Panasonic NNL534MBWPG - Manual (Page 152)

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The benefits of the microwave oven
For many foods, the microwave oven is the quickest and healthi-
est method of cooking. Since the microwaves act directly on the
food (the food container hardly becomes hot and the inside of
the microwave stays cool), the microwave oven is also very
energy efficient.
The microwaves prevent a burned crust from forming on the
food. Most foods can be cooked with very little water and oil,
preserving more of the flavour, colour, vitamins and minerals.
You can practically do without salt.
You will avoid destroying the vitamins and minerals when the
food is heated for any length of time, since your microwave can
reheat a meal in a matter of minutes, without loss of flavour.
Similarly, defrosting with your microwave is fast and simple. You
can surprise unexpected guests by serving frozen meals pre-
pared in the blink of an eye.
Cooking food directly on the plates cuts down on the washing
up.
Cooking times with the microwave oven
Cooking times are affected by a number of factors; firstly, the
quantity of food used. For example, it takes around 20 minutes
to cook potatoes on the stove after they come to the boil,
whether there are two potatoes or two kilos of potatoes to cook.
Microwaves act directly on the food, i.e. without a hotplate for
example, so it only takes two minutes to cook a potato. If you
want to cook two potatoes, you will need 4 minutes to cook
them. The cooking time doubles, in direct proportion to the
quantity.
Guideline
Furthermore, the composition of the food plays a part. Foods
with a high fat and sugar content absorb more microwaves so
that they heat more quickly than foods with a high water content.
The packaging of the food also has a considerable impact on the
cooking time in a microwave oven. A large joint takes longer to
cook than the same amount of meat cut into cubes.
Small pieces cook more quickly than large pieces which is why
food must always be cut up, e.g. vegetables and potatoes into
pieces of the same size. Since the initial temperature also plays
a part, dishes taken out of the refrigerator will take a little longer
to reheat than dishes at room temperature.
Just as with electric hotplates, you can select different power lev-
els on your combination microwave oven so that you can make
the most of your oven at all times.
Selecting the different power levels is simple with the symbols on
the control panel.
If you wish to use your microwave in manual mode, all you need
do is choose the power level (e.g. full power = 1000 watts), state
the cooking time and push the Start button.
The power levels available on the Panasonic combination
microwave oven are as follows:
1000 watts To bring to the boil, cook on full power, heat
portioned meals
600 watts To defrost frozen dishes and heat them, to reheat
precooked dishes.
440 watts To simmer food, cook delicate food, melt chocolate.
270 watts To defrost meat, fish, fruit, cakes and pastries.
250 watts To finish cooking rice, pasta, semolina, defrost
delicate food, e.g. cream pie, to prove dough.
DOUBLE THE QUANTITY - NEARLY DOUBLE THE TIME
HALVE THE QUANTITY - HALF THE TIME
The NN-L534 microwave -