage instructions, f ollow
these guidelines:
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