Know About Your Microwave Oven: Advantages and Tips

Advantages of microwave cooking
1. Food cooks evenly, quickly and efficiently in the microwave.
2. Also the nutrients are preserved and the actual taste of the food is retained to a higher degree.
3. Only a minimum amount of oil is required for cooking continental as well as traditional Indian dishes and so it seems desirable from the health point of view.
4. Also shorter and controlled cooking time means that the food does not get burnt or over-cooked.
5. Food may be cooked and served in the same dish.

Advantages of microwave cooking
1. Food cooks evenly, quickly and efficiently in the microwave.
2. Also the nutrients are preserved and the actual taste of the food is retained to a higher degree.
3. Only a minimum amount of oil is required for cooking continental as well as traditional Indian dishes and so it seems desirable from the health point of view.
4. Also shorter and controlled cooking time means that the food does not get burnt or over-cooked.
5. Food may be cooked and served in the same dish.
6.

Another major advantage is that food is cooked minus the smoke, grease and heat and so the kitchen remains neat and tidy always.
7. Microwave has multifarious uses like de-frosting, re-heating, etc.
TIPS ON USING A MICROWAVE OVEN:
A)Position of food for is must for even cooking
Food must be placed off-center as the microwave energy disperses more to the corners and sidewalls. Items like idlis should be arranged in a circle with space among them
Cooking utensils guidelines must be known and followed to avoid any kind of accident with microwaves oven
• Ovenware treated for high- intensity heat such as bowls, cake dishes and also bags, film, paper towels, practically any material can be used except metal. But metal can be used for the convection mode in a combined double oven.
• Metallic dishes should not be also used in the combination mode.
• Pottery and plastic ware declared microwave-safe could be used in the common microwave oven.
• Ceramic wares can also be used but make sure that they don't have any metallic rim as they may cause arcing.
• Food items containing high proportion of fat and sugar should not be used in glass utensils; otherwise they can be used commonly.
• Melmoware and melamine wares are to be avoided; paper towels, greaseproof paper and cardboard can also be used provided they don't have any staple pins in them. Wood items can be used in the micro-oven but not for a long time.
B)Container shapes
This is an important factor to be noted. Dishes must be ½ or ¾ filled depending on the liquid content of the food. If the dish is too small, the food will boil over and if the dish is too large the thick curry will spread out and overcook. Shallow vessels make cooking faster.