Maytag MMC5086AAQ - Manual (Page 6)

6
Other Helpful Information
GETTING THE BEST
RESULTS FROM YOUR
MICROWAVE OVEN
Keep an eye on things. The
instructions in this book have
been formulated with great care,
but your success in preparing food
depends, of course, on how much
attention you pay to the food as it
cooks. Always watch your food while
it cooks. Your microwave oven is
equipped with a light that turns on
automatically when the oven is in
operation so that you can see inside
and check the progress of your
recipe. Directions given in recipes to
elevate, stir, and the like should be
thought of as the minimum steps rec-
ommended. If the food seems to be
cooking unevenly, simply make the
necessary adjustments you think
appropriate to correct the problem.
Factors affecting cooking times.
Many factors affect cooking times.
The temperature of ingredients used
in a recipe makes a big difference in
cooking times. For example, a cake
made with ice-cold butter, milk, and
eggs will take considerably longer to
bake than one made with ingredients
that are at room temperature. All of
the recipes in this book give a range
of cooking times. In general, you will
find that the food remains under-
cooked at the lower end of the time
range, and you may sometimes want
to cook your food beyond the maxi-
mum time given, according to per-
sonal preference. The governing phi-
losophy of this book is that it is best
for a recipe to be conservative in giv-
ing cooking times. While under-
cooked food may always be cooked
a bit more, overcooked food is ruined
for good. Some of the recipes, partic-
ularly those for bread, cakes, and
custard, recommend that food be
removed from the oven when they
are slightly undercooked. This is not
a mistake. When allowed to stand,
usually covered, these foods will con-
tinue to cook outside of the oven as
the heat trapped within the outer por-
tions of the foods gradually travels
inward. If the foods are left in the
oven until they are cooked all the way
through, the outer portions will
become overcooked or even burned.
As you gain experience in using your
microwave oven, you will become
increasingly skillful in estimating both
cooking and standing times for vari-
ous foods.
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
IN MICROWAVE
COOKING
Browning: Meats and poultry that
are cooked fifteen minutes or longer
will brown lightly in their own fat.
Foods that are cooked for a shorter
period of time may be brushed with a
browning sauce to achieve an appe-
tizing color. The most commonly
used
browning sauces are
Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce,
and barbecue sauce. Since relatively
small amounts of browning sauces
are added to foods, the original flavor
of recipes is not altered.
Covering: A cover traps heat and
steam and causes food to cook more
quickly. You may either use a lid or
microwave cling-film with a corner
folded back to prevent splitting.
Covering with waxed paper:
Waxed paper effectively prevents
spattering and helps food retain
some heat. Since it makes a looser
cover than a lid or cling-film, it allows
the food to dry out slightly.
Wrapping in waxed paper or paper
towel: Sandwiches and many other
foods containing prebaked bread
should
be wrapped prior to
microwaving to prevent drying out.
Arranging and spacing: Individual
foods such as baked potatoes, small
cakes, and hors d’oeuvres will heat
more evenly if placed in the oven and
equal distance apart, preferably in a
circular pattern. Never stack foods on
top of one another.
Stirring: Stirring is one of the most
important of all microwaving tech-
niques. In conventional cooking,
foods are stirred for the purpose of
blending. Microwaved foods, howev-
er, are stirred in order to spread and
redistribute heat. Always stir from the
outside towards the center as the
outside food heats first.
Turning over: Large, tall foods such
as roasts and whole chickens should
be turned so that the top and bottom
will cook evenly. It is also a good idea
to turn cutup chicken and chops.
Placing thicker portions near the
edge: Since microwaves are attract-
ed to the outside portion of foods, it
makes sense to place thicker por-
tions of meat, poultry and fish to the
outer edge of the baking dish. This
way, thicker portions will receive the
most microwave energy and the
foods will cook evenly.
Elevating: Thick or dense foods are
often elevated so that microwaves
can be absorbed by the underside
and center of the foods.
Piercing: Foods enclosed in a shell,
skin, or membrane are likely to burst
in the oven unless they are pierced
prior to cooking. Such foods include
both yolks and whites of eggs, clams
and oysters, and many whole veg-
etables and fruits.
Testing if cooked: Because foods
cook so quickly in a microwave oven,
it is necessary to test food frequently.
Some foods are left in the microwave
until completely cooked, but most
foods, including meats and poultry,
are removed from the oven while still
slightly undercooked and allowed to
finish cooking during standing time.
The internal temperature of foods will
rise between 5° F (3° C) and 15° F
(8° C) during standing time.