Thursday 26 September 2013

Microwave facts and Microwave cooking

Microwave cooking

how to use your microwave oven effectively

Microwaves have evolved as a special cooking device. Combination ovens as they are now called, integrate convection cooking and baking with the microwave feature. But how should we microwave effectively.

Nuts and Micro power:

        Hard nuts like pecans, walnuts and Brazil nuts can be de shelled in the microwave with ease. Take  a bowl filled with water, placing the nuts inside, cover it and bring to a boil on high for 3 -4 minutes. Let the nuts remain in water for a minute, then drain and cool. Open them with care, as the shells will have filed with water. The nut meals should come out whole.

        Slightly softer almonds and chestnuts can also be easily peeled after using the microwave. Bring one cup of water to a boil in about 1 to 2 minutes on high place the almonds in the boiled water and microwave again on high for a minute. After draining, the skins should peel easily.

       Ches nuts can be done with equal ease. Place in a bowl of water after making a cut in the ends. cover and let it come to a boil. Boil for another minute, cool for 5 to 10 minutes, peel one at a time, leaving the rest in water.

       It is easy to toast nuts in the microwave and they are also tasty to eat. A microwave dish or bowl, sprayed with spray oil or butter, is to be used for toasting seasoning, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Toast seeds for 3 to 4 minutes on high and nuts for about 3 to 7 minutes. The nuts needs to be stirred every couple of minutes as soon as they begin to brown, take out. The nuts will darken, as they cool.

      Exercise prudence, be very careful of what dishes, you microwave your foods in. Be cautious while using anything that does not say microwave safe. Manufacturers will tell you there  is a reason for leveling. Many plastics are not microwave safe, giving off to sins when heated. Many plastics can dissolve or warp at quite low temperatures. Be careful not to use take out packaging, unless it contains no metal which can prove detrimental to microwave safety or waxed paper, as they will melt your food.

Defrost with Ease:

      The microwave is the most convenient way to defrost meat. Leaving it on the kitchen counter in open air is tantamount to inviting bacterial growth, leading food poisoning. By using the microwave, one can do away with the risk. However, one has to be careful not to end up with half cooked, half frozen meat. Most microwaves have special settings for defrosting. Flip through your microwave manual and also pre test to avoid problems. Most microwaves have a 10 minute per kg setting. The food requires to be constantly checked, so do turn and rearrange it at constant intervals.

Chocolates to melt:

      A microwave is also ideal for melting chocolates. Take a microwave safe dish placing chocolate chips, or baking chocolate, broken into squares or block chocolates onto it. It is preferable to use a measuring cup. And determine the time setting accordingly. For one cup or more cook on high for 1 minute, then stir. Cook for 30 seconds more and stir until chocolate is completely smooth. For quantities less than a cup, start at 30 seconds and an additional 15 seconds interval as needed.


     If you want to dish up a quick chocolate sauce, add to 1 cup of chocolate chip, 1/4 cup of non fat milk and stir hard and serve immediately.

Raising Bread:

     The microwave also gives excellent effects in raising bread dough which is otherwise a very tedious process. After kneading the dough, arrange it in a bowl, cover with wax paper and microwave on low (10%) power for 5 minutes, rotate the bowl and microwave for 5 more minutes. Let it remain for 5 to 8 minutes there.

     Following which, cook in a conventional oven. However do not forget to test the power of the oven which is an essential prerequisite. It is important that the temperature is kept very low, when raising bread. An excellent test is by way of microwaving 2 tablespoonfuls of refrigerated margarine in a small cup. The margarine has to be heated on the lowest setting for 4 minutes. If it dissolves totally, the temperature is too high and will probably kill the yeast. If the butter still has chunks and clots, then it is perfect for raising dough.

Creamy cheese:

     Soften the cream cheese for cake, dips, appetizers, turn on the microwave. Collect all kinds of light, cream or harked cheese and microwave in an uncovered bowl on medium (50%) for about one minute until soft. To prevent it from taking shape as it softens, make sure to mix it well with a spoon or spatula. This will make it easy and fluffy, and also be rid of any clots.

Rewarming snacks:

     There is nothing more unappetizing than food that has been kept for long. Snacks specially lose their taste due to varied reasons like heat and humidity. It is pu7nishement to eat a soggy chip or pretzel. Rewarm your snacks in the microwave to revitalize them put pretzels, potatoes, corn chips or popcorn in paper bag. You can microwave them uncovered on high for 1/2 to 2 minutes, depending on the amount. Mix and let it remain for 5 minutes then serve.

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