10 Essential Tips - Cooking with a Microwave (Part I)

Tip #1
Understand what kind of foods are good candidates for microwaving. Fish is moist and flaky when microwaved. The freshness of whole fruits and vegetables are easier to retain when microwaved. Pastry cases bake well covered with kitchen towels, sauces and custards cook with ease and doesn't stick or catch.

Tip #2
Realize what kinds of foods are a no no. Hard boil eggs and shellfish can explode when steam builds under their shells. Batter and pancakes would never become crisp and dry. High salted content foods would dry up too fast to control and deep frying in the microwave is a big challenge for you to control the temperature.

Tip#3
Never turn on an empty microwave. Waves bouncing off the inner walls will damage the cavity. A cup of water inside it will help to absorb the wayward waves.

Tip#4
Meat, poultry, fish and raw vegetables should enter the microwave straight from the refrigerator, canned and dry goods should be at room temperature when attempting to cook them. This is to ensure that the food items cook at the correct pace, not too fast or too slow.

Tip#5
Air your microwave oven to remove lingering odors from cooking. Leave the door ajar and wipe the inside with bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water. Deodorize the oven and your kitchen by heating a jug containing 250ml of warm water with sprigs of thyme, or lemon slices in the microwave oven till mixture is boiling then remove it.

Tip#6
Round containers ensures that food cooks more evenly. Ring moulds helps the center of the food to cook faster and deep dishes will help prevent fast boiling liquids from spilling.

Tip#7
Melamine and polystyrene may overheat and break. Fat and sugar rich foods may also cause plastic to melt when used to microwave.

Tip#8
Covering foods when microwaving encourages steam built up which speeds up the cooking process. The steam also tenderize food and keep it moist. For dry items, do not cover. Microwaving brings out moisture from the food, wrap it in paper towels if a dry constituency is desired.

Tip#9
To prevent "exploding" during the cooking process, pierce all foods with tight fitting skin or membrane to prevent steam built up and bursting. Foods include whole vegetables and fruit, egg yolks, livers, oysters and fish.

Tip#10
Microwaves can penetrate a depth of only 2". Denser food cooks even more slowly. To ensure even cooking, stir frequently during cooking.