Maytag MMC5086AAQ - Manual (Page 7)

7
Standing time: Foods are often
allowed to stand for 3 to 10 minutes
after being removed from the
microwave oven. Usually the foods
are covered during standing time to
retain heat unless they are supposed
to be dry in texture (some cakes and
biscuits, for example). Standing
allows foods to finish cooking and
also helps flavors to blend and devel-
op.
HOW FOOD
CHARACTERISTICS
AFFECT MICROWAVE
COOKING
Density of foods: Light, porous food
like cakes and breads cook more
quickly than heavy, dense foods such
as roasts and casseroles. You must
take care when microwaving porous
foods that the outer edges do not
become dry and brittle.
Height of foods: The upper portion
of tall foods, particularly roasts, will
cook more quickly than the lower por-
tion. Therefore, it is wise to turn tall
foods during cooking, sometimes
several times.
Moisture content of foods: Since
the heat generated from microwaves
tends to evaporate moisture, relative-
ly dry foods such as roasts and some
vegetables should either be sprinkled
with water prior to cooking or covered
to retain moisture.
Bone and fat content of foods:
Bones conduct heat and fat cooks
more quickly than meat. Therefore,
care must be taken when cooking
bony or fatty cuts of meat that the
meats do not cook unevenly and do
not become overcooked.
NOTE: It is a common misconception
that microwaves cook food from the
inside out. This comes from heating
filled pastries with a high sugar con-
tent, like jelly doughnuts. The pastry
is cool but the filling is very hot! If you
cook a chicken or a roast, you’ll see
the outside is cooked first.
Shape of foods: Microwaves pene-
trate only about 1 inch (2.5cm) into
foods; the interior portion of thick
foods is cooked as the heat generat-
ed on the outside travels inward. In
other words, only the outer edge of
any food is actually cooked by
microwave energy; the rest is cooked
by conduction.
It follows then that the worst possible
shape for a food that is to be
microwaved is a thick cube. The cor-
ners will burn long before the center
is even warm. Round, thin, and ring
shaped foods cook most successful-
ly in the microwave.
Quantity of foods: The number of
microwaves in your oven remains
constant regardless of how much
food is being cooked. Therefore, the
more food you place in the oven, the
longer the cooking time. Remember
to decrease cooking times by at least
one-third when halving a recipe.