Kenmore Microwave Oven - Manual (Page 58)

FOODS
Q. What is wrong when baked foods have a hard, dry, brown spot?
A. A brown, hard spot shows overcooking. Shorten the cooking or reheating time.
Q. Why do eggs sometimes pop?
A. When baking, frying, or poaching eggs, the yolk may pop due to steam built up inside the yolk
membrane. To prevent this, simply pierce the yolk with a toothpick before cooking.
Never microwave cook eggs in the shell.
Q. Why are scrambled eggs sometimes a little dry?
A. Eggs dry out if they are overcooked. Though the same recipe is used each time, you may need to
vary the cooking time for one of these reasons.
■ Eggs vary in size.
H Eggs are at room temperature one time and refrigerator temperature another.
■ The shapes of utensils vary, which makes it necessary to vary the cooking time.
B Eggs keep on cooking during standing time.
Q. Can I cook popcorn in my microwave oven?
A. Cooking popcorn in a microwave oven is not recommended.
Microwaves pop too few kernels to make the technique successful. Longer cooking does not
yield more popped corn, but can cause fire or make the cooking dish too hot to handle and even
break.
Microwave popping devices are available. While safe to use, they usually do not give results
equal to regular-popping^ methods. If used, carefully follow the instructions which come with the
popping product and never leave the oven unattended while popping com.
Never use a paper bag for popping corn.
Q. What is wrong when three potatoes bake throughly and the fourth is still not cooked?
A. The fourth potato may be slightly heavier than the others and will need to cook 30 to 60 seconds
longer. Remember to allow space around each potato when baking.
For more even cooking, put potatoes in a circle.
Q. Why do baked apples sometimes burst during cooking?
A. The peel should be removed from the top half of each apple to allow for expansion of the interior
of the apple during cooking, as in regular cooking.
Q. How are boilovers avoided?
A. For foods that tend to boil over, use a larger utensil. If you open the oven door or touch STOP
the food will stop boiling. (Remember to touch START again after closing the door, to restart
cooking.)
Q. Why is a standing time recommended after microwave cooking is over?
A. After microwave cooking is finished, foods keep on cooking during standing time.
This standing time finishes cooking evenly throughout the food. The amount of standing time
depends on the density of the food.
Q. Why is an additional time required for cooking food stored in refrigerator?
A. As in conventional cooking, the initial temperature of food affects total cooking time. More time
is needed to cook the food just taken out of a refrigerator than food at a room temperature.
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