THE A
MICRO
WAY \ J
LANI
BLOOMER
A Remedial Microwave Class!
How did you do on the
microwave test last week? For
those of you who flunked that test
(or anyone whose rolls could
challenge the toughest tire, whose
microwaved meat is fit for hiking
boots, whose hot dogs are bullets,
whose sweet rolls are frizbees, or
whose buns are soggy), help is
here! Read on. ..
Today I want to look at three
common problems and their
remedies; dried out food, soggy
food, and oven power. These are
the problems I am asked about
most often.
Almost all the “disasters”
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people ask me about are related to
overcooking the food. Any food
that is hard, dry, tough, rubbery,
stringy, or has hard spots in parts
of it, is overcooked. (Now, read
that last sentence again, outloud!)
Overcooking is caused in two
ways. First, you cooked it too long!
When you are given a time range in
a recipe, always start with the
shortest time given. Or, if you have
smaller quantities than a recipe,
use less time. You can microwave
food a little longer if it’s not hot or
done. But you can’t uncook it if it’s
overdone!
Remember, food cooks a little
more after you take it out of the
oven (during standing time).
Undercook things just a little bit.
Don’t add any more cooking time
until after the standing time has
been allowed.
Most food that’s cooked too long
will turn hard, dry, etc. during the
standing time. So, cook it less and
let it stand!
The second kind of overcooking
occurs when you try to cook food
too fast. Usually this happens when
you’re in a hurry and use high
power! When food is microwaved
at too high a power level, the
. outside edges of the food will be
overcooked, but the inside isn’t
cooked enough.
If your meat gets dried out or
tough on the outside, but is still too
pink in the middle to suit you, the
power level was too high. If food
you reheated in a microwave cools
down too fast at the table, it wasn’t
hot enough in the middle, even if it
was bubbling around the edges.
Microwaves cook food from the
outside in to the center, so edges
get done first. Also, microwaves
aren’t strong enough to reach the
middle of large, dense food, such
as a roast or big casserole.
Therefore, the middle of large
items (whether you are cooking or
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just reheating them; will get done
by heat being conducted in slowly
from the edges.
So what does all this mean? Turn
the power level down on your
microwave! If you don’t know how
to do this, find out! Read your
manual, attend a microwave class,
or if necessary, ask where you
bought your oven. (If your oven
has only one power ON then
consider a new oven! For $2OO to
$3OO you can get a really good oven
with several power levels.)
When you use the lower power
levels, the edges of the food are
heated at a slower rate. There is
time for heat to be conducted to the
center of the food before the edges
get burned.
But when you turn the power
down, it takes longer to cook or
heat food. How much longer? That
depends on the -power level.
Medium power (50 percent, or 50,
or 5 on some ovens) is about one
half power, so it takes twice as long
as cooking on high power. Medium
low power (30 percent, or 30, or 3,
or defrost on some ovens) is about
one-third power, and takes three
times as long as cooking on high.
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(other than hamburger or bacon)
at any power higher than 50 per
cent. For very well done meat, use
30 percent power. The cooking
time is still shorter than range
tune, but it isn’t as fast as using
high power.
If you don’t have time to cook
your meat on a lower power level,
fix some sandwiches or eat out!
Cooking meat on high power gives
you shoe leather unless you are
very, very careful, very ex
perienced, and like your meat
rare!
A different kind of problem
makes your buns soggy! Bread
products get soggy from steam
being trapped between the bread
and a plate. The bread absorbs this
extra moisture and becomes
soggy.
To avoid this, warm all bread
products on paper towels, napkins,
or on a rack (oven rack, meat
rack, bacon cooker, etc.). A paper
napkin or towel will absorb the
extra moisture. On a rack, there
are air spaces under the bread to
help the moisture escape.
Did you miss question #2l on the
quiz last week, asking about the
wattage of your microwave? It is
important to know this if you use
recipes from this column or from
any source other than the cookbook
that came with your oven.
Microwaves with less power
(smaller wattage) will take longer
to heat or cook food.
If you don’t know your oven’s
power, take 5 minutes, (RIGHT
NOW!) to do this simple test. You
will know it’s approximate power
right away!
Estimating The Wattage
of a Microwave
1. Measure 8 ounces (1 cup) of
tap water into a glass measuring
cup. Put it in your microwave.
2. Set your microwave to cook on
high (full power, 100 percent, cook,
etc.) for 5 minutes.
3. Watch the water continuously
after-two minutes until it boils.
When the water boils, stop the
oven. Now, figure out how long it
took for the water to boil.
If it took 2 1 /2-3 1 /2 minutes to
boil, your oven has 600-700 watts.
—lf it took 3%-4Ms minutes to
boil, your oven has 500-600 watts.
If it took 4V2-5V2 minutes to
boil, your oven has 400-500 watts of
power.
Remember, though, that
variations in the container and
water temperature make this only
a rough estimate of your oven’s
power.
If you’re still confused about
microwave cooking, join me next
week for a quick review of the
basic microwave cooking
techniques. Then we’ll get on with
some great summer recipes!
Copyright 1986, Lam Bloomer