812-Uncaster Fanning, Saturday November 24,1984
THE
MICRO
m
LAN!
BLOOMER
See what's new in microwave ovens
The changes and new features on
microwaves this year are really
exciting! Each brand has its own
system for “automatic” cooking. I
hope I can help you sort these out,
to make your job of buying a
microwave a little easier.
If you read this column last
week, you know that the features I
would look for in a basic
microwave oven are: 600-700 watts
of power, variable power with five
or more power levels, and a
temperature probe; memory
stages are useful also.
To cook a lot of your food in a
basic oven like this, you will have
to leam different microwave
cooking times and techniques. You
don’t have to learn to cook all over
again, but there are differences. If
you don’t want to be bothered (or
don’t have time) to learn these
differences, maybe you should look
for some automatic features on the
oven you buy.
Automatic Cooking Features
Automatic ovens will do your
cooking for you. By this I mean,
they figure the cooking times for
different foods so you don’t have to
learn them. How can they do this?
There are basically two different
types of automatic features on the
microwave ovens available today.
The first type are ovens with
humidity or temperature sensors.
Some of the G.E., Panasonic,
Quasar, Sharp and J.C. Penney
automatic ovens use a device that
detects steam or vapors from the
cooking food to determine when it
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is done. In some of these ovens, the
food has to be tightly covered for
the sensor to work. Tightly covered
food would be steamed in a
microwave, which you might not
always want. In others, like
Sharp’s ESP system, food does not
have to be tightly covered.
A second kind of automatic
cooking is provided by ovens with
pre-programmed cycles or
“recipes.” Some of the Sears,
Litton, Sanyo, and White-
Westinghouse microwaves have
“recipes” for commonly cooked
foods like scrambled eggs or
meatloaf, that * were
preprogrammed into the oven. In
these, the cooking times and/or
power levels for different foods are
already set. You pick the program
or “recipe” to use, the oven sets
the time and power level.
If you are looking for automatic
cooking, think about the type of
foods you use, and ask questions
like these: How does the feature
handle larger quantities?. Can you
control the amount of doneness
easily? For instance, do you like
crispy or soft cooked vegetables?
Pick some food that you cook
frequently and see how to set the
oven for that item. If you use
frozen convenience foods, can you
set the oven for these, easily? Do
you have to learn or memorize
“codes” or numbers?
Automatic features raise the
price of a microwave. (Just like on
washing machines, a model with
permanent press and delicate
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cycles costs more than your basic
scrubba-dubber.) Choose an
automatic cooking system that you
are comfortable with and fits your
style of cooking. If the price for an
automatic is too high, stick with
the basic features mentioned
above.
Compact Microwave Ovens
Smaller microwaves, called
compacts are selling well this
year. These small ovens may have
fewer features, less power, and
lower price tags (from $l7O to
$450). Compacts with only one
power setting, no interior light, or
no end signal would be difficult and
frustrating to work with.
If you are looking at a compact
oven because of the lower price, be
sure to look around at some of the
full size models available.
Microwave prices are lower this
year (hooray!) and there are
many good full-size ovens in the
$3OO-400 range now. People
frequently tell me that they bought
a compact, and wish they had
gotten a larger oven.
If you need a compact oven
because of space limitations, many
of the higher priced compacts
($3OO-$450) are available with 600-
700 watts of power, a temperature
probe, variable speeds, memory
features, and special cycles. While
smaller inside, compact
microwaves with these features
would be good for smaller families.
There are even compact
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Mlcro/Convection Ovens
When you are looking at
microwaves, you will probably run
mto some micro/convection ovens
or ovens with browning elements.
These ovens use a heating coil,
similar to the one in your range, to
produce dry hot air which browns
in your food. Some of the Tappan
microwaves have a browning
element, like a broiler, on top to
provide top browning in
microwaved foods.
In the convection ovens, a fan
blows the hot air around inside,
browning the food quickly. You can
use a micro/convection oven for
microwave cooking alone, con
vection cooking alone, or with a
combination of microwaves and
heat together for cooking.
One disadvantage to either of
these ovens is that when you add
heat to a microwave oven, you
may have a problem cleaning
baked on spatters that you don’t
have with a plain microwave. You
must keep it wiped out. If the food
gets baked on, it is difficult to
remove, and you can’t use spray
oven cleaners!
A second disadvantage is that
the convection microwave ovens
are small inside, compared to
range ovens. You may have dif
ficulty baking large items in them,
such as a full size loaf of bread, a
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sheet cake, a two layer cake, a
large batch of cookies, etc. The
convection ovens are great for
smaller quantities or items.
But you know, when I have my
micro/convection oven on for a
pan of biscuits, I often wish I had
another microwave to cook our
vegetables. Maybe I need a
compact microwave too!
Copyright 1984, Lanl Bloomer
warm up
with soup
EBENSBURG With the cold
weather of winter settling in, hot
soup can be an inviting evening
meal. Elaine Cicotello, an out
standing cook, will demonstrate
how to make various soups to
please the whole family.
The workshop will be held in two
locations: December 11 from 10
a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Extension
office in Ebensburg and December
12 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the
Westmont United Methodist
Church.
To register send $2.75 along with
name and address and phone
number to: Cambria County
Extension Service, Box 390,
Cambria County Services
Building, Ebensburg, PA 15931.
Registration deadline is
December 4,1984.
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