Preparing food in microwave oven (2024)

FAQs

Preparing food in microwave oven? ›

Microwave Oven Cooking. Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape. The moist heat that is created will help destroy harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cooking.

Microwaves heat and thaw foods faster than other methods. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all covered. Microwave-safe food containers let you place everything from soups to mac and cheese to popcorn inside and get a snack in only a few minutes.

Cooking tip: Lean on your microwave to reheat, boil, melt, steam and more. Some microwave models even offer Steam Cooking, letting you make foods like microwave eggs, rice, steamed vegetables, green beans and fish.

Arrange foods so that they cook evenly. Face the thickest parts, like broccoli stalks, outward toward the oven walls. Arrange foods of the same size and shape, such as potatoes, in a circle or square with space between them and no item in the center.

Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape. The moist heat that is created will help destroy harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cooking. Cooking bags also provide safe, even cooking.

In conclusion, the benefits of using a microwave for cooking and meal preparation are many. They save time, preserve nutrients, are convenient, energy efficient and versatile. With a microwave, you can easily prepare healthy and nutritious meals in minutes.

What Cannot be used in microwave oven? ›

Metals including stainless steel and aluminum foil

Anything made of or containing steel, iron, copper or other hard metals should never go in your microwave.

The principle of microwave cooking is conversion of electromagnetic energy to thermal energy within the meat. During cooking, the microwave energy is absorbed by rotation of water molecules and translation of ionic components in the meat; the water content and the dissolved ion content are therefore important factors.

If the food is cooked too long or at a power level higher than what is recommended, the food can dry out. If allowed to cook too long, it can even ignite in some cases.

Take it out of the microwave container and put it into whatever you would normally cook that food in on the cooker (oven, hob whatever). A lot of microwave meals are pre-cooked so you are just heating them up but it's not a given so make sure everything is piping hot and any meat is cooked through.

Microwave ovens cook food using waves of energy that are similar to radio waves but shorter. These waves are remarkably selective, primarily affecting water and other molecules that are electrically asymmetrical — one end positively charged and the other negatively charged.

Covering your food with a moist paper towel or microwave-safe item will keep steam from escaping and instead circulate the heat faster. You can also microwave your food in increments and stir in between, or heat your food at a lower temperature for a longer time.