Microwave Cooking Tips - Kenmore 721.81 622 Use & Care 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 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 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 than the 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 materials that microwaves will pass
through. If you are using the Sensor function, be
sure to vent.
Releasing Pressure in Foods
• Several foods (for example: bakedpotatoes,
sausages,egg yolks, and some fruits) are tightly
covered by a skin or membrane.Steamcan build up
under the membraneduring cooking,causing the
food to burst. To relievethe pressure and to prevent
bursting,pierce these foods before cooking with a
fork or toothpick.
Using Standing Time
• Alwaysallow food to stand eitherin or outside
the oven after cooking power stops. Standingtime
after defrostingand cooking allows the temperature
to evenly spreadthroughoutthe food, improvingthe
cooking results. For standingtime inside the oven,
programa "0" power second stage of the cooking
cycle. See "Two-StageCooking."
• The lengthof the standing time dependson the
amount of food being cooked and how dense it is.
Sometimesit can be as short as the time it takes to
remove the food from the oven and move it to the
serving table. However,with larger,denserfood items,
the standing time may be as long as 10 minutes.
Arranging Food
For best results, placefood evenly on the plate. Youcan
do this in severalways:
• If you are cooking several items of the same food,
such as baked potatoes,place them in a ring pattern
for uniform cooking.
• When cooking foods of unevenshapes or
thickness, such as chicken breasts, place the
smaller or thinner area of the food toward the center
of the dishwhere it will be heated last.
• Layer thin slices of meat on top of each other.
• When you cook or reheat whole fish, score the
skin - this preventscracking.
• Do not let food or a containertouch the top or sides of
the oven. This will prevent possible arcing (sparking.)
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