LG LSMC3086ST Owners Manual - Page 10

MICROWAVE COOKING TIPS Amount of Food • If you increase or decrease the amount of food you prepare, the time it takes to cook that food will also change. For example, if you double a recipe, add a little more than half the original cooking time. Check for doneness and, if necessary, add more time in small increments. Starting Temperature of Food • The lower the temperature of the food being put into the microwave oven, the longer it takes to cook. Food at room temperature reheats more quickly than food at refrigerator temperature. Composition of Food • Food with a lot of fat and sugar heats faster than food containing a lot of water. Fat and sugar also reach a higher temperature than water during the cooking process. • The more dense the food, the longer it takes to heat. Very dense food like meat takes longer to heat than lighter, more porous food like sponge cakes. Releasing Pressure in Foods • Several foods (for example: baked potatoes, sausages, egg yolks, and some fruits) are tightly covered by a skin or membrane. Steam can build up under the membrane during cooking, causing the food to burst. To relieve the pressure and to prevent bursting, pierce these foods before cooking with a fork, cocktail pick, or toothpick. Using Standing Time • A lways allow food to stand either in or out of the oven after cooking power stops. Standing time after defrosting and cooking allows the temperature to evenly spread throughout the food, improving the cooking results. For inside oven standing time, program a 0 power second stage of the cooking cycle. See Cooking with More than One Cook Cycle. • T he length of the standing time depends on how much food you are cooking and how dense it is. Sometimes it can be as short as the time it takes you to remove the food from the oven and take it to the serving table. However, with larger, denser food items, the standing time may be as long as 10 minutes. Size and Shape • Smaller pieces of food cook faster than larger pieces. Also, same-shaped pieces cook more evenly than different-shaped pieces. • With foods that have different thicknesses, the thinner parts cook faster than the thicker parts Place the thinner parts of chicken wings and legs in the center of the dish. Stirring and Turning Foods • Stirring and turning foods spreads heat quickly to the center of the dish and avoids overcooking at the outer edges of the food. Covering Food Cover food to: • reduce splattering • shorten cooking times • keep food moist Arranging Food For best results, place food evenly on the plate. You can do this in several ways: • If you are cooking several items of the same food, such as baked potatoes, place them in a ring pattern for uniform cooking. • When cooking foods of uneven shapes or thickness, such as chicken breasts, place the smaller or thinner area of the food towards the center of the dish where it will be heated last. • L ayer thin slices of meat on top of each other. • W hen you cook or reheat whole fish, score the skin to prevent cracking. • D o not let food or a container touch the top or sides of the oven. This will prevent possible arcing. - 10 -