MICROWAVE OVEN

MICROWAVE OVENS

Microwaves... are a form of the electro-magnetic energy,which
generate electro-magnetic waves, that are contained in the cooking   cavity.

• The micro waves cannot be seen. But microwaves act in three different ways.
• Microwaves absorb - the water molecules present in the food ,get stimulated and heated up when the food is microwaved,  and the energy of the microwave is concentrated on making the food cook  faster.
• Microwaves transmit - they are attached only to water molecules and so they ignore everything else except the food to be cooked.
• Microwaves reflect on metal - the microwaves  are absorbed by food and pass through materials like glass, china, wood, paper and plastic,  but they reflect on metal for sure.

Ovens types-There are two types of microwave ovens-

•  Simple microwave oven

•  Microwave and convection oven.
• The  simple microwave oven -cooks food ,boils as well as re-heats it.
• The microwave and  convection oven - not only cooks  but also heats, browns and dries the surface of the food for crisping.
• This type of combination cooking -is good for tandoori dishes, and the convection system -alone is best suited for cakes and other pastrys.
• But for microwave / convection /grill combination cooking, the cookware should be both heatproof, and also micro safe.
• For convection cooking,like cakes,pastrys  the cookware needs only to be heatproof.
• For microwave cooking only borosil/pyrex glass vessels and only microsafe plastics are used.
• Say NO-to metal objects in both microwave/ combination ovens.

TIPS ...ON USING A MICROWAVE OVEN

• Placements  of food-The food must be placed off-at the center as the microwave energy disperses more to the corners and sidewalls.
• Idlis should be arranged in a circle idli tray with space among them.
• Chops should be arranged with the thinner areas pointing to the middle of the utensils.

Cooking utensils...Ovenware

• 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.
• Metallic dishes should not be also used in the combination mode.
•  Microwave safe  plastic ware declared to be  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.
• Simple and plain Corelle can be used with no gold colour paint on it.
• 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.

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.
• Cakes, chicken, meat and rice dishes cook well in large bottomed vessels, while round dishes are ideal for cooking vegetables and curry dishes.